MLB Player News

Boston’s front office has been trolling the free agent waters in search of a low-cost fallback option at the cold corner and designated hitter for a couple weeks and finally reeled in a capable veteran in Cron. The 34-year-old slugger dealt with back issues last year in Colorado before being shipped to the Angels. He’s a low-risk lottery ticket for the Red Sox and is unlikely to make a tangible impact for fantasy managers.

Rizzo collided with Red Sox left-hander Brennan Bernardino who was attempting to cover first base on a throw from Dominic Smith. Rizzo went to the ground and braced his fall with his right hand, which seemed to have caused the injury. He’ll presumably head for X-rays to rule out any potential fractures. Stay tuned.

Muncy has been shut down from swinging a bat for at least the next week while he continues to fight a nagging oblique strain. There’s still no clear timetable for his potential return and it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be anytime soon.

Walker tagged rookie right-hander Drew Thorpe for a mammoth 432-foot (110.4 mph EV) solo shot in the opening inning that increased the Diamondbacks’ lead to 3-0. He then added a two-run double in the fourth inning that made it a 7-1 ballgame. With his three-hit attack, the 33-year-old slugger is now hitting .257/.337/.483 with 16 homers and 49 RBI on the season.

McCarthy walked in the opening inning and swiped second base, but the Diamondbacks couldn’t cash him in. He then plated a run in the third inning with a fielder’s choice that extended the Diamondbacks’ early lead to 4-1. He tacked on a sacrifice fly in the fourth that made it 8-1 and then smacked a run-scoring triple in the sixth inning that gave the Diamondbacks a 10-run lead. On the season, the 26-year-old outfielder is now hitting .279/.365/.409 with three homers, 18 RBI and 10 stolen bases.

Soler’s four RBI and three runs scored were both season highs. Even after tonight, he’s still hitting just .224/.309/.383, which isn’t exactly what a team wants from a pure DH. The Giants, though, are very committed to keeping Soler in the everyday lineup.

Ouch. The Giants just wanted to get Doval some work after three days off, and he wound up allowing four hits and two walks. It’s the second time this month that he’s allowed four runs, though it wasn’t nearly as costly last time. He’s been fine, if not quite as good as last year, aside from those two outings, so his gig is safe.

Suarez took over in the third after Ben Joyce pitched two scoreless innings and actually opened up with a scoreless frame. Alas, he got no one out in the fourth, and he and Hunter Strickland combined to give up nine runs, quickly turning this one into a laugher. Suarez has an 8.15 ERA in 35 1/3 innings this season. It wouldn’t be any sort of surprise to see him DFA’d in the coming days.

Wisely has been one of the Giants’ best players when in the lineup, though oddly enough, he’s been much more successful in very limited action in lefty-lefty matchups (1.501 OPS in 16 PA) than versus righties (.592 OPS in 53 PA). Of course, he’s only really playing against righties. His .807 OPS overall demands that he remain in the lineup most of the time for now, whether it’s at the expense of Nick Ahmed or Thairo Estrada.

The homer was projected at 410 feet, which was pretty stunning. As Baseball America’s JJ Cooper pointed out, this appears to be Schanuel’s first 400-foot flyball as a pro. Among major leaguers this year, Schanuel is in the first percentile in bat speed, the third percentile in hard-hit rate and the fifth percentile in average exit velocity. His previous long fly this year was 387 feet. It’s notable, though, that all four of his longest flies have come in June. It’s also notable that, in spite of that extreme lack of bat speed, he has more homers than Julio Rodríguez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Manny Machado, Austin Riley, Nolan Arenado and many others.

Montgomery piled up seven strikeouts on the afternoon while issuing a pair of free passes. The lone tally against him came on an RBI groundout off the bat of Andrew Vaughn in the third inning — after a throwing error by Montgomery had allowed him to advance earlier in the inning. The 31-year-old southpaw got a whopping 18 swings and misses on 84 pitches in the game — 10 of those on his changeup alone — while posting a strong CSW of 36 percent. Now 5-4 on the season, he’ll carry a 6.00 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and a 39/21 K/BB ratio (57 innings) into a tough matchup against the Phillies in Philadelphia on Saturday.