MLB Player News

Robert Murray of Fansided was the first to report the deal while Jeff Passan of ESPN added the financials for the 31-year-old hurler. While LeClerc has functioned in the closer’s capacity in his past, he’ll work in a setup role for the Athletics being fire-balling right-hander Mason Miller. LeClerc posted a 4.32 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and an 89/32 K/BB ratio across 66 2/3 innings for the Rangers during the 2024 season.

Rasmussen struck out 11, which is the second highest total of his career. He had 13 against Boston earlier this year. Unless the Rays decide to have him make a cameo on Sunday, Rasmussen will end the regular season 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA and a 174/32 K/BB in 172 innings. He’s probably looking at finishing third or fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting.

Baker averaged 94.0 mph with his fastball tonight. That’s 2.4 mph off his season average and his second lowest mark of the year. He’s come in under 95 mph five times this month after doing so just twice in the first five months of the season. It hasn’t hurt him yet, but it should be a cause of some concern to the Rays ahead of the postseason, especially if they want to start asking him to come in with runners on and get more than three outs at a time.

Three of the runs came in the seventh, when Fried allowed three singles. The second was a 72-mph flyball and the third was a bunt from Taylor Walls on which Fried probably would have had an out at first, except no one was covering the base. Fried left with two outs and one run in, and John Schneider went on to give up a two-run single before finishing the inning. Fried’s regular season ends at 5-5 with a 2.80 ERA in 20 starts. Last year, he was 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 starts. Fried is likely to start in the Wild Card series against Boston next week.

The singles were his only hits in nine at-bats today, but they were very well timed. He had gone hitless in six straight games entering the nightcap, dropping his average from .301 to .290. He’s hitting .249/.297/.385 in 61 games since the All-Star break.

García has come in at .263/.293/.441 for the Yankees after hitting .283/.313/.560 in 104 games with the Nationals. That’s not too bad, but despite hitting third or fourth, he has just 15 RBI in 42 games, seven of which were him driving in himself.

Tolman struck out the first two batters he faced before he walked Hao-Yu Lee. With the tying run at the plate, he struck out Kevin McGonigle looking to end the game. It was Tolman’s fourth save. The 14th-round pick by the Nationals in 2021 has a 3.38 ERA and 15 strikeouts in his first 13 1/3 big league innings.

Anderson gave up five hits, walked none and struck out five. He fell to 5-7 with the loss. Having likely made his last appearance of the season, Anderson will finish with a 3.67 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 114 strikeouts in 108 innings. Not bad for his return to the majors after playing two seasons each in Japan and Korea. Assuming Anderson has his $10 million 2027 team option picked up, he should compete for a backend spot in the Tigers’ rotation next year.

Williamson, who had been piggybacking off Chase Burns, excelled tonight in his second major league start since April. throwing just 68 pitches to get 18 outs. He seemed iffy a month ago to stick on Cincinnati’s 40-man this winter, but with his velocity climbing some as he completes his first year back from Tommy John, he’s probably locked up a spot now.

In a rare miss for Tampa Bay, the Rays could have had Burke from the Angels for Josh Lowe last winter but instead decided to do a three-team deal that netted them Gavin Lux from Cincinnati. Lux has been absent all year, while Burke has posted a 2.33 ERA in 73 1/3 innings. He’s surely looking at a nice multiyear deal in free agency this winter.

The run came on an Elly De La Cruz homer. Ritchie fell to 1-4 with a 4.79 ERA. He’s probably not in the Braves’ plans for next week’s Wild Card series, so he could make a traditional start against the Marlins on Sunday.