MLB Player News

Haley’s DFA made room for John Axford on the 40-man roster. The Axford signing was announced on Sunday. Haley, 23, spent the 2013 season with Double-A Akron, posting a 4.70 ERA in 44 innings spanning 39 relief appearances. He struck out 46 and unintentionally walked 38 batters.

And so ends the Soler suspension drama. The 34-year-old was suspended for seven games last Wednesday, but appealed the suspension and continued playing. While fantasy managers waited to see when the suspension would be official, Soler went 6-for-29 with three home runs, eight RBI, and six runs scored. Soler can return on Sunday against the Padres, but get him out of your lineups now if you can.

It was reported last week that Antonacci was going to be promoted, and then he wasn’t, but now he is again. The 23-year-old was moved to the outfield this season to expedite his path to the big leagues and has hit .313/.500/.479 with two home runs, seven RBI, and five steals in 14 games at Triple-A. He has just a 29 percent hard-hit rate this season with just a 22 percent fly ball rate, so don’t expect too much power production right away. However, he has a tremendous feel for the strike zone, good contact ability, and posted 48 steals last season, so there could be tons of batting average and speed value here. Just remember that he doesn’t play for a great team, so the counting stats may also leave a little to be desired.

With both Harrison Bader (hamstring) and Jared Oliva (wrist) landing on the injured list, the Giants need to change up their outfield. Brennan and Drew Gilbert were both called up on Wednesday, and it seems likely that Brennan will most likely serve as the fourth outfielder for now.

With Harrison Bader (hamstring) landing on the injured list, it will be Gilbert getting a shot to take his place. The 25-year-old is hitting .289/.389/.400 with one home run and 11 runs scored in 11 games at Triple-A. He struggled in his first MLB opportunity last year, but he should get a chance to start in center field in the short-term.

We’ve seen quite a few hamate bone fractures this year, so we have a good sense of the recovery timeline. It should be about 6-8 weeks before Oliva could be in the mix to be back up with San Francisco.

Bader has been battling some hamstring soreness since spring training and was removed from the lineup earlier this week. It seems like the Giants are going to give the veteran a chance to fully shut down and make sure his hamstring is healed before getting back on the field.

Backhus was sent to Triple-A just a week ago, but will be back with Zach Pop (calf) landing on the injured list. The 28-year-old left-hander has allowed three runs on four hits in three innings for the Phillies with a 4/1 K/BB ratio.

Pop filled in as the opener for Andrew Painter (migraine) on Sunday but has not pitched since. Now we know why. As of now, we’re not expecting this to be a long absence.

Mathews also allowed just one hit and three walks while striking out eight. It was his best start of the season, but he does still sit with a 5.56 ERA on the year. He’ll need to string a few more of these together before being in the mix for a call-up.

Tong did strike out 10 in this one, but he also walked three and allowed two home runs. The 22-year-old has missed plenty of bats so far this season with a 23/10 K/BB ratio in 15 1/3 innings, but he has also allowed 15 runs (12 earned) on 11 hits. He’ll need to keep working on getting the command in check.