MLB Player News

Means exhibited diminished velocity through the first three innings on Wednesday and was then removed after a lengthy rain delay. Orioles’ manager Brandon Hyde told reporters afterwards though that Means would have been done regardless of the rain. He’ll undergo further testing on his elbow to determine the severity of the issue. Fingers crossed.

It’s the second straight game that the dynamic 25-year-old shortstop has missed at Coors Field due to a sore ankle. The encouraging sign is that is still hasn’t been placed on the injured list, so the Pirates still believe that it’s truly a day-to-day type of situation. Jared Triolo will once again start in his place and will bat eighth against Rockies’ southpaw Ty Blach.

Meneses put the Nationals on the board in the first inning with a sacrifice fly. He later gave the team a pair of insurance runs in the eighth with a two-run blast off Andrew Nardi for his third homer of the season. The 32-year-old first baseman is slashing .244/.305/.332 with 36 RBI across 243 plate appearances.

Thomas doubled in the first inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Joey Meneses to put the Nationals on the board. He then launched a solo homer in the third, his second straight day going yard. The 28-year-old outfielder is hitting .238/.300/.388 with six homers, 22 RBI, and 16 steals across 180 plate appearances.

Herz was dominant against the Marlins on Saturday. Making his third career start, he struck out 13 batters on 21 whiffs over six shutout frames, second most strikeouts by a Nationals rookie behind Stephen Strasburg. Herz allowed just one baserunner on the day, a single by Jake Burger in the fifth inning. The 23-year-old left-hander will take a 3.77 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and a 21/5 K/BB ratio across 14 1/3 innings into a start against the Rockies in Colorado on Friday.

Trevor Rogers had one of his better starts, going a season-high seven innings against the Nationals. He allowed a run in to score in the first inning on a single, double, and sacrifice fly. Lane Thomas later hit a solo homer in the third. Rogers would settle in for four more scoreless frames, but was saddled with a no-decision as the Marlins were shut down by DJ Herz. The 26-year-old left-hander will take a 5.09 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, and a 55/31 K/BB ratio across 69 innings into a start against the Mariners in Miami on Friday.

The 26-year-old southpaw was just brought up on Thursday, but he’ll head back to Triple-A on Saturday to make room on the active roster for Austin Nola. Veneziano has posted a 4.50 ERA, 2.50 WHIP and a 2/1 K/BB ratio over two innings in his time with the Royals this season.

With Salvador Perez banged up, the Royals wanted to have some extra catching depth on hand for the remainder of their weekend series against the Dodgers. The 34-year-old backstop had been hitting just .100/.167/.167 with a homer, five RBI and a 15/4 K/BB ratio in 20 games at Triple-A Omaha.

The 32-year-old slugger already didn’t have a timeline for his potential return, but now it’ll be substantially longer before he’s cleared to return. Bryant has hit a pitiful .106/.143/.362 with four homers, eight RBI and a 20/1 K/BB ratio across 49 plate appearances with the Rockies this season.

Springer brought the first run in to score for the Blue Jays, knocking a base hit in the second inning before scoring on a single by Spencer Horwitz. Springer then drew a walk to lead off the fourth and cross home plate to score on a single by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The 34-year-old outfielder is slashing .198/.291/.293 with five homers, 30 runs scored, and eight steals across 265 plate appearances.

Kwan collected three hits on the day against the Blue Jays, knocking singles in the third, fifth, and eighth inning. He was stranded each time as the Guardians failed to bring a run in to score against Toronto. The 26-year-old outfielder has been a hitting machine, slashing .386/.447/.538 with four homers, 39 runs scored, and three steals across 191 plate appearances.