MLB Player News

Rafaela needed to start hitting since he’s likely the player currently holding off top prospect Roman Anthony from debuting with Boston. Yet, Rafaela is a talented young player in his own right and has a hit in nine of his last 12 games, going 12-for-44 (.272) with two home runs, nine RBI, and four steals over that span. Given that he also plays elite defense in center field, that’s going to convince the Red Sox to keep him in the lineup for the time being.

Burleson was hitting fifth against a lefty in Jordan Wicks tonight. The Cardinals first tried that on Friday after batting Burleson exclusively third and fourth previously. Burleson’s RBI in the first came on a little infield flair that dropped over the pitcher’s head but still turned into a groundout. His RBI single in the third was also pretty light; he dropped a ball down the line in shallow left that Ian Happ might have made a diving attempt on but decided against it at the last second. So, he got his runs batted in on balls hit 38 mph and 77 mph, respectively. He’s driven in 38 runs on the season, which is tied for 15th in MLB.

Liberatore allowed three hits, walked one and struck out five. That’s just half as many strikeouts as the career-high 10 he had last time out, but it is a fifth straight start with at least five strikeouts. He reached that mark just once in his first seven starts. Last year, he struck out five in 13 of his 29 starts (and went 6-4 when he did, compared to 2-10 the rest of the time). Liberatore has a 4.35 ERA and a 58/24 K/BB in 62 innings on the season. He’ll face the Reds next weekend.

Dobbins, who was called up in the afternoon, came into a 5-0 game in the sixth and threw 61 pitches to finish it, allowing only an Alex Bregman homer along the way. That’s the good news. The bad is that because he threw 61 pitches, he’s probably looking at being swapped out for a fresh arm on Monday.

The Cubs have Monday off, so there were aggressive in going to the bullpen tonight. Wicks gave up three straight singles to start the game in a two-run first. He followed with a perfect second, but as soon as he allowed an infield single to JJ Wetherholt to begin the third, he was lifted. Wicks has a 15.63 ERA in his two starts, and it’s unclear if he’ll stick around after this. Edward Cabrera will be eligible to come off the IL on Friday and could be ready to step into the rotation in Wicks’ place.

Bregman thought he had a homer around the left field foul pole Saturday, but he lost it on a replay review. Tonight’s was another solo shot, as all five of his homers this season have been. He’s batting .287/.360/.459 with the bases empty, .231/.321/.265 with runners on and .203/.288/.219 with RISP.

Waldrep is returning from surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow. If all goes well on his rehab assignment, he could join the Braves rotation in about a month. However, it’s not guaranteed that there will be room for him.

Kevin Barral of Fish on First is reporting that the Marlins are calling up Zach Brzykcy to join the pen. It seems likely that Ekness landing on the IL will be the countermove.

Lopez gets the boot after allowing seven runs over just two innings of work against the Yankees on Sunday. He’s forged an ugly 6.75 ERA, and the A’s will hope the 28-year-old can work things out in the Pacific Coast League. A replacement should be announced shortly.

Adames’ sixth career grand slam was the fourth for the Giants in May. He went 0-for-8 in the first two games of the series at Coors Field, but he’s been very good for three weeks now, hitting .325 with five homers, six doubles and 17 RBI in his last 20 games.

Ray’s double-error on a comebacker he threw into right field cost him two runs in the fourth. The initial error there was kind of tough, though, considering he had a broken bat flying in his general direction while moving to pick up the ball. Ray struck out six today. His real problem was that it took him 96 pitches to get his 12 outs, costing him what should have been an easy win. But if there was any chance of the Giants sending him back out for the fifth, it disappeared as the offense scored seven runs in a long top of the inning. Ray will take on the Cubs next weekend.