MLB Player News

Latz was quite effective for the Rangers before getting hurt in early August, amassing a 3.71 ERA in 43 2/3 innings. Still, the team didn’t want to demote Walter Pennington or anyone else to make room for him right now.

Marte just crushed a 97-mph fastball, showing off 84.9 mph of bat speed in the process. That’s the 14th-highest bat speed on a homer this year, and Marte also checks in at No. 7 on that list at 86.1 mph (Nick Kurtz tops the list at 87.7 mph, followed by James Wood at 87.5 mph and Oneil Cruz at both 87.1 mph and 87.0 mph). Marte has 11 homers and 37 RBI through 58 games and still figures to do a little better going forward.

Nelson gave up four homers to the Mariners last time out but none to the mighty Dodgers tonight. It’s the fourth time in five starts that he’s completed seven innings and allowed no more than three runs, and he has a strong 2.89 ERA since the beginning of May. It’s hard to recommend him in mixed leagues when he’s turned into an extreme flyball pitcher with a below average strikeout rate, but the Diamondbacks should enjoy this for however long it lasts. He’ll make his next start against the Marlins in Miami.

Sewald worked around a Will Smith double and fanned two in his inning before the Ketel Marte won the game in the bottom of the ninth. His ERA is down to 3.47.

Wrobleski left with a 2-0 lead, but that was blown by Will Klein and Alex Vesia in the eighth before Tanner Scott lost the game in the ninth. Wrobleski averaged 95.4 mph with his fastball tonight, which was 1.6 mph above his season average. It’s his second straight outing with a season high in that department, as he came in at 94.9 mph last week against the Phillies. There was good reason to think Wrobleski’s early season success was unsustainable, given his hideous strikeout rate, but with his velocity and his whiff rate up, he’d seem to have a much sturdier foundation now. He’ll face the Pirates next week.

Brought into a 2-2 game to start the bottom of the ninth, Scott struck out Tommy Troy and then gave up a homer on a 97-mph fastball at the bottom of the zone to end the game. It was more of a good swing than a bad pitch, but this is Scott’s second misstep in three appearances. He still has a 2.42 ERA and an impressive 30/3 K/BB in 26 innings on the season.

Betts didn’t have an ugly night at the plate; his 393-foot flyout in the eighth was a barrel and two of his other balls in play could have been hits with a little luck. Still, considering that he entered the game with a .252 OBP, he might well be the worst option the Dodgers have in the leadoff spot right now. Statcast thinks he’s pretty unlucky to be batting .183, but even so, he’s currently in line to post the worst wOBA and xwOBA of his Hall of Fame career for a second consecutive season.

Muncy sustained a cut on his nose from his glasses, but aside from that he appears to have escaped the interaction unscathed. The 35-year-old slugger noted that he’s unlikely to be in the starting lineup on Friday, but it doesn’t sound like he’s in danger of missing any serious time. He’s considered day-to-day.

Massey ambushed Mike Paredes to open the fourth inning, crushing a first-pitch fastball for a 360-foot (95.5 mph EV) solo shot that tied the game at 3-3. He also singled in the ballgame. With his two-hit attack, the 28-year-old infielder is now slashing .266/.287/.477 with six homers and 20 RBI on the season.

Rojas came on to hit for Nick Loftin with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning. He got ahead in the count 3-1 against Justin Lawrence before lining his go-ahead two-run single into center field. That would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him stick around and potentially find himself in the starting lineup on Friday after his heroics on Thursday night.

Lange was called upon after the Royals scored twice in the top half of the ninth inning to take a two-run lead. He made things interesting, allowing a leadoff single to Victor Caratini and a two-out walk to Byron Buxton to put the tying runs on base, but battled back to get Brooks Lee on a ground ball to second base to end the ballgame. It’s his second save in the last three days and could signal that he could be the favorite for save chances going forward with Lucas Erceg continuing to struggle.