MLB Player News

Shelby Miller got the first crack at earning a save Sunday, but couldn’t hold a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. Miller allowed a solo home run to Kyle Schwarber with two outs before three straight Phillies singles tied the game. Miller ended up earning the win as Beeks came in with a three-run lead in the 10th and was able to preserve the win. Beeks wouldn’t seem to be anyone’s first choice for the closer role on a contending team, but he did combine for 10 saves between the Rockies and Pirates last year. It’s unclear how the Diamondbacks will handle ninth-inning duties going forward with Justin Martinez and A.J. Put sidelined.

The veteran also struck out six and walked one while throwing 50 of his 75 pitches for strikes and hitting 99 mph on the radar gun. The results clearly aren’t great, but Cease had solid command and showed his usual velocity, and those are the main concerns. He should be able to rejoin the Blue Jays rotation next week and be up over 80 pitches in that outing.

The 24-year-old has been sidelined since April 20th with elbow inflammation, but he described his outing on Thursday as “free and easy” and claims his body feels great. While there is no timeline for his return, it seems like he could begin a rehab assignment next week and potentially return to the Twins’ rotation before the end of June.

The Red Sox will add reliever Joe La Sorsa for the weekend, but they will need a fifth starter on Tuesday, and Bennett is the leading candidate for the job. Bennett was solid in two starts for the Red Sox earlier this season, but has gone down to Triple-A and dominated since then. On the season, Bennett has a 1.60 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 41/9 K/BB ratio in 39 1/3 innings at Triple-A this season. He is unlikely to replicate those strikeout numbers in the big leagues, but he could be a solid streaming option due to his deep arsenal and solid command.

Jones was demoted back on May 21st after hitting .167 (4-for-24) with 12 strikeouts in 27 plate appearances. With Jasson Dominguez also beginning a rehab assignment on Friday, Jones doesn’t need to be a target in many fantasy leagues.

Marte just crushed a 97-mph fastball, showing off 84.9 mph of bat speed in the process. That’s the 14th-highest bat speed on a homer this year, and Marte also checks in at No. 7 on that list at 86.1 mph (Nick Kurtz tops the list at 87.7 mph, followed by James Wood at 87.5 mph and Oneil Cruz at both 87.1 mph and 87.0 mph). Marte has 11 homers and 37 RBI through 58 games and still figures to do a little better going forward.

Nelson gave up four homers to the Mariners last time out but none to the mighty Dodgers tonight. It’s the fourth time in five starts that he’s completed seven innings and allowed no more than three runs, and he has a strong 2.89 ERA since the beginning of May. It’s hard to recommend him in mixed leagues when he’s turned into an extreme flyball pitcher with a below average strikeout rate, but the Diamondbacks should enjoy this for however long it lasts. He’ll make his next start against the Marlins in Miami.

Sewald worked around a Will Smith double and fanned two in his inning before the Ketel Marte won the game in the bottom of the ninth. His ERA is down to 3.47.

Wrobleski left with a 2-0 lead, but that was blown by Will Klein and Alex Vesia in the eighth before Tanner Scott lost the game in the ninth. Wrobleski averaged 95.4 mph with his fastball tonight, which was 1.6 mph above his season average. It’s his second straight outing with a season high in that department, as he came in at 94.9 mph last week against the Phillies. There was good reason to think Wrobleski’s early season success was unsustainable, given his hideous strikeout rate, but with his velocity and his whiff rate up, he’d seem to have a much sturdier foundation now. He’ll face the Pirates next week.

Brought into a 2-2 game to start the bottom of the ninth, Scott struck out Tommy Troy and then gave up a homer on a 97-mph fastball at the bottom of the zone to end the game. It was more of a good swing than a bad pitch, but this is Scott’s second misstep in three appearances. He still has a 2.42 ERA and an impressive 30/3 K/BB in 26 innings on the season.

Betts didn’t have an ugly night at the plate; his 393-foot flyout in the eighth was a barrel and two of his other balls in play could have been hits with a little luck. Still, considering that he entered the game with a .252 OBP, he might well be the worst option the Dodgers have in the leadoff spot right now. Statcast thinks he’s pretty unlucky to be batting .183, but even so, he’s currently in line to post the worst wOBA and xwOBA of his Hall of Fame career for a second consecutive season.