MLB Player News

With Tampa Bay set to have a bullpen game today, they wanted a fresh arm to help them get through it. The right-hander has a 4.05 ERA and eight strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings for Tampa Bay this season while serving as a bullpen option and opener. He will take Jacob Lopez’s spot on the active roster.

Rasmussen walked a batter in the first inning, then served up a two-run homer to Ryan O’Hearn, giving up just as many runs on one swing as he did through his first three starts. He then doubled it in the fourth as Marcell Ozuna took him deep for another two-run blast. Rasmussen’s outing would be cut short in the frame as the game went into an extended rain delay. He’ll take a 2.75 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, and a 20/3 K/BB ratio across 19 2/3 innings into a start against the Twins in Tampa Bay on Friday.

Skenes stranded a runner in the first inning, then escaped a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the second. He struck out two in the third inning for his first clean frame, then tossed a perfect fourth, collecting five strikeouts before an extended rain delay cut his outing short. Still, the 23-year-old right-hander has given up one or fewer runs in each of his last four starts since his five-run Opening Day start. He’ll take a 3.27 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and a 23/7 K/BB ratio across 22 innings into a start against the Brewers in Milwaukee on Friday.

Winn’s exit velocity numbers haven’t been very good so far, but he hit a ball 373 feet off Lance McCullers Jr. tonight, and he’s now at.190/.319/.293 in 69 plate appearances overall. There was the hope of some mixed league value here when the Cardinals spent most of the spring letting him leadoff, but with JJ Wetherholt overtaking him there and Winn batting sixth for the most part, there’s nothing cooking right now.

He struck out five and walked three. Pallante has a 2-1 record and a respectable 4.05 ERA, but his 12/11 K/BB in 20 innings is hideous and he’s not such a strong groundball pitcher than he can survive that kind of thing for long. He’ll face the Mariners next week.

O’Brien wasn’t supposed to be a part of this one, but George Soriano gave up three runs in the ninth to make it a 7-5 game. O’Brien took over then and got Jose Altuve to ground out and struck out Yordan Alcarez. He’s still yet to allow a run this season.

That first time out when McCullers limited the Red Sox to one run over seven innings is looking like a big aberration right now. He’s given up 13 runs with a 12/8 K/BB over 13 1/3 innings in his three starts this month. The Astros will surely stick with him, but below average velocity and poor command makes for a bad combination. He’ll face the Yankees next week.

Gordon started against the Rockies on Tuesday and seemed like the leading candidate to start Monday against the Guardians, but that has to be off the table now. He might be sent down in exchange for a fresh arm.