MLB Player News

With the Phillies starting left-hander Cristopher Sanchez, the Rockies will keep Nick Martini on the bench and let Bouchard patrol the outfield. This should be the platoon situation for the immediate future.

Volpe’s hit was a clean liner to left off Lucas Erceg. He struck out twice and walked once in his three previous plate appearance. Volpe was making his first start in the three games since José Caballero rejoined the Yankees, as manager Aaron Boone picked him over Ryan McMahon and started Caballero at third today. That might well be the team’s best alignment right now, since McMahon has remained a bust offensively while also not playing quite as well as usual defensively this season. Volpe is hitting .231/.412/.308 with five RBI in 34 plate appearances since being recalled.

Warren walked three and gave up a sac fly in the second and later allowed a solo shot from Salvador Perez in the sixth. It wasn’t one of his best performances, but those walks in the second were his only ones of the day, at least. He struck out three. Warren will have a more difficult assignment Sunday against the A’s in Sacramento, and mixed leaguers in daily leagues might have some better options.

It’s Bednar’s second straight scoreless appearance after he gave up runs in three straight outings and five of seven. He’d actually given up runs each of the last four times he’d successfully converted saves. The back-to-back scoreless outings take a little heat off him for now. He’s 12-for-14 in his save chances on the season.

Wacha allowed five hits, walked two and struck out five in his fifth straight quality starts and ninth overall in 11 outings this season. In spite of his success, the Royals dropped to 4-7 in his starts, though Wacha at least has a 4-2 record anyway. He’ll be a fine play in Texas against the Rangers on Sunday.

We assumed Erceg would be down today after throwing 32 pitches and giving up three runs with a five-run lead in Sunday’s game. The Royals had other ideas. To be fair, Erceg didn’t give up one hard-hit ball today, Two of the singles actually left the bat at less than 40 mph, and the lone extra-base hit, a double from Jazz Chisholm Jr., might have been handled by a better first baseman than Salvador Perez (he’d just replaced Vinnie Pasquantino after Pasquantino was removed for a pinch-runner). With any luck, this probably would have been a clean inning for Erceg. Still, Erceg just isn’t a very good reliever at the moment, what with his 18/13 K/BB in 21 1/3 innings. Daniel Lynch IV, who worked a scoreless eighth today, might be asked to take over in the ninth for now.

Chisholm’s double was a big part of the Yankees’ ninth-inning rally, and he scored the go-ahead run one batter later. He was actually checked on by the trainer in between those two events, as he seemed to be bothered by a lower leg issue of some sort. However, it might have been just a cramp, and he was able to finish the contest.

Witt delivered the big hit today before the Royals went on to blow the game in the ninth. He now has eight homers at the season’s one-third point, putting him on pace for 24. However, it should be noted that all eight of those have come in his last 27 games after he went without one in his first 27.

It certainly doesn’t sound good. Taylor was replaced by MJ Melendez in left field after grounding out in the sixth inning of Monday’s contest at Citi Field. The 32-year-old outfielder will undergo a battery of tests to determine the severity of the issue and his next steps. There should be some clarity on his status at some point later this week.

Andrews receives his first call up to the big leagues to fortify Toronto’s bullpen with starter Dylan Cease (hamstring) hitting the injured list. The 30-year-old journeyman has posted a strong 1.35 ERA and 22/14 K/BB ratio across 20 innings for Triple-A Buffalo this season. He spent time previously in the Giants and Marlins systems after being drafted in the 10th round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

The move is now official. Cease is facing a multi-week absence after suffering a mild hamstring strain during Sunday’s start against the Pirates. The 30-year-old upper-echelon fantasy starter has delivered a strong 3.05 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 92/26 K/BB ratio across 62 innings over 11 starts in his Blue Jays debut this season. The hope for Toronto and fantasy managers is that he’ll be ready to take the ball again when first eligible to return in early June.