MLB Player News

Allen signed with the Cubs in late July but never did get a shot. The former Cleveland closer posted a rough 6.26 ERA, 1.91 WHIP, and 29/20 K/BB ratio in 23 innings last season with the Angels.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said afterwards that McKinstry was going to get Thursday’s series finale off anyways. The versatile 30-year-old is officially day-to-day after a collision with Royals rookie Jac Caglianone led to his early exit. It’ll likely be Wenceel Pérez getting another start on Thursday in his place.

Pérez was 0-for-10 since replacing Parker Meadows on Detroit’s roster before coming up with a big fly as a pinch-hitter for an ailing Zach McKinstry tonight. It was his 14th career homer in 820 plate appearances since he debuted in 2024. Pérez figures to start at least half of the time for now, with an everyday role possible if he gets hot.

Flaherty gave up two hits, walked three and struck out seven. His velocity was down in his previous two starts, but he was back up to 93.7 mph with his fastball tonight. Control still seems like a concern, though. He was credited with strikes on just 53 of 97 pitches tonight, and he has a walk rate of 16 percent through four turns. He’ll be quite the risky play in mixed leagues next week with starts in Boston and Cincinnati.

Jansen gave up a two-out single before getting Lane Thomas to fly out to end the game. He’s 4-for-5 saving games, having allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings to date. He’ll probably get Thursday off after this, which could lead to a save chance for Kyle Finnegan or Will Vest.

Lugo matched his season high with seven strikeouts. He had a rough time for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, but his ERA is sitting at 1.48 ERA right now. He’s pitched into the seventh in three of four starts, and he’s yet to allow a homer after giving up 27 in 26 starts last year. He’ll face the Orioles and Angels in home starts next week.

His removal came after he gifted Vinnie Pasquantino a triple in the eighth. Carpenter dropped the fly to right-center because he was distracted by center fielder Wenceel Pérez, who was also in line to make a play on the ball before backing off a little too late. Especially with Parker Meadows out, it’d be nice if Carpenter could play in the outfield regularly against righties, which leads to a stronger infield defense with Zach McKinstry at third and Colt Keith DHing. However, as poorly as Carpenter has fared so far, using him at DH, Keith at third and McKinstry in the outfield might be a better alignment.

Caglianone’s second career triple led off the third. He had a bit of a collision with Zach McKinstry at third, leading to a delay so McKinstry’s sore arm could be looked at. Four innings later, Caglianone again collided with McKinstry while running to third on a grounder that McKinstry was fielding. Again, McKinstry took the worse of it, hobbling his way off the field. When Caglianone collected his third hit in the ninth, he was removed for a pinch-runner for the safety of Detroit’s fielders. McKinstry had already exited at that point, though, getting pinch-hit for in the eighth. Caglianone’s nice game raised his average from .229 to .275. Still, he remains without an RBI through 58 plate appearances this season.

DeShields spent time in Washington’s system last year and hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since getting into 25 games for the Reds back in 2021. The 33-year-old speedster was one of the most ballyhooed stolen base prospects to reach the big leagues when he broke into the majors with the Rangers back in 2015. He never topped 30 steals in a single season, but still managed to pile up 111 in 601 games over a seven-year span.

It may be a serious understatement to say Hoerner is on fire at the dish, with five multi-hit performances in his last eight games since April 7. The 28-year-old second baseman took Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo deep into the left-center field seats for his first round-tripper of the season in the fifth inning to give the Cubs a commanding 5-1 lead at the time. He also added two more hits and a stolen base, just for good measure, raising his batting average to .324 through 18 games this season.

It qualifies as a garbage time homer for Harper since the Phillies were trailing by more than a touchdown in the ninth inning of this one, but it counts all the same for fantasy purposes. It was his lone hit in four at-bats. The 33-year-old fantasy standout has gone deep four times in 18 games this season, including twice in his last five contests.