MLB Player News

The 28-year-old outfielder was designated for assignment by the Angels earlier in the week. He passed through waivers unclaimed, and then opted to explore the free agent market rather than accepting his outright assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake. Duggar has slashed just .153/.225/.222 with no homers, four RBI and five stolen bases in 80 plate appearances between the Giants, Rangers and Angels this season.

Crochet is attempting to make it back to Boston as a reliever in time for a potential postseason run. The 27-year-old fantasy ace seems highly unlikely to pitch before the regular season concludes, but he’s probably going to be in the mix for a postseason roster spot.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters afterwards that they made the decision to get Rafaela off his feet during the late stages of a one-sided affair. The 25-year-old center fielder finished 1-for-3 at the plate before being lifted in the seventh inning. It sounds like it was a precautionary move, but fantasy managers should keep a close eye on Rafaela’s status heading into Thursday’s series opener against the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Báez takes a seat against Dodgers workhorse Yoshinobu Yamamoto after blasting a solo homer off lefty Justin Wrobleski during Tuesday’s blowout win in Los Angeles. The 23-year-old top prospect has struck out just over 36 percent of the time, while also homering six times, in 63 plate appearances over 17 games since being called up last month. He’s a bit of an all-or-nothing fantasy contributor at this early stage of his big-league career. He’ll probably be back in there to face lefty ace Tarik Skubal Thursday’s series finale.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week that they’re going to manage Smith’s workload carefully in his return from a neck issue that cost him nearly three months. He’s unlikely to catch back-to-back games to close out the season. He went 1-for-5 with a double and a pair of RBI in his first game back on Tuesday. It’ll be Hunter Fedducia behind the plate in this one.

This seemed inevitable with the Yankees having an off day prior to Friday’s series opener against the Padres. There’s a chance Lombard requires a trip to the injured list if he’s not ready to go in a couple days. The 21-year-old rookie has missed four straight games with right knee discomfort. It’ll be José Caballero filling in at shortstop once again.

Sugano struck out four while recording a quality start against his former team. He was tagged for three runs in the third, including a two-RBI double by Luis Robert Jr., but he otherwise limited the damage. Colorado tied the game in the ninth before going on to win in 11 innings. Sugano will remain off the fantasy radar with a matchup at Yankee Stadium next time out.

Rogers struck out a career-high 11 without walking anyone, rewarding fantasy managers who rolled the dice on him in Coors. He fanned six in a row at one point and has pitched to around a 3.00 ERA since the beginning of June after a challenging first couple of months. He was always going to regress from the 1.81 ERA he registered a season ago, and while he’s at 4.30 for the year, the in-season turnaround has been nice to see. An impending free agent, he’s now up to a career-best 144 1/3 innings. He draws the Guardians at home next time out.

Veen came up with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the ninth, doubling off Andrew Kittredge to send this one to extras. Colorado then walked it off in the eleventh. Veen’s playing time has been sporadic since he was recalled from Triple-A on August 11, as he has started just 10 of 21 games, including none against lefties. The 24-year-old is striking out over 38% of the time in his brief big-league sample, but he had that mark down to 20% at Triple-A. He’s a deep sleeper to keep in mind this offseason.

Norby finished the series against his former team by going 1-for-13 with a single and a run scored. It’s a disappointing outcome given all three games were at Coors Field, and he hit second in two of them. The Rockies host the Cardinals for three more games this week, at least one of which will come against a lefty.

Robert drove in two when he doubled to right-center in the top of the third, extending Baltimore’s lead to 3-0. The outfielder was claimed off waivers from the Mets earlier this week and hit cleanup in his first game with the Orioles. Leody Taveras was on the bench Wednesday, but it’ll be worth monitoring how playing time shakes out in a four-game series against the Red Sox beginning Thursday.