MLB Player News

That’s what Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski told Lynn Henning of the Detroit News on Thursday morning. Rondon, 21, posted a stellar 1.53 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 66/26 K/BB ratio in 53 innings this past season between four different levels of the Tigers’ minor league system. He’s a major fantasy sleeper for 2013.

Kudrna was added to Kansas City’s 40-man roster last November and was trending towards making it to the big leagues later this year. The 23-year-old righty wound up making just one start for Triple-A Omaha this season. He was considered one of the better pitching prospects in the Royals’ system coming into the year.

Foster returns to the big leagues to fortify Baltimore’s bullpen ahead of Friday’s doubleheader against the Astros. The 27-year-old rookie compiled a pedestrian 6.35 ERA and 7/5 K/BB ratio over 5 2/3 innings across four appearances for the Orioles earlier this season.

Rogers will get some time to recover and work on things out of the spotlight after struggling to a bloated 4.75 ERA. 1.45 WHIP and 27/10 K/BB ratio across 30 1/3 innings through six starts to open the season. He was scheduled to start against the Yankees on Saturday. The 28-year-old southpaw’s ugly first month is a tough development for the Orioles, and fantasy managers, after he looked like a certified ace with a 1.81 ERA (3.40 xERA), 0.90 WHIP and 103/29 K/BB ratio over 109 2/3 innings last year. He can be dropped in shallow mixed leagues, but the chance that he makes some adjustments that lead to immediate improvement make him worth hanging onto in deeper fantasy formats.

Suárez returns to Baltimore as organizational relief depth after passing through waivers unclaimed and electing free agency. The 36-year-old journeyman was cut loose over the weekend in a roster crunch after compiling a respectable 3.46 ERA across 13 innings over five relief appearances this season. He’ll head to Triple-A Norfolk until injury or ineffectiveness opens the door for another stint with the Orioles.

The Jays only outhit the Red Sox 10-9, but they bunched theirs together, going 4-for-4 with RISP. Boston was 1-for-8 in those situations. Guerrero tops the majors with a .358 average, though Ildemaro Vargas is at .370 and is about to qualify for the list. He’s hit just two homers, but those should start to come. He has 12 barrels, putting him slightly ahead of his career rate in that category.

Lauer was supposed to lose his rotation spot to Trey Yesavage this week, but Max Scherzer’s IL stint gained him a reprieve, and he was successful while going through Boston’s lineup twice today, even though he allowed nine hard-hit balls and struck out just one in the process. Of course, he didn’t qualify for the win, even though he left with a 5-1 lead. That went to Brandon Fisher in relief. Lauer will likely start again next week against the Rays.

Well, the good news for Bello is that Garrett Crochet’s injury probably takes away the chance the Red Sox would pull him from the rotation after this. Really, though, Bello is deserving of a Triple-A stint. The defeat today leaves him 1-4 with a 9.12 ERA and a 17/15 K/BB in 25 2/3 innings. He’s due to face the Tigers next week.

Clement had 12 homers in 2024 and nine last season, but it took him 30 games to get one this year. Of course, that’s not an issue while he’s batting .301. The homer, though, turned out to be his lone hit in the series against Boston, as he finished 1-for-11 with two walks. He was working on a 10-game hitting streak going into the series.

Valenzuela had been 5-for-34 with a 14/1 K/BB as a part-time replacement for Alejandro Kirk before his little breakout today. Although both catchers are switch-hitters, it seems like the Jays prefer Tyler Heineman against lefties, leaving Valenzuela starting about half of the time against righties for now.

One of his two outs today in Toronto was a fly to 370-foot left that would have been a homer in eight ballparks, including Fenway. Contreras is batting .262/.375/.486 and leading the Red Sox in homers, RBI (20) and runs scored (16).