MLB Player News

There had been some thought that the 26-year-old superstar would need to miss some time after getting hit in the hand by a pitch on Thursday night, but all checked out fine and he’s ready to play through the pain and return to action. On the season, he’s slashing a healthy .270/.354/.457 with 13 homers, 31 RBI and 15 stolen bases through his first 72 ballgames.

While the 22-year-old outfielder had his hitting streak snapped after 14 games, he still managed to draw a walk and scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Jacob Young in the eighth inning. As a team, the Nationals were only able to muster four total hits off of Miles Mikolas and company. For the season, Lile is now hitting .240/.294/.340 with one homer, six RBI and two stolen bases (in six attempts) through his first 110 plate appearances.

The right-hander walked two while striking out four opposing hitters on the night. Alec Burleson was responsible for all of the damage that was done against him, with a run-scoring ground out in the first inning and an RBI single in the third. Soroka got 11 whiffs on 91 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 25 percent. He wraps up an uneven first half with a 3-6 record, 5.35 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and a 74/19 K/BB ratio over 67 1/3 innings through his first 13 starts.

Rafaela had the go-ahead hit in the bottom of the seventh as Boston came back from being down 3-1. The Red Sox sat Rafaela on Wednesday to make room for the returning Masataka Yoshida in the lineup, but that simply can’t be a common arrangement. With his 112 OPS+ and excellent defense in center field, Rafaela has been Boston’s position player MVP to date.

The runs scored on homers from Ha-Seong Kim and Junior Caminero. Buehler, who struck out only two, hung on to put up just his second quality start in 10 outings since coming off the IL in May. Both of those were against the Rays, oddly enough. He closes out the first half 6-6 with a 6.12 ERA.

Chapman is going to the All-Star Game this year for the first time since 2021 and eighth overall. His ERA is down to 1.22 after tonight, and he might be the most coveted reliever available at the deadline, should the Red Sox make him available.

Bradley left with a two-run lead, but it was immediately blown by Bryan Baker in Baker’s first day with the Rays. It’s still a nice ending to a disappointing first half for Bradley. He’s 5-6 with a 4.60 ERA through 19 starts, and while that’s not a disaster, it really seems like Joe Boyle would be an upgrade for the Rays.

As we wrote last night, Kim’s EV numbers have been quite a bit better than expected since his recent return from the IL, and he’s hit a ball 106.4 mph for his first homer tonight. His other ball in play was a 97.1-mph groundout, so his hard-hit rate through four games is currently sitting at 60 percent. He needs to be picked up in shallow leagues.

Originally it was scheduled to be a touch-and-feel session for King, but he felt so good on the mound that it wound up being a full bullpen for him. He’s still at least a few weeks away from even facing live hitters, but this was a nice step in the right direction for the star right-hander. King is tentatively expected to rejoin the Padres’ rotation at some point in August.

The game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Friday. The expectation is that Thursday’s scheduled starters — Logan Allen and Jonathan Cannon — will each work in one half of Friday’s twin bill.

The 23-year-old was the Astros’ first-round selection (28th overall) from the 2023 draft class. He has been brilliant at Triple-A Sugar Land this season, slashing .283/.400/.476 with 10 homers, 39 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 325 plate appearances. A shortstop by trade, he has played mostly second base in the minor leagues this season. He could cover shortstop while Jeremy Peña recovers from his rib injury before shifting over to second base. He could wind up being an impact addition in deeper mixed leagues based on his stolen base upside combined with his strong bat-to-ball skills and power potential.