MLB Player News

Those worried that Jake Rogers’ return would hurt Dingler’s value have to be relieved about how things have played out. Rogers did start his first game back from the IL, but Dingler has now started five of the last six games. He’s also working on an eight-game hitting streak that’s seen him go 12-for-30.

It’s a big showing from Williams after Tanner Bibee and Joey Cantillo combined to give up 11 runs in five innings the previous two days. Williams gave up nine hard-hit balls and struck out just four, but the Nationals never put together a rally, apart from their two doubles in the third. Williams, who opened May by giving up five runs in consecutive losses, has allowed a total of three runs while winning his last three starts. He’ll take a 3.28 ERA into his next start at Yankee Stadium.

Walls was a late scratch from the lineup before Tuesday’s game against the Orioles, and he’ll miss one more game, at least. Carson Williams is the starting shortstop with Walls unable to go.

Curtis Mead and CJ Abrams singled to start the ninth and then Daylen Lile hit a sac fly to make it a one-run game. The Nationals couldn’t complete the comeback from there, though, as Smith came back to strike out José Tena and Jorbit Vivas. Smith has converted 16 straight save opportunities and is up to 12 saves this month.

The shorter outing allowed Mikolas to throw a little harder today, as he averaged a season-high 93.9 mph with his fastball. The runs all came in his final inning of work, which started with a Curtis Mead error. Richard Lovelady replaced him with one out and one run in and then allowed an inherited runner to score. Mikolas took the loss despite not allowing an earned run and is now 1-4 with a 5.72 ERA. He’ll probably next pitch Tuesday against the Marlins.

Bazzana also had a 381-foot flyout to right-center that would have been a homer in 14 ballparks. He’s collected multiple hits in seven of his last 14 games, and he’s sitting at .302/.407/.458 one month into his major league career.

Tena peaked with an .832 OPS on May 6, but he’s since gone 4-for-40 with 17 strikeouts, taking him down to .671. The start today was just his second in eight games. Four of those games were versus lefties, so he definitely wasn’t going to start those. However, with Dylan Crews up and James Wood and Daylen Lile seeing time at DH, Tena is losing time against righties, too.

The $1.5 million minimum salary — a significant jump from the $780,000 minimum that currently exists — is among the highlights of the initial proposal, but far from the only ask. The union proposes a “competitive-integrity tax” for any team that does not spend $150 million in their respective season. Among the other highlights are a proposed jump from $50 million to $180 million in the bonus pool, a minimum tender in arbitration of $3 million, and a jump in Super 2 players from 22 percent of the field to 44 percent. The MLB owners are expected to make their initial proposal to the player’s association Thursday.

Verlander reportedly got his fastball up to 95.2 mph and threw 62 pitches in the outing. The 43-year-old appears to be closing in on a rehab assignment, and assuming there are no setbacks, there’s a good chance he’s back in the Detroit bullpen before the end of June.

Bummer was released last week by Atlanta after forging an ugly 7.63 ERA over 15 1/3 innings. The southpaw will likely head to Triple-A Iowa, but if he pitches well there, he has a good chance of joining the Chicago bullpen this summer.

Pérez finished with four scoreless innings and nine strikeouts. The right-hander will likely need to undergo imaging, and his status going forward will largely be determined by those results. It’s always a bummer to see an injury, but especially considering how dominant Pérez had looked during Wednesday’s contest.