MLB Player News

The 26-year-old has spent the past four seasons toiling in the minor leagues in the Cardinals organization. In 2015, he posted a 4.52 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 113/29 K/BB ratio over 157 1/3 innings at Triple-A Memphis. He wasn’t going to get a chance with the Cardinals given their incredibly deep and talented rotation, so he’ll explore when will likely be a much more lucrative opportunity overseas.

Young hit his third homer of the season in the top of the first inning off Robbie Snelling to give the Nationals an early 3-0 lead. It would be the only hit of the night for Young, whose homer proved to be all the Nationals would need to down the Marlins in a game that turned into a pitchers’ duel over the final eight innings. Despite providing a key homer, Young remains well off the fantasy radar at this time.

Griffin’s fifth pitch of the game was a middle-high fastball to Xavier Edwards. Edwards got every bit of said pitch, smashing it 420 feet into deep center to cut the Nationals’ lead to 3-1. He would then allow a double to Otto Lopez in the next at-bat, with Lopez coming around to score on an error a few plays later. Griffin would manage to escape the inning with the lead still intact and would go on to pitch six scoreless innings to pick up his fourth win of the season. Now sitting with a 4-1 record on the year and boasting a 2.12 ERA, Griffin remains one of the best stories in baseball during the early portion of the season. He’ll look to pick up his fifth win in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday against the Reds.

Rafaela gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning when he took a first-pitch slider from Jesse Scholtens to left field for his third homer of the season. Rafaela has now hit safely in four of his last five games and is slashing .321/.387/.536 in his last seven games with two homers and six RBI.

Early couldn’t have asked for a much better outing in this one. The lefty was in command of the strike zone all night and held the Rays to just four hits, all of which were singles. He managed to work his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning when he forced Junior Caminero to ground into a double play to end the frame, but it was mostly smooth sailing for Early on Friday. It was a much-needed rebound after he allowed five earned runs in his previous start. Early will look to build on his best outing of the season in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday against the Phillies.

Kurtz capped off a three-run rally in the fifth inning with a two-run triple off of Kyle Bradish that gave the Athletics a 3-1 lead they would never surrender. Kurtz also singled in the ballgame. He has disappointed a bit relative to his massive expectations, but he’s still slashing a healthy .259/.415/.422 with five homers, 20 RBI and four stolen bases through his first 171 plate appearances on the season.

Wilson ignited a three-run rally in the fifth inning by reaching on an infield single to start the inning. He then scored on an RBI single off the bat of Zack Gelof. The 24-year-old shortstop also added a valuable insurance run with an RBI single of his own in the eighth. On the season, he’s now hitting a solid .299/.319/.409 with three homers, 19 RBI and a pair of stolen bases.

Perkins was summoned with a 4-2 lead to protect in the ninth. He walked Adley Rutschman to open the inning then punched out Pete Alonso and Dylan Beavers. Rutschman then advanced to second on defensive indifference before scoring on a two-out RBI single by Samuel Basallo. That’s when Hogan Harris was brought on to get out of it. After blowing a save earlier in the week, this can’t help Perkins’ job security.

Lopez struck out five opposing hitters in the ballgame while issuing a pair of walks. All of the damage done against him came via the long ball, with Pete Alonso launching a solo shot in the fourth inning and Adley Rutschman repeating the feat in the sixth. The 28-year-old southpaw got six whiffs on 91 offerings on the day, posting an underwhelming CSW of 27 percent. He’ll carry an uninspiring 6.11 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and a 28/24 K/BB ratio (35 1/3 innings) into Thursday’s showdown against the Cardinals.

Alonso opened the scoring in the ballgame with a 373-foot (107.0 mph EV) on a first-pitch changeup from Jacob Lopez in the fourth inning. That would be his only hit in the ballgame. For the season, the 31-year-old slugger is now slashing .226/.327/.459 to go with eight long balls and 22 RBI.

The 29-year-old right-hander allowed just five hits on the evening while issuing on base on balls. All of the damage done against him came in the fifth inning as Zack Gelof smacked an RBI single and Nick Kurtz added a two-run triple. Aside from that, Bradish was brilliant. He got 15 swings and misses on 96 pitches on the night, registering a strong CSW of 35 percent. Now 1-5 on the season, he’ll look to further improve upon his 4.83 ERA and 1.66 WHIP when he takes on the Yankees at home on Wednesday.