MLB Player News

Hughes, the 10th overall pick in the 2022 draft, is making his way back from Tommy John surgery, with his three AFL starts representing his first action since July 2023. He has a 6.75 ERA to date, but so does everyone else in Arizona. He’s struck out nine and walked three in eight innings.

Rodríguez now has 25 home runs on the season to go along with a .272 average, 63 RBI, and an .876 OPS. He’s an aggressive hitter, but he’s swinging outside of the zone less than he did last year and has reduced his swinging strike rate to a league-average mark. He also continues to make league-average contact while driving the ball over the fence. We should note that his 42 percent hard-hit rate and 89.2 mph average exit velocity don’t suggest tons of power, but he makes the most of his contact with his approach, and playing his home games in Great American Ballpark will help. We’d imagine he’s up after the August 14th cutoff to retain his rookie eligibility for 2027.

Mauricio has five home runs in his last six games in Triple-A and has 12 home runs and a .979 OPS on the season. It’s unclear which players the Mets will be trading away at the deadline, but it makes sense for them to use the final two months of the season to see if Mauricio can be a regular part of their 2027 roster. That, or use him as part of a trade to land a starting pitcher.

Donovan had just one extra-base hit in nine rehab games before this, so the home run is nice to see. It’s also interesting to note that he played the whole game in right field on Tuesday. With Cole Young, J.P. Crawford, and Colt Emerson playing every day in the field, you have to wonder if Seattle would bring Donovan back to play mostly outfield and cut into playing time for Dominic Canzone and/or Luke Raley. It’s a situation to monitor.

Salas was one of the top overall prospects in baseball a couple of years ago, but he had a rough last few seasons in the minors. Still, he remains just 20 years old, and his previous rankings were probably aggressive. This season, in 71 games at Double-A, Salas hit .285/.359/.418 with seven home runs, 37 RBI, and 14 steals. He had just a six percent swinging strike rate and a tremendous 87 percent contact rate overall. Now we’ll see if he can do that one step away from the big leagues.

Ohtani left a game on July 3 because of biceps discomfort, but it was a hitting issue and not supposed to be pitching-related. If the Dodgers are now concerned about it in terms of his pitching, then any sort of quick return to the mound seems highly unlikely. All signs point to him remaining in the lineup as a designated hitter, however.

Canzone took Justin Wrobleski deep for a solo homer in the sixth inning to tie the game. With the game still tied in the eighth, he went deep once again, blasting a two-run shot off Alex Vesia to put the Mariners ahead. Both home runs came off a left-handed pitcher. The 28-year-old outfielder is up to 18 homers and 49 RBI while hitting .263/.333/.530 across 297 plate appearances.

Rodríguez led off the fourth inning with a solo homer off Justin Wrobleski. He later added a single in the eighth before stealing second and scoring. The 25-year-old outfielder is up to 16 homers, 51 runs scored, 46 RBI, and 13 steals while slashing .257/.317/.425 across 419 plate appearances.

Ohtani got the scoring started in this one, taking Luis Castillo deep for a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the first inning. After he was intentionally walked in the third, he knocked a base hit in the fourth to drive in another run before collecting his third RBI on a double in the ninth. After the game, the 32-year-old star stated he was dealing with a right biceps issue along with the left knee injury, keeping him from throwing since last week. Still, he continues to perform at the plate, slashing .286/.391/.533 with 23 homers, 67 runs scored, 64 RBI, and six steals across 452 plate appearances.

Muñoz was summoned to close out the game against the Dodgers with a two-run lead. He started the inning with a single and a double that brought a run in for the Dodgers. Muñoz then retired the next two batters before working around a walk to convert his 19th save. The one run allowed snaps a 13-inning scoreless streak that dated back to June 16.

Castillo gave up a leadoff homer to Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the first inning. He then loaded the bases with no outs in the third, but came out of it with just one more run allowed on a groundout. The Dodgers would add two more runs in the fourth, followed by a solo homer by Max Muncy in the fifth. Castillo’s day would be done after five frames, giving up 11 hits and issuing two walks while collecting just two strikeouts. The 33-year-old right-hander will take a 5.06 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and an 86/32 K/BB ratio across 99 2/3 innings into a start against the Tigers in Seattle next Tuesday.