MLB Player News

Toronto cleared out three spots on their 40-man roster to make room for outfielders Alan Roden and Myles Straw in addition to veteran reliever Jacob Barnes. No real surprises here, but Pop should garner some interest on the waiver wire as a viable middle relief option.

Lee is dealing with an elbow bruise after being hit by a pitch in Tuesday’s game. The Giants don’t believe there is any major concern here. Grant McCray will play right field in his place on Wednesday.

With the Giants hoping for their first sweep of the season, they will turn to their ace on Wednesday. That means he will be flipped with Landen Roupp, who will now start on Thursday against the Diamondbacks. Webb last pitched on Friday against the Red Sox, so he will be on just four days’ rest, but he also only threw 2 2/3 innings in that outing.

Anthony had mentioned on Tuesday that the plan was for him to play nine innings in the outfield on Wednesday. If he can do that today, he could be active on Friday for the beginning of the series against the Yankees in New York. The former top prospect in baseball hasn’t played in an MLB game since May 4th and would be a major boost to this Red Sox lineup.

Slater was hitting .305/.407/.453 in 35 games in Triple-A and is looking to find another MLB opportunity. The 33-year-old can still be an asset against left-handed pitching for any team that might have an option bench spot.

Means suffered a ruptured Achilles in the offseason and underwent surgery in December. The Royals signed him to a two-year contract, knowing that he would miss all of this season. The 33-year-old will likely need the full 30 days to complete his rehab assignment, which means there’s a chance he can make an appearance for the Royals at the end of the season.

Lipscomb has had a tremendous season at Triple-A this year, hitting .300/.334/.560 with 28 home runs, 73 runs scored, 81 RBI, and 11 steals in 111 games. He does have a 115/23 K/BB ratio, but he’s currently on a 20-game hitting streak and has been hitting the ball much harder this season with a 45.7 percent hard-hit rate and a 10 percent barrel rate at Triple-A. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so he may not come up until rosters expand in September, but there’s a chance he pushes Brady House for reps at third base.

Pivetta struck out four and walked one but also allowed two home runs while throwing 35 of his 47 pitches for strikes. We don’t have much data from High-A parks, but it’s nice to see that Pivetta threw as many strikes as he did and that he ended the outing healthy after having to walk off the mound the last time he was making a rehab start. He should move to Double-A or Triple-A for his next outing, which could come over the weekend.

Since coming to Tampa Bay, Mateo has played exclusively against left-handed pitching, but he will get a start against a righty here. Mateo is just 3-for-17 in his seven games with the Rays and is unlikely to push Taylor Walls for the starting shortstop job.

This was discussed yesterday and is now official. The 23-year-old doesn’t have major swing-and-miss stuff and has pitched to a 4.76 ERA over his four MLB starts. However, he has been much better in the minors and has recently increased his curveball usage in Triple-A, which is something to monitor in this outing. We would not be using him in fantasy leagues, however.

The 22-year-old also struck out eight and didn’t walk a single batter, while throwing 74 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting a 26 percent swinging strike rate. Paez was primarily a long reliever in Double-A, but he has started in both of his appearances in Triple-A as the Red Sox look for more starting pitching depth. He faced a lot of lefties on Tuesday, and his cutter and changeup were real weapons for him. His four-seamer also sits 92.6 mph, but he uses his cutter as his primary fastball and also features a sinker and curve as well. He could give the Red Sox some innings in September to help them save some of their other starters for the postseason.