MLB Player News

The A’s opened their half of the first inning with a double and a base hit to score a run. Kirby settled in to hold them scoreless across four innings before Oakland brought one more run in to score on two hits in the sixth. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out nine on his way to the win. It was an excellent effort to start September after posting a 6.84 ERA in August. He’ll take a 3.61 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 162/21 K/BB ratio across 167 innings into a start against the Padres in Seattle on Tuesday.

Freeman allowed two runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings with the White Sox this season. After pitching a scoreless inning on Wednesday, the White Sox may have just been looking for a fresh arm for the bullpen.

White has made nine starts in Triple-A this season, posting a 5.24 ERA with just 36 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings. The Rangers did use him as a long reliever last season, so it’s possible that White could fill the same role in Chicago, but we’ll have to see what their plans are for him in the coming days.

Correa was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup with a sore back, and the Twins claim they’re being extra cautious with their starting shortstop and plan to have him back in action on Friday. However, Correa has battled injuries throughout his career, and back injuries tend to linger, so even though Correa has blamed the batter’s box in Detroit for his back pain, it’s a situation we should monitor. Brooks Lee will start at shortstop and bat eighth on Thursday.

This is now the third straight game he’s missed. We haven’t heard any reports that he’s dealing with an injury, so the White Sox are perhaps giving him a bit of a reset in the same way the Pirates gave one to Bryan Reynolds and the Rangers gave one to Adolis Garcia. Apart from his stolen base value, Robert Jr. hasn’t provided much excitement for fantasy managers. Michael A. Taylor will start in center field and bat eighth for the third game in a row.

Caglianone debuted on Tuesday as the designated hitter, so this will be his first start in the field as an MLB player. That should be his defensive home for most of this season.

Harvey has been on the IL since April 11th with a right major teres sprain. He suffered a setback at the beginning of May and has not yet gotten closer to returning. The move to the 60-day IL shouldn’t change his timeline at all.

Hatch had posted a 4.59 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, and 46/19 K/BB ratio in 51 innings (10 starts) at Triple-A. The Royals already have too many starting pitchers with Cole Ragans (groin) coming off the IL to start today, so this feels like Hatch coming up to be a long reliever out of the bullpen. Unless there was a change in plans with Ragans that hasn’t been mentioned yet.

Ullola allowed just one hit while walking three and striking out seven. Ullola has impressive stuff, but command has been an issue for him in the past. He’s shown some minor growth recently, walking 16 batters over his last six outings, but striking out 41 over that span and allowing just three runs in 28 innings. With the Astros’ rotation getting crushed by injuries, there’s a chance that Ullola could get a shot this summer.

Teel started this game at catcher, but he has also been working out at first base in the hopes of expediting his path to the big leagues. The 23-year-old has yet to play first base in a game, but if he starts to, that could be a sign that his call-up to the big leagues is getting closer.

He also walked four and allowed two home runs while striking out five on the day. He still has a solid 3.86 ERA on the season, but this is just a reminder that he’s returning from Tommy John surgery, and so there will likely be some inconsistencies this season.