MLB Player News

It’s not clear when, or if, he’ll return this season. Nelson is batting .250/.280/.383 in 180 at-bats this season.

Back from the birth of his daughter, Rasmussen allowed only one hit, a Jazz Chisholm Jr. double, and walked none in the 76-pitch outing. He has a 1.33 ERA and a 17/2 K/BB through 16 innings over three starts. Next up for him is a start Saturday against the Pirates.

Bryan Baker, Griffin Jax, Ian Seymour and Hunter Bigge were all shelved today after pitching both Friday and Saturday, leaving the Rays to try to survive without the top half of their pen. It worked out in the end, as they hung on to win 5-4 after Drew Rasmussen’s six scoreless frames. Englert is sporting a 10.57 ERA in five appearances, so don’t expect additional saves here.

Schlittler allowed four singles and a triple in the first two innings, producing all three runs. He finished with an impressive 21 whiffs in the 85-pitch outing, so as far as off days go, this wasn’t so bad. He’s 2-1 with a 2.49 ERA ahead of a start against the Royals.

Simpson has hit the ball on the ground 60 percent of the time as a major leaguer, but it was all liners and flies today. The triple down the right field line and his one out were both projected at 321 feet, making them his third and fourth 300-foot flies of the season. With the Rays elevating him to the leadoff spot against righties, his stock is well up since the start of the season.

Grisham is 6-for-45 with no homers so far, but he’s been terribly unlucky. Including two of three today, 22 of his 35 balls in play have been hard hit and four have been barrels. His 17-percent strikeout rate is also a great improvement over his career mark of 26 percent. Things should turn around for him.

Bolton was clearly tight and was unable to continue after walking the bases loaded in the second inning. The right-hander was only starting because of the injuries to the Houston staff, and it seems more likely than not that Bolton will be placed on the injured list prior to Monday’s game against Seattle.

Pivetta will assuredly undergo imaging to determine his status going forward, but obviously, this is potentially a significant injury for the right-hander. The 33-year-old has been one of the more durable hurlers in baseball in the decade, but a trip to the injured list now seems more likely than not. Stay tuned for further updates on Pivetta’s status in the coming days.

Those just seeing the final score might have worried about Soriano’s ERA today, but all of those runs came against Sam Bachman, Nick Sandlin and Drew Pomeranz after he exited. Soriano allowed just two hits and walked three in his fourth career 10-strikeout game. He didn’t give up a single hit or hard-hit ball on any of the 62 sinkers and four-seamers that he threw today. Soriano is the first pitcher to win four times this year, and his 0.33 ERA is the best among qualified pitchers. Given that he still walks guys and allows quite a bit of hard contact (just not so much today), he’s probably not going to spend the entire season as a Cy Young contender. He’s never lacked for talent, though.