MLB Player News

It was reported a month ago that Gonzalez and the Phillies had agreed to a six-year, $48 million contract, but the deal was never finalized. It’s not clear what the holdup is, but the agreement could wind up being for less than the original figure.

Jerar Encarnacion will make his first start of the season in place of Schmitt, who is day-to-day.

The absence is again due to the Achilles tendinitis that cost him Tuesday’s game before he played the last two days. He’ll probably be back in there Saturday. Mark Vientos is stepping in for him, which makes this his fourth straight start after going the first four games without one.

The Kevin Kelly offering hit him near his back elbow. X-rays were negative, though as we saw with Jordan Lawlar, that’s not necessarily everything. James Outman replaced him as a pinch-runner and in center field. He would be his primary replacement if Buxton misses some time.

Griffin’s double was a 106-mph liner to left-center against Kyle Bradish as part of a four-run second inning. He knocked in Ryan O’Hearn and then scored on a Jared Triolo single. He walked his second time up, struck out in his third plate appearance (despite previously getting a 2-2 pitch overturned to stay alive) and then had a weak groundout his last time up. All in all, it was a very successful day for the 19-year-old.

Keller is on the board with his first win in eight starts dating back to August. He allowed six hits and walked four today, but he did a much better job of spreading things around than Orioles starter Kyle Bradish did. As a result, the Pirates won 5-4 despite getting outhit 9-6 and outhomered 1-0. Keller will face the Padres next week.

It’s just speculation, but it might that the Pirates used Dennis Santana in eighth and Soto in the ninth today just so that they’d have a lefty facing Henderson, who already had two hits in the game. Santana was perfect in the eighth, and Soto struck out both batters he faced before the long ball. He then fanned Pete Alonso to end the contest. We’re not sure why the Pirates seem to have this much faith in Soto, but it hasn’t cost them yet. Santana is still probably the favorite for saves in Pittsburgh, but it looks like it will be an annoying situation for a while.

Bradish gave up four straight hits after a walk in the second, leading to all four runs. He was excellent otherwise in striking out six and allowing just two other hits, but with the Orioles being careful with him in his first full year back from Tommy John, he was lifted after 81 pitches. He’ll face the White Sox next week.

Nick Gonzales had started all six games coming into this one and is off to a nice start offensively (.333/.357/.407 in 28 PA), but he was on the bench in favor of Triolo at third with Konnor Griffin installed at short. It turned out to be a good choice, too. Still, the Pirates could do a bit of an offense/defense platoon with the two depending on who they have on the mound. Triolo is a Gold Glove-quality defender at third, but he doesn’t offer much upside with the bat.

Henderson is 7-for-30 with two homers and six RBI through seven games. He’s been getting the ball into the air more than usual, which could lead to more homers but maybe a weaker average over the course of the season. His current average launch angle is 20 degrees, up from 9.5 for his career.

Butto left Wednesday’s game with discomfort and was placed on the IL on Thursday. The Giants will have a better idea how much time he might miss after the procedure.