MLB Player News

Rooker didn’t start in his return from the IL, but he replaced Lawrence Butler against a lefty in the sixth. He struck out then, only to homer against righty Scott Barlow in the ninth. We’re not sure whether Rooker is one of Oakland’s nine-best options against righties, but he seems like at least as good of a choice as Tyler Nevin, who started over him at DH tonight. None of this really matters outside of AL-only leagues, but playing time is a question for a number of A’s at the moment.

ESPN.com’s Tisha Thompson first reported on Friday night that Fletcher bet on sports, but not baseball, with the same California bookmaker — Mathew Bowyer — that took wagers from Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. The 29-year-old infielder played for the Angels from 2018-2023 and could wind up facing league discipline. It’s legal for players to bet on sports other than baseball, but not with an illegal bookmaker.

Astros manager Joe Espada didn’t seem to think it was a big deal when talking to reporters afterwards, but it sounds like Pressly could wind up getting a few days off as a result. There should be an update on his status at some point this weekend.

He’s ready. The plan all along had been for Snell to rejoin the Giants’ rotation next week as long as this start went well, and he was nearly perfect, allowing just one walk over five frames. The 31-year-old reigning NL Cy Young Award winner should slot back into San Francisco’s rotation against the Pirates in Pittsburgh next week. Prior to landing on the injured list, Snell had gone 0-3 with a bloated 11.57 ERA, 1.97 WHIP and 12/5 K/BB ratio across 11 2/3 innings (three starts).

Just like that, Walker is batting .328 (19-for-58) with zero homers and two steals in 15 contests since being jettisoned to the minors back in late April following a brutal stretch at the dish to open the season. It’s easy to forget that Walker is still just 21 years old and still finding his footing at the highest level. He was an impact fantasy contributor last year when he returned from an early-season demotion and appears to be following a similar track this time around as well.

It was a nice rebound effort after a couple tough outings in a row for Meyer since being shipped back to the minors. The 25-year-old top pitching prospect showed some real promise in a handful of outings for the Marlins at the outset of the year, but it’s unclear when he’ll return to the majors at the moment.

Ortega went unclaimed after being placed on waivers earlier this week. The 33-year-old veteran outfielder went 1-for-14 with a pair of stolen bases in 14 contests this season for the White Sox.

Dugger returns stateside following a disastrous six-start run with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization. The 28-year-old righty spent all of last year at Triple-A Oklahoma City in the Dodgers’ organization and has made 27 appearances (13 starts) in the majors between the Marlins, Rays, Reds and Mariners from 2019 to 2022.

Crismatt could ultimately wind up back as extra organizational relief depth after being removed from Los Angeles’ 40-man roster for the second time this season already. However, he’ll explore his options on the open market for now after refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma City. The 29-year-old righty has pitched well in seven relief outings for the Dodgers and should be able to latch on somewhere else.

Strzelecki was shipped back to the minors ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Twins with Sam Hentges back from the paternity list.

The Cardinals offense is bad, but Nootbaar is good, and the decision to drop him to the bottom of the order earlier this month was yet another poor one from Oli Marmol. Fortunately, Nootbaar is back batting second versus righties now. The homer was his fourth in 131 plate appearances. He’s hitting .300 with three homers and a 6/10 K/BB in his last nine games.