MLB Player News

“Word is Dodgers will go five years, close to $50 million,” a general manager told Gammons. “If so, he’ll be a Dodger.” Gonzalez, a 26-year-old right-hander, left Cuba earlier this year and was declared a free agent by MLB on Monday. He’s expected to be nearly major league-ready but seems unlikely to make an impact this season. The Braves, Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, Phillies, Blue Jays, Twins, and Marlins have also been connected to him.

Snelling looks ready to face hitters at the highest level after another impressive outing on the doorstep of the majors where he allowed just three baserunners and needed just 75 pitches to navigate six frames. The 22-year-old southpaw lowered his ERA to 1.89 in the process and boasts a sublime 31/9 K/BB ratio across 19 innings over four starts. He’s exceeded seven punchouts in three straight starts. It’s only a matter of time before he gets the nod to replace underwhelming veteran Chris Paddack in Miami’s rotation. Snelling should be stashed in deeper mixed leagues and will be worthy of a speculative roster spot in shallow formats once he’s promoted.

Arias has homered in three consecutive contests and leads the entire minors in batting average (.538), on-base percentage (629) and OPS (1.591). The 20-year-old shortstop prodigy has displayed some of the strongest plate skills in the lower minors over the last few years and he’s clearly added some strength and bat speed this season, emerging as one of the more intriguing prospects in the fantasy landscape. He’s highly unlikely to develop into an elite power source at the highest level, but pairing double-digit over-the-fence pop and steals with an above-average hit tool and elite defense set an extremely high fantasy floor. It’s extremely early for definitive statements, but Arias is on pace to finish the year as one of the top prospects in baseball.

It’s hard to fully capture how dominant Hernandez has been in his professional debut. The numbers speak for themselves as he’s compiled a microscopic 0.75 ERA with a 23/3 K/BB ratio over 12 innings. The 19-year-old, taken sixth overall in last year’s MLB Draft, already looks like one of the most polished young arms in baseball and could reach Double-A by the end of the season. A rapid ascent to the majors like collegiate arms Chase Burns or Trey Yesavage last year seems unlikely, but the stuff is there for him to debut at some point next year.

Jung’s doubles were hit 102, 99 and 105 mph, and he also had a 99-mph GIDP. Delivering three hits in back-to-back games has taken him from .231/.298/.288 to .290/.343/.452 on the young season. Tonight’s game was his first ever with three extra-base hits.

DeGrom threw 32 pitches in the first and 88 through four while allowing four hits, walking two and striking out three. It’s likely that another team would have managed at least a couple of runs off him, as he wasn’t particularly sharp. The best the Mariners could do, though, was deny him a victory. DeGrom figures to face the Pirates on Thursday.

This was a 3-0 game after eighth, but the Rangers scored twice in the ninth to take away the save situation. It didn’t appear that Jakob Junis ever warmed up, so this probably would have been a save chance for Latz if the Rangers hadn’t scored. Cole Winn pitched a hitless eighth for a hold.

Gilbert struck out seven and walked one, but he fell to 1-3 because his team can’t hit right now. The Mariners were shut out for the second time in his five starts this season. They totaled one run in his other loss. He’ll face the A’s next week, which should bode well.

Burger has raised his average from .232 to .275 by going 9-for-24 with three homers and 10 RBI in his last six games. We’d still expect him to wind up closer to .232 at season’s end, but even then, he might be enough of a run producer to contribute in mixed leagues.

Murakami took a middle-middle fastball from Elvis Alvarado and hit it 431 feet to center. It was a bad pitch, but it was a 98-mph bad pitch, and given the questions about Murakami’s ability to hit MLB velocity, it was an encouraging development. Murakami is batting .200/.361/.477 with six homers through 83 plate appearances.

Martin struck out four and walked two. He allowed just three hits despite giving up nine hard-hit balls. The win makes him 3-1 with a 2.16 ERA and a 19/6 K/BB in 25 innings, but he’s still giving up too much hard contact and too many flyballs to be very interesting in fantasy leagues. He’ll face the Diamondbacks next week.