MLB Player News

These discussions happened before the lockout and apparently aren’t allowed to pick back up just yet because Eaton was on a major league contract last season. But it does appear that the 33-year-old is headed for retirement and planning out the next chapter of his career in baseball. He batted just .201/.282/.327 in 83 games (288 plate appearances) between Chicago and Anaheim during the 2021 campaign.

Kelly batted for designated hitter Moisés Ballesteros after the Mets replaced Freddy Peralta with lefty Brooks Raley in the sixth and hit a 431-foot homer on the first pitch he saw. Kelly is batting .340/.450/.520 with two homers, 10 RBI and 10 walks in 60 plate appearances. Miguel Amaya is doing a nice job, too, hitting .273/.400/.394, but he’s just not gaining any ground in the battle for playing time.

A Mark Vientos solo homer was the only damage. Taillon generated 14 whiffs and 48 swings and struck out four while lowering his ERA to 3.97. He’s a mixed-league option against weaker lineups, but that doesn’t apply next week, as he’s due to face the Dodgers.

It’s Thielbar’s sixth career save in 10 seasons. Ben Brown set him up by allowing only an unearned run between the seventh and eighth. Brown is the guy with closer-type stuff in the Cubs pen right now, but the team obviously wants him to continue throwing multiple innings at a time. He still might wind up with the occasional save, but Thielbar and Jacob Webb are also going to factor in here.

Peralta led the NL with 17 wins for the Brewers last season, but he’s definitely not seeing that kind of support right now, either offensively or from his bullpen. Since winning on Opening Day, he’s taken two losses and two no-decisions while giving up eight runs, six of which scored after the left the game. Today, he was pulled with two outs and two on in the sixth and Brooks Raley immediately gave up a three-run homer to Carson Kelly. 11 days ago, he left a game with a bases loaded and two outs in the fifth and all of the runners came around to score. It the relievers had stranded those five runners, Peralta’s ERA would be 2.36, instead of 4.05. Peralta should have a better outing next week at home against the Rockies.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters that Varsho had experienced pain from his outer quad to his knee prior to Friday’s game. The 29-year-old will take a seat Friday against the Diamondbacks, and Schneider told reporters that the outfielder will likely sit a game or two to make sure he’s right.

The Reds scored single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth to win 5-4. Myers is hitting .269/.345/.269 in 29 plate appearances while mostly playing against lefties, which made the move to insert him in place of left-hander Will Benson against a right-hander reliever today very interesting. Of course, the Reds wanted contact with the go-ahead run on second, and Myers was the better bet to provide it, which he did with a ducksnort to shallow center. Myers probably deserves to play more at this point, especially since he’s a better defensive center fielder than TJ Friedl.

With the temperature below 40 degrees in this one, Abbott’s velocity was off by about one mph. He also walked three and threw just 52 of his 97 pitches. Given the conditions, it’s not a day for making any judgments about a pitcher. Abbott, though, doesn’t seem like a mixed-league guy right now. He’ll face the Tigers next weekend.

Emilio Pagán shook off his hamstring issue to pitch last night, but the Reds apparently weren’t willing to use him on back-to-back days just yet. That got Santillan his first save in 2026 after he earned seven last year. He’s yet to allow a run in 10 innings this season, and he’d be in line to close if Pagán loses the job at some point.

It was cold in Minneapolis today, so Bradley’s velocity was down 1.5-2 mph. Still, the hitters didn’t have any fun, either, even with the wind blowing out. Bradley got five strikeouts and 12 whiffs, finishing with a 31 percent CSW. The velocity figures to come back next week in St. Pete. He might even have a little extra for his old Rays teammates.

There were no hard-hit balls against Sands; a groundball single, a sac bunt and then an outfield flare were enough to produce the decisive run. This one shouldn’t alter his status in the closing mix in Minnesota. It especially doesn’t hurt because Justin Topa gave up a run in the seventh, and Eric Orze took a blown save by allowing a run in the eighth.