MLB Player News

In a bit of an oddity, the White Sox had three three-strikeout guys today (Vaughn, Nick Maton and Lenyn Sosa) and no one else fanned even once. Vaughn’s final at-bat was the ugliest; with the winning run on first, he swung at four straight pitches from Aroldis Chapman, fouling off the one hittable pitch he did get and missing at three clearly out of the zone. Statcast thinks he’s been extraordinarily unlucky this season — he entered the day with a .111 average and a .222 slugging percentage, compared to a .277 xBA and a .522 xSLG — but he was just bad in this one.

Lee takes a seat with Orlando Arcia getting a shot at third base for the first time since being called up earlier this month. The 25-year-old infielder has cooled off a bit in the last few games after an impressive five-game stretch earlier this week where he batted .350 (7-for-20) with one homer and six RBI. He appears to be Minnesota’s preferred option at the hot corner until further notice with top prospect Kaelen Culpepper seemingly earmarked for shortstop once he arrives this summer.

Juenger earns his first promotion to the majors after posting a serviceable 3.15 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 23/8 K/BB ratio across 20 innings for Triple-A Buffalo this season. He also has three saves during that span. The 25-year-old joins Toronto’s bullpen ahead of Saturday’s contest against the division-rival Orioles and figures to operate in low-leverage spots initially.

Voth has been jettisoned from Toronto’s pitching staff for the second time this season after allowing five runs over 3 1/3 innings during a bulk relief outing against the Orioles on Friday night. The 33-year-old journeyman figures to pass through waivers unclaimed and might stick around with the Blue Jays as emergency depth.

It makes sense that Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy is giving Kiner-Falefa some additional run since he’s hitting an absurd .414 (12-for-29) with one homer, seven RBI and one steal over his last 15 games. Marcelo Mayer heads to the bench on Saturday afternoon in Cleveland after starting four of the previous five games at shortstop for Boston.

Sogard is at second base and hitting fifth after coming off the bench during Friday’s series opener in Cleveland. The versatile 28-year-old has been playing through a lingering side issue recently. He’s hit a respectable .273/.368/.394 with two RBI in 11 games since coming up from Triple-A Worcester earlier this month.

It’ll be rookie outfielder Rikuu Nishida taking over in center field and hitting ninth. It sounds like a precautionary move by the White Sox to prevent the issue from getting worse. Hill should be considered day-to-day heading into Sunday’s series finale.

There hasn’t been any reporting concerning a potential physical issue or illness that Ozuna is dealing with. He remains stapled to Pittsburgh’s bench with Konnor Griffin limited to DH exclusively due to a forearm issue. It’s probably for the best since the 35-year-old has been scuffling recently, hitting .219 (16-for-73) with three homers and 27 strikeouts in 20 games since the start of May. It would make sense for the Pirates to give top prospect Esmerlyn Valdez some extended runway in the near future, especially if Ozuna doesn’t turn things around.

Pérez joins New York’s bullpen mix ahead of Saturday’s game against the Marlins after spending a couple weeks stationed on the doorstep of the big leagues. The 30-year-old southpaw compiled an inflated 6.19 ERA, 1.69 WHIP and 9/11 K/BB ratio across 16 innings of work for the Nationals earlier this season.

Myers will get a chance to reboot and build up as a traditional starter down in the minors with the hope that he’s an option for New York’s rotation in a couple weeks. The 27-year-old has struggled to a 4.05 ERA and 26/7 K/BB ratio across 33 1/3 innings this season. He didn’t end up pitching more than two innings in any outing since May 2.

Severino winds up losing his spot on New York’s 40-man roster with Cionel Pérez coming up from Triple-A Syracuse. The 31-year-old lefty has pitched well in the minors this season, but the Mets haven’t given him a look yet. There should be some interest on waivers from other teams.