MLB Player News

Whitley was removed from the Braves’ 40-man roster back in August and will now seek employment elsewhere. He’s struggled a bit after returning from Tommy John surgery last year.

Madrigal’s RBI hit was a grounder to second that the first baseman tried and failed to make a play on and on which the pitcher made no attempt to cover first. Madrigal then stole second afterwards for his first steal in two tries in 12 games since being called up. Madrigal is hitting the ball quite a bit harder than usual and yet has still struck out just twice in 39 plate appearances for the Angels. He might be on his way to reestablishing himself as a legitimate big leaguer, but it probably won’t be with enough homers and steals to make him much use outside of particularly deep formats.

Aldegheri walked three but generated a lot of soft contact in improving to 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA in two starts and four relief appearances. It’s still highly unlikely that he’ll be of use in mixed leagues going forward, as he is adept neither at generating strikeouts nor groundouts. He’ll face the Diamondbacks next.

Mitch Farris did the heavy lifting here, coming in with a 4-2 lead to start the seventh and getting eight outs before exiting with the bases loaded in the ninth. Zeferjahn walked the first batter he faced, forcing in a run, before striking out Cedric Mullins to end it. Unused tonight was nominal Angels closer Kirby Yates, even though he hadn’t pitched since Tuesday. The walk Zeferjahn issued was his 25th in 32 innings, which is why he isn’t serving as the Angels’ closer right now. Still, he’ll be a candidate for more saves if he’s able to cut down on the free passes.

McClanahan gave up three hits to score two runs in both the first and third innings, and the Rays opted to pull him after four, even though he seemed to be throwing pretty well and was at just 74 pitches. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of 21 batters and generated 14 whiffs with a 34 percent CSW. He also walked only one. It’s a disappointing result, but not one that rates as discouraging. He’ll likely face the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Most likely, if a Rays first baseman/DH is going to make the All-Star team, it’ll be Yandy Díaz. Aranda, though, has a case; he’s tied for the 11th in the majors with his 48 RBI, and he’s 21st with his .377 OBP. Interestingly, he’s come in at .376 there against lefties, but all of his power has come versus righties; he’s slugging .503 against them and .329 versus lefties.

It’s the first save for Morris since May 20th. The righty took the mound in Friday’s back-and-forth affair to secure the win for the Twins after manager Derek Shelton opted to go with Anthony Banda in the eighth inning in hopes of limiting further damage after the Cardinals took an 8-7 lead on an RBI single by José Fermín. Morris needed only nine pitches to get through the inning and induced a ground ball out to all three batters he faced.

Walker stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and laced a double to left center to bring in all three runs and put the Cardinals up 7-4. The 24-year-old righty continues to enjoy a career year and extended his hitting streak to nine games with his one-hit outing on Friday. Walker is slashing a blistering .348/.348/.587 on the month with seven extra-base hits and 12 RBI.

With two outs in the seventh inning and the Twins trailing 7-4, Clemens stepped to the plate with two men on and made the most of his moment when he blasted a three-run homer off reliever Ryne Stanek to tie the game at 7-7. It was the 10th homer of the season for Clemens, who has now homered four times in June and is slashing .303/.324/.667 on the month.

Emerson took a high Zack Littell fastball and deposited it in the right-center field stands, 407 feet away, to make it 5-0 Mariners early. The power has played so far for the rookie as he’s hitting .232/.312/.551 with five homers in his first 69 at-bats. The Mariners look smarter everyday for locking him up to an extension this offseason, though he probably won’t be a full fantasy force until he hits his way further up the order.

Ryan continues to display pinpoint command while keeping his team in position to win games. In a game that went back-and-forth all evening, Ryan held the Cardinals to just six hits on the night and exited the game with a 4-3 lead, but the Cardinals jumped all over the Twins bullpen after Ryan’s departure. He’ll look to pick up his fifth win of the season in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday against the Rangers.