MLB Player News

Watson was the 40th overall pick of the 2012 MLB Draft. He was suspended in September of 2014 for a violation of the minor league drug policy, and never advanced past Double-A in the Philadelphia organization.

Torkelson struck out in his other three at-bats tonight, but he had the biggest blow in the game after Jack Leiter faced the minimum through four innings. Riley Greene walked to start the fifth and then Torkelson sent a slider 388 feet to left-center. It’s Torkelson’s sixth homer of the year. The other five were all hit in consecutive games from Apr. 22-26.

Hurter was the Tigers’ third pitcher of the game, entering in the third inning. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two while throwing just 38 pitches to get his 10 outs. We’d still like to see what Hurter could do as a regular starter, but outings like this are as close as he gets in Detroit. Since debuting in 2024, he’s 14-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 126 1/3 innings over five starts and 62 relief appearances.

Leiter allowed five hits, walked one and struck out 10, which would seem to translate to giving up one or two runs. However, after four perfect innings, Leiter issued his one walk right before a Spencer Torkelson homer in the fifth. In the sixth, he gave up another run after a leadoff triple that Evan Carter nearly caught on a dive in center (and which would have been a single if he hadn’t missed it entirely) and a single. In the seventh, he allowed two singles before being pulled with two outs, and the Tigers went on to score four times in the inning. It truly was an encouraging showing from the 26-year-old Leiter, no matter what the line says. Still, he’s now 1-3 with a 5.45 ERA ahead of a start against the Cubs.

Hitting .216/.248/.388, Burger is back in negative WAR territory in 141 plate appearances this year after finishing there in 376 plate appearances last season. The Rangers don’t have any great alternatives, but it wouldn’t hurt to give Justin Foscue a look. He’s hitting .287/.407/.426 with as many walks as strikeouts (22 or each) in Triple-A. Burger, on the other hand, has a 43/5 K/BB ratio.

After a brief surge late last month took his OPS from .609 to .742, Machado came into this one 1-for-10 in his last three games. Still, he took Anthony Kay deep today to help the Padres salvage one of the three games in a home series against the White Sox. He now has five homers and 18 RBI on the season.

Canning left with a two-run lead, but since that was blown in the seventh, he didn’t get the victory. The Padres did prevail in the end, though. Canning allowed three hits, walked three and struck out seven. He averaged 94.7 mph with his fastball, up from 94.1 mph in his 16 starts with the Mets before he blew out of his Achilles’ tendon last season. He might offer a little mixed-league value in a nice situation for pitchers in San Diego. He’ll face St. Louis next time out.

Miller had been stuck on 10 saves for eight days, just because the Padres hadn’t presented him any opportunities. It was nice to see him fan three out of four batters today. He had struck out just two in his previous four innings.

Kay struck out five, so that’s an improvement. Through seven appearances this year, he has a 5.70 ERA and a poor 20/15 K/BB in 30 innings. He’s also hit five batters. The White Sox gave him a two-year deal, so they’ll want to stick with him. He’s looked like a middle reliever at best, however. He’ll face the Mariners next weekend.

One of the reasons the Mets were willing to part with Acuña over the winter was that he was already out of options at age 24, and the speedster has spent this season looking like he belongs in Triple-A. He’s hitting .169/.235/.182 with one extra-base hit in 86 plate appearances. Acuña has pretty good bat speed, doesn’t strike out all that much and can run with anyone, so the tools are there. He’s just not ready yet.

Eldridge will get another shot after batting .333/.445/.518 for Sacramento, but his return really complicates things, what with his replacement, Casey Schmitt, being arguably the Giants’ best player to date. All of the team’s veteran infielders are used to being everyday players, and it’s hard to imagine any will be happy sitting once or twice per week to make room for Eldridge at first and DH, even if it’s the right call for the team. Rodriguez has started at catcher, second base and in left field this year, so he offers a lot more versatility than Eldridge and will be an easier fit. Still, we’re not sure either rates a pickup in mixed leagues at this point. Eldridge has the potential, but he’ll stay the bench against lefties and possibly the occasional righty.