MLB Player News

The 25-year-old hurler inked a two-year, $4.5 million contract in early January after a run as one of the top closers in the Korea Baseball Organization. He struggled in Cactus League action though — posting a 12.46 ERA, 2.31 WHIP and a 5/2 K/BB ratio across 4 1/3 innings. He’ll get an opportunity to pitch out of the big league bullpen soon enough, they just want to get him back on track first.

De La Cruz was 2-for-4 before departing in the seventh. Consider him to be day-to-day. If he can’t go Monday, the Reds figure to play Matt McLain at short and probably Edwin Arroyo at second.

It’s unclear what was wrong. The Reds were up by four runs at the time, but it’s very unusual for De La Cruz to come out of anything but a true blowout. Ivan Johnson replaced him, with Matt McLain moving from second to short.

He’ll officially be added when rosters expand Tuesday, says Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The 21-year-old Montes had 38 homers between Double- and Triple-A, though they came with a .243 average and a 31 percent strikeout rate. One imagines he’ll take time away from Taylor Ward, who has hit just .113/.225/.145 in his 18 games for the Mariners. Montes is a left-handed hitter, so a platoon with Ward might be an option. Since he’s not going to start against lefties and he’ll be hitting in a tough environment, Montes probably isn’t worth an immediate pickup in shallow leagues.

Greene played left field today after DHing on Saturday. Expectations are that he’ll come off the injured list and rejoin the Tigers lineup when rosters expand on Tuesday.

Griffin, out with a finger injury, will rejoin the Pirates on Monday before likely playing in a couple of more minor league games. He’s eligible to come off the 60-day injured list on Friday.

It wasn’t even the headline for the game, though, since six Syracuse pitchers combined to no-hit Lehigh Valley. Tobias Myers got the most outs of the six, working three innings. Vientos is 9-for-23 with five homers on his rehab assignment from a fractured hand. The Mets don’t seem to have big plans for him in September, but there’s a chance he’ll force the issue. He likely will need Juan Soto, currently DHing after his calf injury, to return to the outfield in order to get significant playing time.

Gray’s velocity was down slightly last Wednesday against the Marlins, and while the Red Sox aren’t committing to a specific injury here, they’re giving him several extra days between starts. The Red Sox figure to call up someone to replace him Tuesday when rosters expand, though they’re lacking options.

Alonso was removed for pinch-runner Jackson Holliday, but it sounds like it was more precautionary than anything else. Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said that Alonso was “fine” in the dugout, so he should be back in the lineup ASAP.

Kerkering entered in the eighth inning with the Phillies holding a 4-1 lead, so even though Philadelphia scored a run in the ninth, he still gets the save. It’s the second save of the year for the 25-year-old, and there’s a decent chance it’ll be the last.

Kikuchi pitched well, but Zack Wheeler pitched better, so Kikuchi is now 0-5 on the season. The 35-year-old gave up a pair of solo homers, and unfortunately for the southpaw and the Angels, that was enough to prevent the victory. Kikuchi will hope to get some run support and pitch at a similar level against the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Sunday.