MLB Player News

Garrett was designated for assignment and went unclaimed by the Angels on Wednesday. The left-handed veteran is now free to sign with another club, but is likely looking at a minor-league pact.

All three of Bell’s hits were singles, but one of them plated a run in the eighth inning. It was his 29th RBI of the season, and Bell is now 6-for-8 with five RBI in the first two games of this series.

Revenge is sweet. Lovelady, who has had multiple stints with the Mets and pitched for them earlier this season, shut down his former team on just 10 pitches. The southpaw struck out Carson Benge swinging to end it. Despite some shaky control, Loveland has emerged as a key piece in the Nationals’ bullpen with a 2.03 ERA over 13 appearances. It’s worth noting that Gus Varland threw two innings on Monday and was unavailable, but Lovelady is giving Blake Butera an alternative for save chances.

Matthews also struck out six and didn’t walk a batter while throwing 66 percent of his pitches for strikes. His four-seamer was one mph faster than we saw in his first outing, and his vertical movement seems to be up from last season. He also seems to have tweaked all of his secondary pitches. His curveball seems brand new, coming in three mph slower than last year with six inches more horizontal movement. It had just a six percent swinging strike rate, so it might not have been the best change. His slider and cutter are both also slower this year, but the cutter has less break, so he may be creating more differentiation between the two. The results have been good, but the arsenal remains questionable. We’d be OK adding him, but it’s a bit of a stiffer test against a surging White Sox lineup next week.

Dunn fortifies Tampa Bay’s organizational infield depth at Triple-A Durham with Carson Williams up in the majors while Ben Williamson deals with a back injury. The 28-year-old was in White Sox camp as a non-roster invitee earlier this spring after hitting .167 (6-for-36) in 14 games for the Brewers last year.

Rock hasn’t pitched in the big leagues this season after making three relief appearances for the Rays last year, striking out 11 and allowing two runs over 7 2/3 innings of work. The 25-year-old southpaw has struggled to an inflated 5.40 ERA and 27/17 K/BB ratio over 15 innings at Triple-A Round Rock this season.

Griffin gave up two homers to Bo Bichette over the first two innings to put himself in an early 5-0 hole, so it didn’t look he had much of a chance of getting a win early on, but the Nationals’ offense bailed him out. The southpaw held the Mets off the board for his final three innings, so at least he finished strong. He struck out five in the victory while walking none and hitting a batter. Griffin has been a good addition for Washington, but he’s allowed 14 runs over his last two starts, increasing his ERA from 2.12 to 4.02 in the process. It doesn’t appear there’s much in the way of fantasy upside here outside of streaming.

Well, that was unexpected. Fantasy managers can at least take solace in the fact that three of the runs were unearned, as McLean’s defense didn’t do him any favors, but either way it’s the most runs he’s allowed in a start in his brief major league career. The big blow as an inside-the-park grand slam from James Wood in the second inning. McLean gave up eight hits in all — including two homers — while walking two, hitting two batters, and striking out five. The rookie right-hander just didn’t have his usual command in this one and the velocity on his four-seamer was down a tick as well. He’ll attempt to rebound this weekend against the Marlins in Miami.

Now that’s more like it. Bichette had just two homers across his first 46 games this season, but he’s now put up three homers over the past two days. That’s baseball for you. Bichette clearly hasn’t been the best version of himself this season, and learning a new position probably hasn’t helped, but he’s too talented and has too much of a track record to suggest that he wouldn’t snap out of it at the plate. It’s probably also helped to play shortstop with Francisco Lindor sidelined.

Alexander wasn’t even scheduled to start this game, but was thrust into the role when Lance McCullers was scratched with shoulder inflammation. Alexander responded by throwing 63 percent strikes with an 11 percent swinging strike rate. He faced mainly left-handed hitters in this one, getting ahead early with the four-seamer and then using the changeup down for whiffs. It remains to be seen if he will stick in the rotation, but it seems likely that McCullers will head to the injured list, which would free up a spot for Alexander.

Soto launched a 434-foot blast to right-center field in the seventh inning, but the Mets were unable to get any closer against the Nationals’ bullpen. The 27-year-old has hit safely in six straight games while going 10-for-24 (.417) with three home runs, six RBI, three steals, and seven runs scored. It’s almost like he’s one of the game’s elite hitters or something.