MLB Player News

Barnette dealt with shoulder issues this year and made just 15 appearances between Triple-A and the majors before finishing the year on the restricted list. He’ll look for a new opportunity elsewhere.

What a game from Duran, who really needed a big performance like this. The 29-year-old is still slashing just .189/.262/.331 on the season, but he does have five home runs and 10 steals. His three-run blast in the ninth inning gave the Red Sox a big cushion and allowed them to rest closer Aroldis Chapman. We’re going to need to see a few more games like this to say that Duran has truly turned things around, but he does at least seem like a good bet to replicate his 16 home runs and 24 steals from last season.

Both of Contreras’ hits were singles, but he knocked in the first run of the game in the first and now has 30 RBI on the season. The Red Sox offense may not have been great so far this season, but Contreras has been a great addition.

Thomas is hitting just .212/.355/.271 on the season and has been relegated to playing mainly against left-handed pitchers. He was also caught stealing in this one. We’re not sure he’s going to find his way into any more playing time.

The statline may seem solid, but Suarez threw only 57 percent of his pitches for strikes while walking three and striking out three. After allowing back-to-back hits to start the fifth inning, Suarez was lifted from the game, even if one of those hitters was thrown out trying to take an extra base. It wasn’t a great outing, but Suarez was able to limit damage and will now take a 2.40 ERA into a tough start against the Braves next week.

Bryan King started the ninth inning after throwing nine pitches in the eighth. He retired the first two batters of the final frame before allowing a single to Orlando Arcia that forced him out of the game. Abreu came in and promptly hit Luke Keaschall and then threw a wild pitch to get runners on second and third. However, he responded by getting Byron Buxton to foul out to third base to end the game and secure his third save of the season. It hasn’t been easy, but Abreu is pitching better of late and is clearly back in the saves mix until Josh Hader returns in a few weeks.

It seems two pitches are sufficient when they’re as good as Burns’ heater and slider. Trea Turner’s solo homer in the third was the only damage against the 22-year-old. Burns reached triple digits with his fastball four times tonight and got 18 whiffs, 14 of which came on the 33 sliders he threw. Of note is that the last pitch Burns threw tonight produced a comebacker from Bryce Harper that got him pretty good on the leg but which he still turned into an out to end the sixth. His outing was over regardless, but no word yet if the bruise he’s sporting will pose any future problems. He’s 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA, and he’ll face the Mets next time out.

Santillan got Trea Turner to hit a foul popup and then struck out Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm in his first one-two-three inning since Apr. 18. He entered tonight with a 16.62 ERA and five homers allowed in 4 1/3 innings this month, making it pretty surprising that Terry Francona saved him for the ninth. Since it worked, consider Santillan to be in the driver’s seat for saves in Cincinnati, at least until he blows another one.

The runs came in the fourth after the Reds loaded the bases with no outs and then settled for a pair of sac flies. As it turned out, that was enough to drop Luzardo to 3-4 on the season. It’s the sixth time in 10 starts that Luzardo has allowed two runs or fewer. Unfortunately, he’s given up 24 earned runs in the other four. He’ll likely face the Padres on Monday.

Ouch. Hayes is hitting a pretty incredible .142/.195/.225 through 128 plate appearances. Statcast thinks he’s been extremely unlucky, as he entered tonight with a .262 xBA and a .417 xSLG. He has underachieved some on his xSLG previously, but never like this, and his average and xBA have always matched up very closely prior to this year. Hayes also has a career-best 16 percent strikeout rate. So, he’s probably not going to continue to be anywhere near this bad. It’s just hard to sell Reds fans on that idea right now.

García has fanned 15 times during a 1-for-29 slump that’s dropped his OPS to .612. He hasn’t fared too badly when he’s made contact and he’s sporting a 50 percent hard-hit rate, but this is ugly right now. He should be in the lineup against a left-hander on Wednesday, but if this continues, maybe he’ll do some sitting in favor of Otto Kemp against righties this weekend.