MLB Player News

Whitley is a long ways removed from being one of the most exciting pitching prospects in baseball, but he’s still in a position to help Houston’s injury-depleted pitching mix. The 27-year-old missed the first three-plus weeks of the season recovering from a left knee issue. He’ll be available out of the bullpen for Saturday’s battle against the Padres out in San Diego.

Lile’s two home runs give him five on the year. He hit a solo shot off Brady Singer in the fourth inning and a two-run shot off Luis Mey in the fifth inning. Lile hadn’t hit a home run since April 22 entering play Tuesday. He’s hitting .264 with 26 runs, 19 RBI and two stolen bases.

Singer gave up six hits, walked one and struck out two. He fell to 2-3 with the loss and has a 5.79 ERA on the season. If you were looking to Singer to fill-in off the waiver wire this season, he hasn’t come through. Singer was out of gas, removed in the fourth inning after 75 pitches. He’s lined up to face the Guardians on the road on Sunday.

Yastrzemski hit ninth tonight and was pulled after the Cubs brought in a lefty to replace Colin Rea, but he made the most of his two plate appearances. The homer was his first in 127 plate appearances this season. He apparently used them all up while crushing six as one of the Grapefruit League’s best performers this spring.

Holmes gave up just one hit, an Alex Bregman homer with one out in the fourth. However, he lost the strike zone immediately afterwards, walking the next three batters he faced. The last two of those were on four pitches. Moisés Ballesteros probably could have worked a walk, too, but he ended up hitting an RBI groundout instead, and Dansby Swanson then struck out after failing to challenge a 1-0 slider that would have been overturned into a ball. Holmes threw 39 pitches in the fourth, so he wasn’t brought back out for the fifth. That worked out nicely anyway, as Didier Fuentes hadn’t pitched in six days and was ready to go long. As it turned out, that homer Holmes surrendered was the only Cubs’ only hit of the game in the Braves’ 5-2 win. Holmes will face the Red Sox on Sunday.

Grant Holmes exited down 2-1 after four, and Fuentes was put in line for third win after the Braves came back with four in the bottom of the fifth. In five appearances since being recalled Apr. 28, Fuentes has allowed one run in 8 2/3 innings, notching two wins in the process. He threw a mere 36 pitches tonight, so he should be ready to pitch again by Friday.

Iglesias struck out one in the 13-pitch inning. He’s still yet to allow a run in 11 2/3 innings this season.

Rea entered with a 21 percent strikeout rate that’s up a little from the last couple of years, but he finished with just one K and two misses on 42 swings tonight. He ended up surrendering five barrels, producing two homers and a double. The loss leaves Rea 4-2 with a 4.68 ERA. He’ll look to bounce back against the White Sox this weekend.

Smith was a lineup fixture against right-handers while Sean Murphy was out, but last week, he was twice on the bench versus righties so that Drake Baldwin could DH while Murphy caught. That won’t be an issue again for a little while now, as Murphy returned to the injured list today with a finger fracture. Smith is batting .363/.391/.550 in 88 plate appearances this season.

Bregman took Grant Holmes deep in the fourth. It was one of three balls hit at least 100 mph for him tonight, so that’s encouraging from a struggling hitter. He did enter the night with a fine 45 percent hard-hit rate, but about half of those hard-hit balls came in at 95-99 mph. He’d hit balls at least 100 mph 23.6 percent of the time.

Bradley was able to play catch from a distance of 90 feet as he resumed throwing for the first time since hitting the injured list with pectoral inflammation over the weekend. It’s an extremely encouraging development for the Twins, and fantasy managers, that he’s already back throwing, but there won’t be a definitive return timetable until the club gets his MRI results back on Wednesday. There should be a clearer idea of his status soon.