MLB Player News

Schrock was designated for assignment on Monday and has now been officially cut loose from the organization. The 27-year-old holds a career .256/.292/.393 batting line in 178 total major league plate appearances.

Disaster was averted early in this one, as Wood and CJ Abrams collided on a shallow fly to left that went for a hit. Fortunately, it was only a glancing blow, and though Wood was down for a minute, both All-Star candidates were able to continue. Wood now has 15 homers, and he’s scored six more runs (49) than anyone else in baseball. He’s 9-for-10 stealing bases, which is a nice improvement after he went 14-for-22 as a rookie and 15-for-22 last year.

It was another efficient outing for Cavalli, who got 18 outs on 87 pitches. Last time out, he needed just 84 pitches over seven innings. Cavalli moved to 3-3 with a 3.62 ERA. It seems like he should have a better record with the way the Nationals have scored, but there were two times earlier in the season in which he wasn’t as efficient and was pulled with a lead before completing five innings. He also had the bullpen blow a lead for him once. Cavalli will make his next start against the Marlins, a team he limited to two runs over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision a couple of weeks ago.

Parker came in with the score 6-1 and worked scoreless seventh and eighth innings. A shaky ninth followed, but he was left in after three of the first four batters reached, and he retired José Ramírez and Chase DeLauter to end the game. It’s the second career save for Parker. The other was also of the three-inning variety after he was removed from the Nationals rotation late last season. He has a 5.33 ERA over 27 innings in his 12 relief appearances this year.

Cantillo gave up a two-run homer to James Wood in a four-run second, but the bigger problem was the four walks. He threw 29 pitches in the first and 40 in the second before being removed. Cantillo has walked 11 over 12 2/3 innings in his last three starts, and his walk rate is up to 12.6 percent for the season. He’s in such a nice situation in Cleveland that it seems worth sticking with him, but he definitely needs to get better about the free passes. He’s a risky play in Yankee Stadium next time out.

Rocchio appeared in 281 major league games from 2023-25 and collected three hits in four of them. This year, he’s already done it six times while batting .299/.382/.420. Statcast thinks he’s overachieving somewhat, as his exit velocity numbers haven’t improved at all, but it definitely helps the cause that he has his strikeout rate down to 11.4 percent. His career mark was 21.3 percent coming into the year.

Aranda helped the Rays take a 1-0 lead in the first inning when he drove in Chandler Simpson with one of his three singles. It was his 41st RBI, which leads the league. Aranda is hitting .278 with an .847 OPS. He seems poised to make his second All-Star team this year.

Basallo’s home run was his eighth of the season. He hit a three-run shot off Trevor Martin in the fifth inning. Basallo is hitting .267 with an .810 OPS so far in his rookie campaign. He’s scored 21 runs and has 22 RBI. Basallo was behind the plate with Adley Rutschman getting the day off Tuesday, but should continue to see plenty of at-bats as the Orioles’ DH.

Baz gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out nine. He improved to 2-5 with the win. Baz allowed a run in the first inning against his former team before settling in and ultimately completing seven innings. He lowered his ERA to 4.48. With three consecutive quality starts, Baz may have turned the corner on his season. He’s lined up to face the Red Sox on the road next week.

Valdez clobbered a gargantuan 415-foot moonshot to left-center field against Cubs starter Jordan Wicks to put the cherry on top of Pittsburgh’s five-run explosion in the first inning. The 22-year-old rookie slugger has gone deep twice in four games since being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis last week. He also made a phenomenal throw from deep right field to nail Ian Happ attempting to tag up and advance to third base in the second inning. Valdez projects as an extremely streaky power hitter capable of making a real fantasy impact when he’s in a groove, but he’s probably going to strike out a bit too much in the early stages of his career to be a viable mixed-league contributor.