MLB Player News

After a 105-mph line-drive single and a routine flyout, Hoffman got a 111.6-mph grounder from Jordan Walker that turned into a game-ending double play. Hoffman’s velocity has been an issue since the beginning of the spring, though it had been getting better prior to today; his 93.5 mph average on his fastball in this one was down 3.6 mph from last year. Orion Kerkering might quickly overtake him as the top right-hander in the Phillies pen when he’s activated this weekend.

Freeman reached base safely in three of his four plate appearances as he continues to find his groove at the dish, batting .302 (16-for-53) with two homers over his last 15 contests. The 34-year-old veteran on-base machine isn’t running much at the moment with just one steal through 48 games, but his plate skills remain elite.

It’s probably too early to panic, but Steer is batting just .165 (18-for-109) with one homer and eight steals over his last 30 games. The 26-year-old’s plate skills remain solid and his underlying Statcast batted ball metrics point to some regression on the way.

Buehler authored his strongest start since returning earlier this month from a lengthy rehabilitation from his second career Tommy John surgery, scattering just three hits over six nearly-flawless frames. The hard-throwing 29-year-old righty generated only eight swinging strikes, but was consistently filling up the zone, resulting in a robust 35 percent CSW. He’s starting to look like an upper-echelon fantasy contributor again, but it’s probably going to take him some time to continue knocking off the rust. He’s in line for a rematch against the Reds on Friday in Cincinnati.

Ashcraft did his part in this one, managing to keep Los Angeles’ star-studded lineup in the yard, but didn’t get any run support at all from Cincinnati’s red-hot offense. He struck out five and also handed out three free passes. The 26-year-old righty will bring a serviceable 4.25 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 40/18 K/BB ratio across 48 2/3 innings (10 starts) into a rematch against the Dodgers on Friday at Great American Ball Park.

The 24-year-old outfielder walloped a two-out triple off of Zac Gallen in the opening inning, but was left stranded at third. He then cleared the bases with a two-out, three-run triple off of Joe Mantiply in the seventh that gave the Tigers their first lead of the day. He also tacked on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning. Perez has been a revelation for the Tigers so far this season, slashing .300/.373/.533 with three homers, 12 RBI and three stolen bases in his first 102 plate appearances at the big league level.

The 31-year-old shortstop got the Tigers on the board with a two-out RBI double in the seventh inning that plated Gio Urshela. He was the first of seven straight hitters to reach with two outs in the inning, and he came around to score himself on an RBI knock off the bat of Carson Kelly. He also singled and scored on a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Even with the four-hit night though, he’s still slashing a cringe-inducing .207/.236/.289 with just one homer, 19 RBI and six stolen bases on the season.

Urshela started a six-run uprising in the seventh inning with a leadoff double off of Zac Gallen. He scored the team’s first run on an RBI double off the bat of Javier Báez. The 32-year-old infielder then came to bat again later in the inning and delivered an RBI single that increased the Tigers’ lead to 6-2. With his three-hit evening, Urshela is now hitting .290/.300/.348 with zero homers and seven RBI in 71 plate appearances on the year.

The right-hander piled up nine strikeouts on the evening while issuing a pair of free passes. He exited after six innings with the Tigers trailing 2-0, but luckily for him they rallied to score six times with two outs in the seventh inning to put him in line for the win. Flaherty got 17 swings and misses on 98 pitches in the contest — 10 on his slider — while posting a terrific CSW of 36 percent. Now 1-3 on the season, he’ll tote a 3.79 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and an impressive 72/8 K/BB ratio (54 2/3 innings) into Thursday’s matchup against the Blue Jays.

The 30-year-old second baseman extended his hitting streak to 17 games and broke a scoreless tie with his run-scoring triple off of the Tigers’ right-hander in the sixth inning. He then scored on an RBI single off the bat of Joc Pederson. Marte finished the night 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts and is now hitting .287/.333/.525 with nine homers, 25 RBI and one stolen base on the season.

The 28-year-old right-hander scattered seven hits on the night and didn’t allow a base on balls. He had kept the Tigers off the board completely through the first six innings, but the wheels fell off in the seventh. After allowing a leadoff double to Gio Urshela, he struck out the next two hitters before allowing an RBI double to Javier Báez and an RBI single to Carson Kelly before turning the ball over to the bullpen — who would allow the inherited runner to score as well. Gallen generated a whopping 20 swings and misses in the ballgame — 12 of those on his knuckle curve — while posting an elite CSW of 40 percent. He’ll bring a 3.02 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and a 55/14 K/BB ratio (50 2/3 innings) into Friday’s showdown against the Marlins.