MLB Player News

The Nationals were staying away from Kyle Finnegan tonight after he threw 31 pitches Thursday. Harvey also pitched then, but he threw just 13 pitches. Even so, his velocity was down somewhat tonight. The Nationals probably won’t want to use the oft-injured righty back-to-back too often in September.

Hicks had been hitting cleanup, but Stowers was back in that spot in his 2026 debut today. The homer was his fourth of the season, though it was first since he stunned everyone with three in his first five games. He came into today hitting .250/.288/.347 in his previous 15 games.

Pérez’s big home/road splits are holding up so far this season. In each of his first two years, he had an ERA at least 2.00 runs lower at home than on the road. This year, he’s 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA and a 21/4 K/BB in three home starts and 0-1 with a 7.88 ERA and a 6/8 K/BB in two road outings. We’d still take our chances with him in a road outing in San Francisco on Saturday.

Fairbanks saved the Marlins’ first two games of the season last month, but this is his first conversion since. He blew his only other opportunity against the Braves on Tuesday. He got the bottom of the order today and struck out Luis Rengifo and Brandon Lockridge before a Blake Perkins groundout.

The runs came in the first, with a David Hamilton error aiding the rally. Misiorowski had his best velocity of the year, averaging 99.7 mph with his fastball and topping out at 102.5 mph. He generated 18 whiffs, including 14 on his fastball alone. He deserves better than a 1-2 record to go along with his 3.04 ERA, and he’ll try to improve on it next time out against the Pirates.

It didn’t seem to be injury related; the Marlins just didn’t want Pauley facing a left-handed reliever. It worked out, too, as Javier Sanoja delivered a two-run single in his place. Pauley is hitting just .170/.204/.298 in 50 plate appearances.

Wheeler was not as good statistically as he was in his first rehab start Tuesday where he allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings. The results really aren’t all that important right now; the important thing is that he’s building up his workload. Wheeler likely will make one more rehab start at least, but the next steps will be determined in part by how he feels in the coming days.

Mead capped off a three-run uprising in the fifth inning with a 390-foot (109.6 mph EV) two-run shot off of Robbie Ray. That would be all the run support that Miles Mikloas and company would require in this one. For the season, the 25-year-old infielder is slashing a disappointing .205/.271/.409 with a pair of homers and seven RBI. Maybe this is the type of big hit that he needed to finally get rolling.

Ruiz broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning as he roped an RBI double into left field off of Robbie Ray. He then rode home on Curtis Mead’s two-run blast. With his two-hit afternoon, the 27-year-old backstop is slashing .220/.250/.366 with one home run and nine RBI through his first 44 plate appearances on the season.

The 26-year-old left-hander allowed just three hits on the day while striking out five. Alvarez came on for Miles Mikolas to get the final out of the fifth inning, then remained in the game to fire four scoreless frames to complete the combined shutout. He got seven swings and misses on 62 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 29 percent. Given how successful this alignment worked out, don’t be surprised to see him piggyback Miles Mikolas once again on Friday against the White Sox in Chicago.

Mikolas struck out four batters on the afternoon while issuing one walk. He came on as a bulk reliever after PJ Poulin opened for the Nationals. He escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the opening inning and went on to spin several scoreless frames of his own before turning the ball over to the bullpen. He got nine whiffs on just 61 pitches on the day, posting a solid CSW of 30 percent. Given the success as a bulk reliever, perhaps this is how he’ll be deployed next time out on Friday against the White Sox in Chicago. He should still be nowhere near fantasy lineups.