MLB Player News

Donaldson started the fun for the Brewers in the second inning with a 371-foot two-run blast off of Steven Okert. He drove in another run on a ground ball to the shortstop later on during the 12-run inning. The 37-year-old slugger finished the night 1-for-5. On the season, he’s slashing just .161/.247/.455 with 13 homers and 25 RBI in 143 plate appearances.

The rookie has struggled of late, slashing .140/.189/.220 in his last 15 games with a 15/1 K/BB ratio. He’s been mostly solid in his first MLB season, but there remains a chance that the A’s could move Zack Gelof back to the outfield when he returns from his knee injury and keep Tommy White active in the infield. Bolte’s playing time does not seem as guaranteed as it was a few weeks ago.

Chadwick Tromp had already been on the active roster, so he will remain the backup catcher with both Adley Rutschman (wrist) and Samuel Basallo (shoulder) on the injured list. Rodríguez will likely serve as a small-side platoon bat in the short-term.

Basallo was removed from Sunday’s game with shoulder discomfort after a swing, and the Orioles waited to put him on the injured list because fellow catcher Adley Rutschman (wrist) was already there. Now, the team will be without its top two catchers for at least the next 10 days, which means Sam Huff will continue to be the primary backstop in Baltimore.

Mets manager Andy Green said that Holmes will likely need one more start after that. With recent reports that the Mets are likely to try to trade Holmes before the deadline, this timeline means that he may not be able to start in a Mets uniform before August third. Still, the Mets could entice a team to trade for Holmes if the veteran looks healthy and effective in his next two rehab starts, knowing that he would be able to be activated right after the deadline.

With Luis Robert Jr. off the injured list, there was an expectation that the Mets would rotate through their outfielders, but Robert Jr. is on the bench for this one too. Brett Baty will start in right field, which will allow Jorge Polanco to DH and Marcus Semien to play second base. There will be a logjam at certain positions over the next week or so until the Mets can trade some players away.

Lackey was the third overall pick in this month’s MLB Draft and will get the second-highest signing bonus of all time behind Roch Cholowsky, who was taken first overall in the same draft. The slot value for the third pick in this year’s draft was $9.7 million, so the deal is in line with what was expected for the Georgia Tech product.

After a great MLB debut, it’s been a tough rookie season for Ritchie, who now has a 4.50 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and 49/33 K/BB ratio in 54 MLB innings. There will likely need to be some pitch mix changes if he’s going to develop into a usable starter for the Braves at the MLB level.

This was reported last night and is now official. Pérez will start on Wednesday against the Padres, a team that has struggled against lefties so far this season. Still, we would avoid using Pérez in his first start off the IL unless you’re in a deep format.

Barnett has exclusively been starting in Triple-A but has only pitched out of the bullpen in the Majors this year. He’s taking J.T. Ginn’s place on the roster, and Ginn was set to start on Friday against the Twins, but there is no indication yet if Barnett will make that start in his place. It would make sense since Barnett was scheduled to start on Thursday in Triple-A.

This is surprising since Ginn was tremendous in his last start, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Nationals. He clearly picked up a blister during that performance and will now miss his next two turns in the rotation.