MLB Player News

Look who just might want to get himself a 20/20 season. Chapman has always been sneaky high on the sprint speed lists, but he was 11-for-23 stealing bases in seven seasons coming into this year. Right now, he’s 15-for-17, making for one of the most surprising stats of 2024. He already has the 20 homers; today’s off Joe Musgrove was his 23rd.

Walker’s double was a soft fly down the right field line that Colby Thomas has no chance of catching up to. Before that, Iván Herrera singled to left to tie the game. Although the double didn’t count, Walker still had three hard-hit balls today. He cooled in the second half of April after his big start, but he’s been flirting with a .400 xwOBA since the beginning of May. It definitely doesn’t look like he’ll be returning to 2024/25 form any time soon.

McGreevy gave up 11 hard-hit balls today, but only three turned into hits. Nick Kurtz’s homer was one of them, but flies of 396, 391 and 383 feet all stayed in the park and turned into outs. That’s the kind of good fortune that has allowed McGreevy to post a 2.10 ERA through nine starts with only an average groundball rate and a 19 percent strikeout rate. His BABIP is an incredible .203. He still doesn’t figure to provide mixed-league value in the long run, but he’s a fair play against the Pirates next week.

The Cardinals had to get O’Brien ready in a hurry after scoring twice in the top of the ninth to take a one-run lead. O’Brien responded very well, though he did hit a batter in the 16-pitch inning. He has three hit batters but just two walks in 21 innings this season.

Lopez have up homers to Victor Scott II in the fifth and Jordan Walker in the sixth before departing. He walked three and struck out just two, with only four of the 42 swings against him producing whiffs. His ERA sits at 5.80, and even worse is his 30/27 K/BB in 40 1/3 innings. The A’s probably aren’t going to turn to Gage Jump just yet, but it’d seem to be time to try someone else in Lopez’s spot.

After finishing off a four-run lead last night, Perkins gave up two singles and a double today to blow his second save chance in two tries this month. This might take him out of the mix for a spell, increasing the chances that Joel Kuhnel and Scott Barlow could wind up with saves. Barlow pitched a scoreless eighth today for his eighth hold.

Gelof’s homer off Ryne Stanek was part of a three-run seventh that gave the A’s a 4-3 lead. He’s hit .270/.316/.527 in 81 plate appearances, and he’s making a good case to stick as the Athletics’ third baseman after Max Muncy returns, even though Muncy was off to a strong start offensively before getting hurt.

Soderstrom had a 108-mph GIDP in the first, which wound up being the second hardest-hit ball in the game. In the third, he hit a 344-foot fly to right that would have been a homer in 10 ballparks, including Sutter Health, if Jordan Walker hadn’t casually grabbed before it could get over the ballpark’s low wall. In the sixth, Soderstrom barreled up a ball to left-center that projected at 396 feet, making it a homer in 13 ballparks. In this one, though, it was knocked down by the wind and was an easy play for Victor Scott II. Later came a 105-mph groundout for his fourth hard-hit ball of the day. Soderstrom is down to .195 after this, but the hits will come.

Glasnow has already started to play catch and is expected to get on a mound soon. If he looks and feels fine during those bullpen sessions, it sounds like he could jump right back into the rotation. Barring any setbacks, it sounds like Glasnow should be back before the end of May.

Yelich was just activated from the injured list on Tuesday after missing a month’s worth of action due to a groin strain. He then experienced tightness in his back during his return to action and has found himself on the bench for the next two contests. The Brewers can ill afford to play shorthanded for an extended period of time, so if it looks like he won’t be ready to go by the end of the weekend, expect him to make a return trip to the injured list.

Raley also had 105- and 98-mph lineouts to go along with his 102-mph homer and 108-mph groundball single today. That ups his hard-hit rate to 57.1 percent. As a platoon guy, he doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify for leaderboards, but only six hitters have better hard-hit rates this season (Munetaka Murakami, James Wood, Oneil Cruz, Nick Kurtz, Ben Rice and Michael Harris II).