MLB Player News

Mazzoni elected to become a free agent after getting pushed off the Padres’ 40-man roster in late April, but returning to the same organization wound up as his best option. He got lit up for 22 runs -- 20 earned -- in just 8 2/3 innings last season with San Diego and needed shoulder surgery over the winter. There won’t be a promotion for him anytime soon.

Hoskins is a part-time player right now, but with Kyle Manzardo off to the kind of start that demands a demotion to Triple-A, it’s quite possible he’ll be a full-timer at some point. His .219/.367/.384 line isn’t all that great, but that .751 OPS is 250 points higher than Manzardo’s .498 mark.

Cantillo gave up two runs in the first and two in the fourth prior to his early exit after 69 pitches. It’s the first time this season that he’s given up four earned runs. Cantillo still has a nice 3.67 ERA, but because of his inability to work deep into games, he’s stuck on one win, even though the Guardians, who prevailed tonight, are 5-2 in his starts. It a big problem in terms of amassing fantasy value, but he still rates as a pretty good play against the Royals next week.

Smith was asked to get four outs for the first time this season and did so without incident. He’ll probably be available to close again Saturday after throwing 22 pitches tonight.

Ginn left his last start with a stinger in his shoulder. He pitched on four days’ rest tonight anyway, but his velocity was down some and he just didn’t impress with his control or stuff. This leaves him with a 4.30 ERA in five starts and three relief appearances on the season. He’s slated to face the Phillies on Thursday, but we wouldn’t be too surprised if the A’s tried someone else.

DeLauter’s first four-hit game extended his hitting streak to six games. He hit a rough patch in the middle of last month, but he’s back up to .286/.372/.524 now, and he leads the Guardians with 20 RBI.

If the A’s had it to do over again, they probably would have sent Rooker on a brief rehab assignment before activating him from the IL, but it looks like he’s fine now after going 0-for-13 in his first three games back from an oblique strain. Besides the two hits, he had a 104-mph groundout and a 97-mph lineout tonight.

Pasquantino’s bat speed numbers are still well down from the last two years, but he managed to hit a couple of balls 107 mph tonight, including one that turned into a 404-foot homer. They were his third and fourth hardest-hit balls of the year. His high this year is 108.1 mph, which would have checked in as his 31st highest last year. He topped out at 114.4 mph then. He’s currently batting .176/.279/.352 with four homers in 129 plate appearances.

Ragans fanned eight in the game. He allowed just four hard-hit balls, but three of them turned into homers, including a 359-footer from Randy Arozarena that, according to Statcast, would have stayed in play in 22 of 30 ballparks. With tonight’s barrage, Ragans has given up 10 homers in 32 1/3 innings. In his lone full season as a starter in 2024, he allowed a total of 15 in 186 1/3 innings. He’ll almost surely fare better going forward, but his stock is definitely down a bit from the start of the year. He’ll take a 5.29 ERA into his next start versus the Guardians.

Erceg had some velocity issues last weekend against the Angels, but he’s been fine there in his last two outings, earning saves both games. If Carlos Estévez looks good during his rehab assignment, it’s pretty likely that he’ll get another chance to close for the Royals. Still, we’d say Erceg is the better bet of the two for the rest of the season.

Woo gave up 11 hard-hit balls and most of them were in the air, leading to a couple of homers. He also gave up a couple of more barrels that fortunately turned into outs. Woo’s velocity is as good as it has ever been, and his walk rate remains excellent. His strikeout rate is well down, but he’s still missing a fair number of bats. Although his ERA is up to 4.61 after this, he still seems like a good bet to be a top-10 SP the rest of the way. He’ll face the Braves at home next week.