MLB Player News

It’s a significant hit to Atlanta’s high-leverage relief mix as Jimenez will be sidelined until at least midseason after undergoing a procedure to repair cartilage damage in his left knee. The 29-year-old righty has been lights-out over the last two years for the Braves, registering a sparkling 2.81 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 155/37 K/BB ratio across 125 innings (128 appearances).

Thomas was just claimed off of waivers from the Mariners in mid-May, but he gets the boot from the Astros’ 40-man roster as they needed to free up a spot for the addition of LaMonte Wade Jr. on Thursday. The 26-year-old outfielder could once again drum up interest on waivers.

Loperfido had been sidelined since April 18 due to a right quad strain. He had been on a minor league rehab assignment since May 23 and now will remain at Triple-A Sugar Land for the time being until a need for his services arises at the Major League level.

The 32-year-old had hit .250/.420/.441 with seven homers in 201 plate appearances at Triple-A Charlotte before requesting his release from the White Sox on June 1. He’ll jump right into action with the Astros, starting in left field and batting fifth against Pirates’ right-hander Jared Jones on Thursday evening in Houston.

The 29-year-old outfielder had started each of the team’s previous five games in center field. Taylor Trammell will slide over and cover center field on Thursday evening while LaMonte Wade Jr. draws a start in left field and will bat fifth against Pirates’ right-hander Jared Jones.

Chisholm stole second standing up against Codi Heuer in the seventh inning, then was plated on an RBI single by Ryan McMahon. The Jimmy Fallon bump, some are calling it. Chisholm is hitting .298/.359/.526 with three homers and three stolen bases over his last 15 games, upping his season line to .238/.313/.393 with seven homers and 15 stolen bases. We’d love to see a little more power, but he’s more or less holding serve with preseason expectations in fantasy baseball.

He finished with only three at-bats, as the platoon option was pinch-hit for by Chase DeLauter late in the loss. No fantasy value here, just thought we’d give Fairchild his due as the rest of the Guardians mustered only one hit combined against Carlos Rodón.

Bednar notched three consecutive ground outs from Travis Bazzana, Angel Martínez, and Chase DeLauter to secure a 2-1 win for the Bronx Bombers. While the 4.32 ERA is a bit unsightly, Bednar’s xERA of 2.83 and 99th percentile chase rate are signs that he’s not really close to losing the job at this point. He is walking a few more batters than he did last year and his fastball velocity is slightly down.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine night off for the 33-year-old slugger. Byron Buxton will function as the team’s designated hitter on Thursday while James Outman draws a start in center field and will bat ninth against Royals’ right-hander James Outman.

Only two batters actually notched a hit against Rodón, including an RBI single off the bat of Stuart Fairchild in the fourth inning. Rodon got whiffs on 38 percent of swings against him, with his velocity playing close to a mile per hour up from his seasonal average. An unfortunate no-decision here, but Rodón should be started with confidence against the Guardians in a run-it-back start next week.

It was a Judge-less Yankees outfit, but this is a pretty good result for Cecconi. He did get some help from an inning-ending double play in the fourth inning, when the Guardians hit the cutoff man on a sacrifice fly and threw out Jose Caballero at third base. Still, Cecconi was getting plenty of whiffs with his cutter and curveall -- nine in 23 swings -- and looked good in lowering his season ERA to 4.92. He’ll be tasked with another start against the Yankees next week, and assuming Judge isn’t back yet, would probably be a decent-if-unexciting stream option.