MLB Player News

Judge shellacked a two-run blast in the sixth inning for his fifth homer of the season. The 32-year-old has not enjoyed the best start to the season with a .190/.328/.390 slash, but it’s impossible to be too concerned with those numbers based on Judge’s track record.

Chapman’s 416-foot moonshot to left-center field off Reds starter Nick Lodolo with two outs in the opening frame was more than enough run support for San Francisco’s pitching staff to pull away with an easy victory at Oracle Park. It was his fifth round-tripper of the season and first time he’s gone deep since April 16.

Black didn’t stick around long enough to qualify for a win, generating just four swinging strikes and finishing with a comically-low 23 percent CSW. The 24-year-old righty put up some impressive numbers this season for Triple-A Sacramento, but the whiffs simply haven’t carried over into the big leagues. He’s allowed six runs on 12 hits with a 6/5 K/BB ratio across 8 2/3 innings (two starts) since being called up earlier this month. He’s slated to take on the Rockies at home on Friday in his next outing.

Astonishingly, all of the damage against Lodolo came in the opening frame when the Giants struck for four runs, courtesy of a two-out grand slam from Matt Chapman, following a pair of hits and a walk. The 26-year-old southpaw settled in afterwards, keeping San Francisco off the scoreboard over his final five frames of work, but it wasn’t enough to take him off the hook for a loss. He finished with six strikeouts and only issued one walk, generating 13 swinging strikes and finishing with a respectable 33 percent CSW. He’ll bring a solid 3.34 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 43/9 K/BB ratio a cross 35 innings (six starts) into a tough road tilt on Thursday against a loaded Dodgers lineup.

Naylor’s fourth-inning solo shot off White Sox starter Michael Clevinger represented Cleveland’s lone tally in a low-scoring tractor pull at Guaranteed Rate Field. The 26-year-old emerging fantasy force is already on the verge of eclipsing the 20-homer mark for the first time in his career and seems primed to establish new career-high marks across the board this season.

Brebbia got the call to protect a two-run lead in the final frame with both Jordan Leasure and Michael Kopech presumably unavailable after shouldering a heavy workload earlier this week. He’ll continue to pick up the occasional save chance for Chicago, but it’s clearly Kopech who is locked into the role right now. Leasure is the dark horse for saves, if the White Sox decide to ship out Kopech at the trade deadline in a few months.

Clevinger struck out five and limited Cleveland’s offense to just a fourth-inning solo shot by Josh Naylor. He was lifted after just 73 pitches (52 strikes) before qualifying for a win. The 33-year-old righty can be safely ignored for fantasy purposes when he brings an inflated 5.40 ERA, 2.10 WHIP and 5/4 K/BB ratio across 6 2/3 innings (two starts) into a challenging road tilt against the Yankees.

McKenzie, who it’s worth noting is pitching through torn ligament in his right elbow, got into trouble early when he allowed a pair of runs in the second inning, which were enough to eventually saddle him with a loss. He struck out five and also handed out a trio of free passes. The 26-year-old righty has shown some signs of improvement following a dreadful stretch to open the year, even if he’s not racking up a ton of strikeouts, allowing two earned runs or fewer in six consecutive starts since April 19. He’ll bring a serviceable 3.54 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 35/24 K/BB ratio across 40 2/3 innings (eight starts) into a home matchup on Friday against the Twins.

As of now, Dodgers’ skipper Dave Roberts is calling his level of concern “minimal”, though he acknowledged that Ohtani would likely get a day off on Sunday to err on the side of caution. It doesn’t sound like the superstar slugger should be looking at any sort of extended absence, but it’s a situation worth monitoring.

Giants’ skipper Bob Melvin told reporters after Saturday’s game that the strain “feels mild”, but they won’t have any sort of timeline on his potential return until after Sunday’s exam. Luis Matos was pulled from his game at Triple-A Sacramento and would likely be summoned if Conforto is going to miss any time.

The 35-year-old backstop tattooed a Keegan Thompson fastball in the fifth inning, launching a 416-foot (107.7 mph EV) three-run shot that gave the Pirates a 9-8 lead. He also singled and rode home on Michael Taylor’s two-run blast in the fourth inning. Grandal finished the night 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and is now hitting .235/.278/.471 with a homer and three RBI.