MLB Player News

The A’s recently let Bob Melvin walk for the Padres manager job, so they are looking for a new manager for the first time in over a decade. Kotsay is a natural in-house option, as he’s been interviewed for managerial vacancies in the past, though Ron Washington’s name has also surfaced. Chances are whoever ends up being hired will be responsible with steering a team through a rebuilding process.

Tidwell surrendered a pair of runs in the first inning on a walk and three hits. He then settled in nicely, giving the Giants four more scoreless innings, scattering three more hits the rest of the way while striking out three batters. The 25-year-old right-hander has a 3.18 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and a 13/4 K/BB ratio across 17 innings. He’ll take on the Astros in San Francisco next Monday.

This helps explain why the Dodgers went out and acquired both Hunter Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt at the trade deadline to fortify their catching situation until Will Smith (neck) is back from the injured list. The hope is that Rushing can avoid season-ending surgery, but he’s probably going to be limited to hitting-only, if that’s the route they choose. He’ll be shut down completely for a couple weeks before the Dodgers determine his next steps.

Offense is a bonus from Torrens, but he came up big tonight with his three hard-hit balls and his third homer in 207 plate appearances. It was his first three-hit or four-RBI game of the season. He’d driven in four just five times previously: three times in 2021, once in 2022 and once last year.

Manaea turned in the quality start despite allowing seven hits, walking five and hitting a batter. He did strike out seven with his velocity back up some tonight. He averaged 92.1 mph with his fastball, which produced six of his seven strikeouts. That was up 1.3 mph from his season average. Manaea will take a 3-5 record and a 4.33 ERA into his next start against the Pirates.

The unearned runs came in the second after a Gabriel Arias error with two outs. Jared Young then walked, and Luis Torrens followed with a three-run homer. Cantillo fell to 8-7 with a 3.87 ERA. He’ll face the White Sox on Sunday.

Bichette’s homer off Joey Cantillo left his bat at 107.5 mph and traveled a projected 422 feet, which was 10 feet past his previous season high. He also hit 106.2 mph on his single. The homer was Bichette’s first since June 24 and 11th on the year.

His OPS is up to .352. DeLauter DH’d tonight and figures to be in that spot most of the time going forward, since Jo Adell should be the new primary right fielder. That’s probably good news for his fantasy value, if only because it makes it less likely that he’ll get hurt.

Genao is an interesting prospect because he’s adept at making contact, makes excellent swing decisions and boasts slightly above-average pop. The 22-year-old switch-hitting infielder launched two homers during Tuesday’s contest at Triple-A Columbus and is hitting .300/.401/.474 with 13 round-trippers and 11 steals in 96 games in the upper minors this season. He’ll presumably get the call for Wednesday’s contest against the Mets as Cleveland continues to push even more metaphorical chips into the center of the table in an effort to win the AL Central. Genao is worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats based on his talent alone.

Altuve knocked a base hit in the fourth inning and scored the team’s first run. He then drove in a run with another single in the fifth before scoring on a home run by Taylor Trammell. Altuve’s third hit of the game would drive in an insurance run in the seventh. The 36-year-old second baseman is hitting .241/.304/.389 with 12 homers, 53 runs scored, and 33 RBI across 386 plate appearances.

Swanson tied the game at 1-1 with a solo homer off Tarik Skubal in the third frame. He also doubled — his 23rd — and singled to improve his average to .219 on the campaign. He’s picked up five hits in his last two games, and fantasy managers should be well aware of just how streaky Swanson can be.