MLB Player News

Mears has been summoned ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Diamondbacks to provide the Rockies with some extra bullpen depth. The 26-year-old righty has made just five relief appearances this season in the big leagues.

Cruz takes a seat with Toronto lefty Patrick Corbin toeing the rubber. It’ll be intriguing prospect Jhostynxon Garcia getting a chance in center field with Nick Gonzales moving up to the leadoff spot. Cruz is hitting .303 (20-for-66) with four homers against lefties this season. However, he’s been struggling a bit of late, hitting just .242 (15-for-62) with one homer and 26 strikeouts over his last 15 games.

Happ takes a seat in favor of Michael Conforto against Astros starter Kai-Wei Teng. The 31-year-old hitting .107 (3-for-28) over his last seven games and slashing .188/.349/.377 with three homers and 34 strikeouts in 20 games since May 1. He’ll get a brief mental reset as the Cubs attempt to get him back on track.

Alcántara is the type of high-variance power hitter who’s easy to dream on developing into an impactful fantasy contributor someday. He’s made a concerted effort to lift and pull the ball this season, resulting in an International League–leading 15 home runs in 41 games. That approach has also come with a hefty 33.3 percent strikeout rate. Alcántara’s contact profile is concerning, but his over-the-fence power is real. The 23-year-old top prospect, who has gotten into 13 games for Chicago over the last two years, is the type of streaky power hitter that is both exhilarating and frustrating to roster in fantasy leagues. He’s worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.

Chicago has decided to jettison Lopez after the defensive specialist appeared in just four games after being called up back on April 24. The 31-year-old is merely emergency organizational depth at this stage of his career. The Cubs are presumably going to role with intriguing prospect Pedro Ramírez in a versatile utility role off the bench.

Fernandez provides St. Louis with some additional bullpen depth for Saturday’s twin bill at Great American Ball Park. The 27-year-old has compiled a 1.59 ERA across 5 2/3 innings at the big-league level this season.

Torres gets a look in left field for his major-league debut after being called up from Triple-A Memphis prior to Friday’s rainout with Nathan Church (shoulder) hitting the shelf. The 28-year-old offers some defensive versatility in a bench role after .336/.454/.477 with two homers and 10 steals across 36 games in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this season.

Suárez makes his return to Cincinnati’s lineup after being activated from the injured list prior to Friday’s rainout. The 34-year-old veteran slugger wound up missing nearly one month recovering from a low-grade left oblique strain. His presence will provide a lift for the rest of the Reds lineup as he’ll serve as much-needed protection behind middle-of-the-order threats like Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart.

Bradley returns from the injured list to take the ball at historic Fenway Park against the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon, weather permitting, following a two-week absence recovering from pectoral inflammation. The 25-year-old former top pitching prospect was in the midst of a clear breakthrough campaign with a sparkling 2.87 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 52/17 K/BB ratio across 47 innings prior to the injury. There could be some workload restrictions since he threw only 42 pitches, before likely getting some additional work in the bullpen afterwards, during his final rehab start last weekend.

García loses his spot on Minnesota’s roster with Taj Bradley returning from the injured list this weekend. The well-traveled 39-year-old veteran reliever notched a pair of saves despite allowing 10 runs over 8 2/3 innings across nine appearances for the Twins after latching on with the club last month.

The official roster move is unlikely to be made until later this weekend following Saturday’s rainout at Yankee Stadium. Victor Mesa Jr. is the likely call-up from Triple-A Durham to fill his roster spot. DeLuca left Friday’s series opener with a right hamstring issue that occurred when he went first-to-third on a seventh-inning double by teammate Cedric Mullins. He’s likely facing a multi-week absence, even if the strain proves to be relatively minor.