MLB Player News

Tavarez, a Rule 5 pick, will rejoin the Red Sox organization if he clears waivers, though the Orioles are believed to have some interest in trading for his rights. The soon-to-be 25-year-old outfielder slashed a marvelous .335/.379/.506 with seven homers, 47 RBI and 18 steals over the course of 385 at-bats with Double-A Portland in 2016.

The 20-year-old Nimmala returned to High-A Vancouver to begin this year, but he wasn’t left there long. He hit .241/.360/.382 with four homers and two steals in 22 games. Nimmala probably won’t be ready before 2028, but he could be the Jays’ shortstop of the future.

Chourio finished the at-bat, but he didn’t come back out for defense. He was playing in his third Triple-A game as he makes his way back from a broken hand.

Matthews put three on the board and probably kept a couple off it with a fantastic jumping catch against the center field wall to rob Willson Contreras of a double in the fourth. A week ago, it seemed like a given that Matthews would head back to Triple-A once the Astros got healthier. However, he’s gone 9-for-21 with two homers and six RBI in his last five games, raising his OPS from .497 to .725.

The Red Sox left eight men on base in Arrighetti’s final three innings of work, with Arrighetti getting a big assist from Brice Matthews on a jumping catch at the wall in center. Arrighetti, who has won all four of his starts, lowered his ERA to 1.96 today, even as his WHIP jumped to 1.30. He’s a big flyball pitcher who still walks a few too many, so mixed-league fantasy value might not last. He’s slated to face the Reds next weekend.

Enyel De Los Santos, the Astros’ most frequent closer of late, came into this one to begin the sixth and was charged with one run in 1 2/3 innings of an inning (the one run came after he departed with in the seventh with two outs and a runner on first). That left Kai-Wei Teng in a setup role and King to close. The lefty needed just six pitches to put together a one-two-three inning.

Teng, who started and pitched three innings Wednesday, appeared to be the likely choice to start Sunday’s game. Instead, he’s back in the pen for now, and Cody Bolton will start. Teng has been the Astros’ best reliever with a 2.57 ERA in 21 innings.

Early has usually been able to pitch his way out of trouble this season, but he finally gave up a big blow on Brice Matthews’ three-run homer today. The previous four homers he gave up this year were all solo shots, and the league was batting just .140 against him with runners on. Early’s 3.79 ERA is still fine, but his 20.5 percent strikeout rate, his 11.2 percent walk rate and 40 percent groundball rate are all mediocre. He needs to do better in two of those if he expects to keep that ERA under 4.00 going forward. He’ll face the Rays next week.

No reason was immediately given. Mitch Garver will catch in his place.

Hao-Yu Lee replaced him at second base against the Rangers. Torres had been thrown out on a play at the plate earlier in the game.

Ozuna broke through with his first multi-hit game since April 18, collecting three hits, scoring three times, and driving in three runs as the Pirates blew out the Reds. The 35-year-old slugger is hitting .185/.254/.306 with three homers and 13 RBI across 118 plate appearances.