MLB Player News

The Diamondbacks have confirmed the report. It was expected that some players would opt out of playing this year due to COVID-19 and Leake is the first. The specifics behind his decision aren’t clear. Players who are considered “high risk” will still get paid and receive service time. This doesn’t apply to someone who might have a high-risk situation with a family member at home. Leake was set to make a $16 million prorated this season -- around $5 million -- and his contract includes a $5 million buyout for 2021. The buyout won’t be impacted by him not playing this year. Regardless of the circumstances, you can’t blame any player who would prefer to sit out this year. Leake was set to begin the season with a rotation spot, but now presumably Merrill Kelly and Alex Young will compete for the fifth spot. This is assuming Zac Gallen already has a spot locked up.

Pozo entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Thomas Saggese who had pinch-run for Ivan Herrera earlier in the contest. He made the most of his lone at-bat, ambushing a first-pitch fastball from Steven Cruz and punching it into right field to plate Nathan Church with the game-winning run. The 28-year-old backstop is now just 7-for-27 (.259) with five RBI in his limited action with the Cardinals.

Walker got the Cardinals on the board with a game-tying, 409-foot (104.5 mph EV) two-run shot off of Michael Wacha. He also singled twice in the ballgame. The dynamic 23-year-old outfielder has been one of the biggest surprises in all of baseball this season, slashing a robust .303/.376/.594 with 13 homers, 34 RBI and seven stolen bases through his first 186 plate appearances.

May also issued four free passes while striking out three in the ballgame. The Royals scratched out a pair of runs against him in the fourth inning, then added another on a ground out in the sixth that tied things up at 3-3. May got eight whiffs on 91 pitches on the night while posting a CSW of 23 percent. He’ll carry an underwhelming 4.81 ERA and 1.42 WHIP into Thursday’s tilt against the Pirates.

Collins plated a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning that increased the Royals’ early lead to 2-0. He tacked on another with an RBI ground out in the sixth that made it a 3-3 ballgame. For the season, the 28-year-old outfielder is slashing an uninspiring .225/.345/.342 with three homers, 15 RBI and a pair of stolen bases (in five attempts).

The veteran right-hander struck out five batters in the ballgame while issuing only one base on balls. All of the damage done against him came via the long ball as Jordan Walker socked a two-run dinger in the fourth inning and Pedro Pages added a solo shot in the fifth. Wacha got 12 swings and misses on 87 pitches on the night, posting a strong CSW of 33 percent. He’ll try to get back in the win column as he brings an outstanding 2.83 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and a 47/18 K/BB ratio (57 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Red Sox.

Megill faced the minimum of three batters on Friday and struck out Royce Lewis to end the game. Megill’s save comes two days after Abner Uribe notched his ninth save of the season, with Uribe making an appearance in the eighth inning of this one. While we don’t quite know the reason manager Pat Murphy elected to flip the roles for his relievers in this one, we’ll assume Uribe is still the preferred option to close out games.

Lewis drove home Luke Keaschall in the bottom of the seventh inning for his 13th RBI on the season. The veteran third baseman continues to struggle at the dish this month, going 3-for-31 on the month while slashing .097/.194/.129. Lewis can continue to be left on waiver wires until he turns a corner.

Montgomery’s 12th homer of the season came in the second inning off of Cubs starter Edward Cabrera, who hung a changeup over the middle of the plate, which Montgomery deposited into right-center field. Montgomery has now homered in back-to-back games and three times in his last five.

Not often you go 4-for-5 and get outshined by a teammate, but here we are. With the Phillies staked to an early 6-0 hole, Harper plinked three singles into the shallow outfield before unleashing a 388-foot ‘single’ off the top of the right-center field wall off Gregory Soto that tied the game in the top of the ninth. The 33-year-old superstar is now hitting .282/.372/.534 in his first 34 games of the year, with 10 homers and two stolen bases.

Kelly continues to swing a hot bat for the Cubs, and is now slashing .281/.324/.313 on the month. The veteran catcher drove in his first run of the night in the fourth inning when he singled home Ian Happy, and later drove in Alex Bregman from third on another RBI single in the seventh inning. In a four-run eighth inning for the Cubs, Kelly doubled with the bases loaded to drive home both Bregman and Seiya Suzuki, to put the finishing touches on one of his best nights at the dish. Kelly has had a decent month, but has yet to homer and has only one extra-base hit to show for his efforts over that span.