MLB Player News

It appears to be a routine day off for Castellanos, who has started 34 consecutive contests since May 8. The 30-year-old slugger will take a seat on Monday evening with Odúbel Herrera patrolling right field in his place.

In a game that featured six combined hits between the two teams, Goldschmidt’s was the only one that put a run on the board. He smashed a solo homer in the fourth inning off Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo to put the Yankees up 1-0, which was all they would need to pick up the win, as Cam Schlittler blanked the Phils for 7 1/3 innings. Goldschmidt has struggled mightily this month and entered the day slashing .140/.178/.233. Hopefully this homer can help him turn a corner.

This was one of those starts where you could see how sky-high Sasaki’s potential still is. He was back to buzzing 99 and 100 mph fastballs over the first few innings and commanded it exceptionally well on the edges of the plate. That set up his splitter to terrorize the Mets hitters. In total, it forced 15 whiffs – by far the most it has in a single game so far this season – and a nearly 50% chase rate. It was simply diabolical and so effective that it morphed into his primary pitch during his second and third trips around the Mets’ lineup. It was also the first time in his career that he completed seven innings against a team that isn’t the Angels. This is now back-to-back lights out starts by Sasaki out of the All-Star break and it might finally be time to take him seriously. Next up is a matchup against the Mariners at home.

Scott breezed through a one-two-three inning here to secure the save. That’s now 11 converted saves over his last 12 tries dating back to the beginning of June to go along with a stellar 2.34 ERA on the season. The question is whether he retains some, most, all, or none of the closer’s role in Los Angeles with Edwin Díaz’s imminent return from the injured list.

Whatever is the opposite of buyer’s remorse could probably define Tucker’s feelings as he visited Citi Field for the first time since considering signing with the Mets this past winter. His Dodgers had a very clean and easy win here aided by Tucker’s eighth inning blast that added some valuable insurance for them. It was his first home run since all the way back on June 27th as he desperately tries to pull himself out of his season-long slump.

With the trade deadline approaching and Alvarez’s name sneaking into some rumors, he just keeps on hitting. His home run was his 12th of the season and third in his last five games. Over his last 30 games, he has a .274/.336/.491 slash line and remains one of the better power-hitting catchers in the league as long as he can stay healthy.

It sounds like an IL stint could be possible now. Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. will likely see DH time while Soto is out. Eric Wagaman or MJ Melendez could be recalled if Soto lands on the IL.

Crews blasted a two-run homer in the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2. It was the eighth homer of the season for Crews, who has now homered three times in the month while driving in six runs. Crews has hit safely in three of his last four games and has had multi-hit nights in his last two games, but he’s still slashing an underwhelming .204/.358/.389 on the month.

This was a great start by Manaea against a tough Dodgers lineup. He did get some help from right fielder Carson Benge who threw one runner out at home and started another relay to get one at third, but don’t let that take too much away from Manaea’s outing. His fastball led the charge with a 61% usage rate – nearly double his season average – and he had no problem crowding hitters from both sides of the plate with it. It also sat right at 91 mph, a big deal for Manaea after struggling to both build up and maintain his velocity earlier in the season. With it and his confidence to challenge hitters in the zone back, he has turned in a 3.75 ERA over his last 13 outings dating back to May 17th. Next up is a meeting with the Braves at home.

Littell took over for Carson Palmquist, who allowed two earned runs over 1 1/3 innings of work. While two runs were charged to Palmquist, it was Littell who gave up the hits that allowed both runs to cross, and it was the sacrifice fly he allowed to Gabriel Moreno in the seventh inning that proved to be the difference-maker. Littell’s outing was far better than the eight earned runs he allowed last week against the A’s, and he’s now allowed one earned run in three of his last four games. He’s set to take the mound next on Wednesday at home against the Blue Jays.

Lee hit an RBI single off opener Beck Way (who was a loser, baby, today) to stake the Tigers to a 2-0 lead early. That was all they’d need with Tarik Skubal on the mound. Lee added a two-out double in the sixth but was stranded. Lee has mostly worked as a platoon bat against lefties this year, starting 27 games against lefties and hitting .270/.308/.432 against them so far this year.