MLB Player News

Conforto provided the lone run of the game for the Giants with a solo homer off an otherwise strong Michael King in the sixth inning. The 31-year-old outfielder has homered 16 times while driving in 56 runs with an underwhelming .230/.308/.437 slash. You can do worse, but it’d be surprising if you couldn’t do better.

Topa was designated for assignment, and now the 35-year-old will be free to find a new team. How much interest other clubs will have is up for debate, as he forged an ugly 8.05 ERA in his 19 innings this year. Topa will likely be looking at a “prove it” minor league deal at this stage of his career.

Enjoying his best stretch of the season, Springer delivered a 396-foot homer and a 367-foot double against Paul Skenes today. He’s hit in six straight games, collecting three homers during the span.

Just as everyone expected, Corbin had five more strikeouts and eight more whiffs (15-7) than Paul Skenes today. Corbin did give up 10 hard-hit balls, including the three hardest of the game, but all those hard-hit balls produced was four singles and a double. He also walked none. Corbin is 2-1 with a 3.89 ERA in his nine starts. His strikeout rate is just 17 percent overall and he’s also sporting a career-low groundball rate for the second straight season, so he’s still not worth much attention in fantasy circles. He’ll pitch in Baltimore next week.

Hoffman had a three-run cushion, but he didn’t need it in setting down Brandon Lowe, Oneil Cruz and Endy Rodríguez. Hoffman was the easy choice to close today after Louis Varland had a two-inning save Friday. Varland should be back on the role on Sunday if the Jays have a chance to extend their streak to five straight days with a save.

Skenes, who allowed one run through five, gave up four straight hits to begin the sixth. The third of those, a Jesús Sánchez RBI double, should have been a strikeout, but a checked swing that seemed to be in strike territory went uncalled, allowing the at-bat to continue. Skenes was pulled after the fourth hit, and Yohan Ramírez stranded two out of three despite coming on with none out. It’s the second straight start in which Skenes has allowed at least four runs, which is something that had never happened before. He’s given up at least four runs four times in 11 starts this year. It was five times in 55 career starts coming into the year. Still, there aren’t any big concerns here. Skenes’ velocity is down about one mph from last year and another sub-2.00 ERA probably isn’t on the way, but he still looks like a top-five starter. He’ll face the Cubs on Thursday.

Heineman appeared to be dealing with a back or side issue late in the game was checked on by the trainer, but he stayed in to finish the game. Heineman, who is batting .152/.188/.197 in 73 plate appearances, has fallen behind Brandon Valenzuela on the catcher depth chart with Alejandro Kirk out, which could lead to a difficult decision for the Jays in a couple of weeks. Heineman is out of options, but Valenzuela is pretty obviously the better player. The Jays will have to figure out whether or not it’s worth weakening the club and sending down Valenzuela to preserve its catching depth.

O’Hoppe was checked for a concussion after a plate at the plate during Friday’s win against the Rangers, and he’s not going to start Saturday’s contest. Sebastian Rivero will handle catching duties in O’Hoppe’s absence.

Merrill missed Friday’s game while dealing with soreness in his ribs. The 23-year-old is good to go for Saturday’s contest, however, and will hit sixth while patrolling center for San Diego in the middle contest against the A’s.

Gurriel was removed from Friday’s game with tightness in his hamstring, and imaging revealed the strain. The 32-year-old will be out at least a week and a half — likely more — and Tommy Troy is up to take his spot on the roster.

Troy gets the nod with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain. The 24-year-old was the Diamondbacks’ first-round pick back in 2023, and while his development has been up-and-down at best, he’s hit well in Triple-A this year with a .307 average and .846 OPS for the Aces. The 24-year-old will likely see time in the outfield with Gurriel unavailable, but fantasy managers should take a wait-and-see approach rather than rushing to the waiver wire.