MLB Player News

Barrera appeared in 30 games last year for the Nationals and will open the regular season as extra catching depth in the upper minors. It looked like there was a pathway for Parra to make Washington’s Opening Day roster, but he’ll head to Triple-A Rochester instead.

Culpepper has battled some injuries earlier in the summer, but he’s hitting .375 in four games in August and has gone 11-for-40 (.275) in 10 games since returning from a glute injury. There remains a good chance we see Culpepper in Minnesota by the end of August when his rookie eligibility for 2027 would remain in tact.

Palencia threw just 50 percent of his pitches for strikes but sat 98.7 mph on his four-seam fastball. The velocity is there, but the command is a little rusty. That’s not totally unexpected with a pitcher coming off a lengthy absence. He’ll need to make a few more appearances in Triple-A.

Cabrera also didn’t walk anybody and threw 75 percent of his pitches for strikes. He sat 97.4 on his four-seam fastball and consistently overpowered Triple-A hitters. We should note that the strike rate on his four-seamer was just 64 percent in this one, and he threw only five sinkers, so fastball command is still a potential bugaboo. Considering he threw just 55 pitches overall in this one, we’d expect him to make one more rehab start before rejoining the Cubs rotation.

The left-hander walked one and didn’t strike anybody out while throwing 55 percent of his pitches for strikes. Tiedemann is off the injured list now and was sitting 96.7 mph on his four-seam fastball. There’s a chance that he could get some relief innings for the Blue Jays to end this season.

All five hits Tong allowed were home runs, which is pretty amazing but certainly not what you’re looking for. Most of the home runs he gave up were on poorly located pitches that landed far too close to the middle of the plate. Command has been a huge issue for Tong this season, and the 23-year-old has posted a 5.46 ERA in Triple-A. It’s also come at the worst time, as the Mets could really use some help in the rotation.

There was some fear that Pivetta had aggravated his elbow injury when he had ot leave his rehab start early on Tuesday. However, he was able to throw in the bullpen after leaving the game, and Stammen says that it’s “all systems forward” right now. We’ll admit to still being a little worried, but it seems like we’ll get another rehab start from Pivetta next week to track his progress.

Yelich got the Brewers on the board with an RBI double in the third inning that helped set up a three-run inning against Pirates’ starter Paul Skenes. He chipped in a stolen base too, his fourth in 15 games since the All-Star break. His bat has been ice cold since then with a .646 OPS, so it’s nice to see him contribute in other ways and hopefully get himself off the schneid.

It took Megill just 12 pitches to breeze through this ninth inning and earn the save. Of those 12 pitches, 11 were fastballs and they averaged just a shade under 99 mph as he overwhelmed the heart of the Pirates’ order. After a rocky start to the season, he’s converted 12 consecutive save opportunities and has only allowed one earned run over his last 21 outings.

Rodríguez was the Pirates’ offense in this one. His two-run shot in the seventh accounted for their only two runs and came one inning after they snapped a stretch where nine consecutive batters struck out. As for Rodríguez, he’s now homered in consecutive games and has gone 9-for-30 with two home runs and four stolen bases in eight games since coming off the injured list.

Once again, Skenes was simply not sharp here. His command was a mess as he walked four batters for the second straight start. Those woes were most apparent with his fastball. He simply could not find the zone with it and missed too many of his spots by a wide margin. In turn, he threw his second-lowest rate of fastballs in any start this season. Yet, it was only the second time over the last two months where that pitch’s average velocity stretched back above 97 mph. It was also his first time in 10 starts where he threw multiple pitches above 98 mph. Is his arm tired? Are his mechanics out of whack because he’s trying to reach back and find more velocity? We simply don’t know, but this is more than just a poor stretch now. Skenes has a 6.14 ERA over his last seven starts and the Pirates are an unthinkable 3-12 in his last 15. He’s scheduled for a two-start week coming up against the Marlins and Pirates as he desperately tries to get back on track.