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.

Noda was on the bench on Tuesday against a left-handed pitcher, but he was replaced by Lenyn Sosa, who had just come off the IL, so there was some question about their roles going forward. It seems that Noda will continue to start regularly against right-handed pitchers. Despite struggling in Triple-A for the Angels to start the season, Noda seemed to figure something out in his brief stint in Boston, hitting .378/.519/.703 in 13 games at Triple-A Worcester with three home runs, 13 RBI, and two steals. He’s worth keeping an eye on in case some tangible changes took place in Boston.

Cook is up with Bryan Reynolds on the Paternity List, and he’s also right into the starting lineup. He could likely be sent back down when Reynolds returns later this week, so he’s not worth chasing in fantasy leagues right now.

Caglianone took a day off on Wednesday against a left-hander amid a 10-for-51 start to his MLB career. However, the Royals just wanted to give him a little mental break, so he’s right back in there on Thursday. You don’t have to start him, but we would not drop him yet.

It had been reported earlier that Weaver could likely skip a rehab stint, and that appears to be the case. He will have beaten his estimated recovery timeline by almost a month, so that causes a bit of fear that there could be re-injury; however, Weaver is worth adding onto your bench if you have space since we have not heard directly from the Yankees how they plan to use him and Devin Williams in the weeks ahead. There may be a closer committee in New York, given how well both have pitched.

The 23-year-old has now homered in back-to-back games and has 10 homers on the season to go along with a .276/.393/.470 slash line and 55 RBIs in 69 games. He’s the 44th-ranked prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, but there is no place for him in Los Angeles right now. Perhaps he’s used as a trade chip at the deadline to help the Dodgers’ injured rotation. If not, we likely won’t see him until 2026, unless there’s an injury.

Mathews allowed one hit and two walks while striking out six. He missed over a month while battling shoulder soreness, but he has looked good in his three starts since returning, posting a 17/6 K/BB ratio and 1.38 ERA in 13 innings. Of course, 13 innings over three starts is not great length, so he will need to continue to build up his pitch count before he’s a potential name for the Cardinals’ rotation.

The Pirates decided not to throw Paul Skenes up against Tarik Skubal because we can’t have nice things. That means Andrew Heaney will take the mound in Game 1, and both Carpenter and Colt Keith will be on the bench. They should return for Game 2, but Jahmai Jones will DH in Game 1.

Soler has struggled all season, hitting just .207/.280/.350 with eight home runs, 26 RBI, and a 30 percent strikeout rate. This back injury might be an opportunity to place him on the injured list and give him a brief reset. Jo Adell will move to right field with Soler out of the lineup, and Scott Kingery will start in center field and bat seventh.

Estrada has now missed two straight games since being removed from the game on Tuesday. While the Rockies are referring to him as “day-to-day,” they also admit that he was unable to grip a bat on Tuesday, so there will remain some mild concern until we see Estrada back on the field. Orlando Arcia will start at second base and bat eighth on Thursday.

Rice started his first game as a catcher on Wednesday night, so the Yankees likely want to give him a day off to rest his legs with a day game on tap. However, after a hot start to the season, Rice has hit just .198/.263/.355 in 37 games since May 1st. He’s not striking out a lot and has an 11.3 percent barrel rate over that span, but with Giancarlo Stanton back, Rice is going to need the results to start appearing if he wants to hold onto his playing time.