MLB Player News

Caldwell’s best tool is his speed, and it not only allows him to be a threat on the bases, but he profiles as one of the better defensive outfielders in the class as well. At 5-foot-9, 182-pounds, he’s not likely to be a major source of power, but he’s strong enough to put the ball into the gaps and turn on fastballs on the inner-half of the plate. He sprays line drives all over the diamond, and he gets rave reviews for his acumen at the dish. Caldwell has a chance to be a helper in several categories, even if it may not happen for a few years.

Steer had the middle of three singles as the Reds scored twice to win the game in the 11th. Gavin Lux delivered the actual game-winner off the bench. Steer has 12 hits in his last seven games, and his current .660 OPS is his high mark of the season. He’s still not hitting the ball hard enough to inspire much confidence — his xwOBA has actually been trending downwards — but at least he’s settling playing time concerns that could have arisen with Austin Hays nearly ready to come off the IL and Noelvi Marte not too far behind.

Burns struck out five of the first six batters tonight and faced just one over the minimum through three innings before giving up a leadoff homer to Ben Rice in the fourth. He later surrendered a two-run triple to Anthony Volpe, though it really should have been a single; Rece Hinds dove for a ball in right field that he had no chance of catching. Burns went without issuing a walk tonight. He got 12 whiffs: six on 48 fastballs and six on 24 sliders. His heated topped out at 100.1 mph and averaged 98.1 mph, which is right where he was at in Triple-A, too. All in all, it was a pretty impressive showing. He’ll make his next start in Fenway next week, probably in a matchup with Garrett Crochet.

Rodón was still throwing very well at the time of his exit, but he was at 88 pitches on a hot night in Cincinnati. Unfortunately for Rodón, the Yankees blew a 3-0 lead in the seventh, denying him what could have been his 10th win. He’s tied with Max Fried and Tarik Skubal for the major league lead in that category. Rodón will likely make his next start Sunday against the A’s, unless the Yankees want to use Marcus Stroman then and hold Rodón back to face the Jays on Monday.

There was no ninth-inning save chance for the Yankees tonight after Jonathan Loáisiga blew a three-run lead in the seventh, but the team was clearly prepared to go with Luke Weaver in the eighth and Williams in the ninth. They followed through with that plan even with the score tied. Weaver also pitched a scoreless inning tonight after taking a loss Friday in his first appearance back from the injured list.

It looked like this one would go to the Bombers before Encarnacion-Strand suddenly tied things up with a bases-loaded double in the seventh. The Reds made room for both CES and Santiago Espinal tonight by giving Spencer Steer just his fifth start in the outfield this season, but that’s probably not going to turn into a regular thing with Austin Hays set to return soon. The start tonight was Encarnacion-Strand’s second in five games.

Goldschmidt had sat against four of the previous seven righties the Yankees had faced, so it was a little surprising to see him get the nod against flamethrower Chase Burns tonight. It didn’t wind up working out, though we don’t know that Giancarlo Stanton would have fared any better had he been in there. Goldschmidt is now batting .244/.287/.330 against righties, compared to .408/.494/.711 against lefties.

Bergert was struck by a 103.3 mph line drive, which deflected off his right elbow before hitting him in the side. The 25-year-old appeared to be in a great deal of pain while leaving the contest in the fourth inning. He was charged with three runs over three innings before exiting. There should be an update on his status following the game.

Kelly declined to say whether Cruz would be back in the lineup for Wednesday’s contest. Clearly, he’s trying to send a message after the 26-year-old displayed a lack of hustle when he hit into a double play in his final at-bat of the contest. The only positive here for fantasy managers is that his early exit wasn’t injury-related.

Haggerty stole second and third after walking as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. The go-ahead run came on Haggerty’s chopper to second base. Gary Sánchez caught the relay in plenty of time and held on to the ball for once. He got the out call initially, but replay showed that Evan Carter clearly scored ahead of the tag. Haggerty then stole second before the inning ended. He’s a career 41-for-46 stealing bases in essentially one full year’s worth of plate appearances (587). Unfortunately, that one full year of plate appearances has come spread out over seven major league seasons.

Latz was in the pen 10 days ago before suddenly being extended to throw 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball as a bulk guy last time out against the Royals. He started tonight and got through six hitless with two walks before giving up a single to Ramón Laureano and a walk to open the seventh. He was lifted then in favor of Chris Martin, who proceeded to give up homers to three consecutive batters to blow a 4-0 lead. Latz finished with four strikeouts and 11 whiffs. Although he allowed seven hard-hit balls, five of them in excess of 103 mph, it was a 74-mph grounder up the middle that ended the no-hitter. We wouldn’t recommend picking up Latz, but this has been quite an impressive run. He’s not necessarily due to make another start with Nathan Eovaldi coming back, but the Rangers could certainly make room for him if they wanted to.