MLB Player News

San Diego wanted an additional position player with National League competition coming up. Durango has all sorts of speed, but his other skills have never developed. Durango has stolen 17 bases in 2010 for Portland, but he’s also been caught 10 times. He isn’t likely to draw enough playing time to have fantasy relevance in most formats, even with Scott Hairston and Kyle Blanks on the 15-day disabled list. He’s worth a look in deep NL-only leagues for the rogue stolen bases he could give you while up, however.

Caissie ambushed a first-pitch splitter from Tobias Myers for a 397-foot (103.4 mph EV) two-run blast that tied the score at 7-7 in the eighth inning. That would wind up being the extent of the Marlins’ offense in the game though. The 23-year-old outfielder finished the night 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and is now hitting .232/.286/.399 with five long balls and 28 RBI on the season.

On the plus side for fantasy managers, Meyer racked up six strikeouts on the evening while issuing three free passes. The Mets got to him early in this one, pushing four runs across in the opening inning. They added on single runs in the third and fourth, including a solo shot off the bat of Mark Vientos. Meyer generated 10 swings and misses on 106 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 30 percent. He’ll attempt to bounce back as he brings a stellar 2.97 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and a 74/25 K/BB ratio (66 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Nationals in Washington.

Vargas got the White Sox on the board in the third inning with an RBI double off of Troy Melton. They then scratched out a run off of Kyle Finnegan in the ninth inning to force extra innings. After the Tigers scored once in the top half of the frame, the White Sox were down to their final out with Drew Romo still standing on second base when Vargas obliterated an 0-1 changeup from Drew Anderson for a 391-foot (102.3 mph EV) two-run shot that sent the White Sox’ faithful into a frenzy. With his 2-for-5 night, Vargas is now slashing .235/.365/.485 with 13 homers and 34 RBI on the season.

Fedde issued three free passes on the night while striking out three. He worked as a bulk reliever behind Brandon Eisert who got the first four outs in the ballgame. All the damage done against him came on a two-run blast by Dillon Dingler in the third inning. Fedde got six whiffs on 84 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 29 percent. Still 0-5 on the season, he’ll carry a 5.40 ERA and 1.48 WHIP into Wednesday’s battle against the Twins in Minneapolis.

It was a line drive missile off a Mitchell Parker slider, landing 414 feet away from the plate to right-center, that gave the Padres a late 7-5 lead they’d hold on to. Merrill briefly fell to hitting .194 earlier this week, but he’s now fought his way back to .201/.274/.332 on the season with 10 stolen bases and five home runs. If you could cover your eyes and forget about the batting average, the surface numbers are alright. But we can’t do that. Merrill will need to hit better over the summer to return value equivalent to his draft position for fantasy managers.

Dingler opened the scoring in the ballgame as he walloped a 361-foot two-run shot off of Erick Fedde in the third inning. The hard-hitting backstop finished the night 1-for-4 and is now slashing .231/.319/.468 with 11 homers and 34 RBI on the season.

Finnegan came on to protect a two-run advantage in the ninth and got into trouble as he allowed two consecutive one-out singles that put runners on the corners. The White Sox then dropped down a sacrifice bunt to score the tying run. Finnegan escaped further damage, but the Tigers went on to lose in the 10th as Drew Anderson blew another one-run lead. The Tigers’ bullpen is in complete shambles at the moment.

Melton walked one and struck out one on the night. He needed just 89 pitches (57 strikes) to cruise through seven innings in this one, with the lone tally against him coming on an RBI double by Miguel Vargas in the third. Melton got six whiffs on the night — three on his slider — while posting a CSW of 19 percent. He exited with a 2-1 lead and in line for a victory, but the Tigers’ bullpen couldn’t hang on for him. He now sports a brilliant 1.42 ERA and 0.95 WHIP over 12 2/3 innings through his first two starts on the season. He’ll do battle against the Rays his next time out in Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

Lucas Giolito left a center-cut fastball at the top of the zone and Mead pulverized it to left center, landing it about three rows back. He added a walk in the ninth to put the tying run at the plate, but the Nationals batters couldn’t find the big hit against Mason Miller. Don’t look now, but Mead is hitting .286/.417/.571 with four homers over his last seven games. He’s developed into an interesting NL-only league or deep league option since the Nationals sent Brady House down a few weeks ago and started giving Mead everyday playing time.

You can’t be surprised about the control at this point -- Giolito has walked 12 in 12 2/3 innings over his first three starts in the big leagues this year. Considering the seven hard-hit balls, Giolito was lucky to escape this game with only four earned runs allowed. He did whiff 28 percent of batters that actually swung, but when you prove that wild, major leaguers can just wait for something juicy. We can’t recommend using him against the Phillies next week.