MLB Player News

In a game that featured a lot of scoring early, it really calmed down late. That being said, Ohtani put the bookends on a tough night for Royals’ rookie starter Noah Cameron with a lead-off home run and then a triple to chase him from the game in the fifth inning. Ohtani scalded those two batted balls 110.4 mph and 112.4 mph respectively in what was another excellent game for the slugger. While not stealing bases nearly as often compared to his historic 2024 season, Ohtani is currently on pace for just under 60 home runs with a 1.045 OPS while he builds himself up as a pitcher.

While surprising, Lowe has badly struggled at the plate throughout the season — slashing a woeful .184/.226/.320 — so having time to retool his swing and find himself again isn’t the worst idea. Wade Meckler was promoted from Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move on Friday.

With Yoán Moncada landing on the injured list, Walton will get his first opportunity with the Angels this season. The 31-year-old infielder was hitting .282/.429/.481 with seven homers, 33 RBI and three stolen bases in 168 plate appearances at Triple-A Salt Lake. He’ll start at third base and bat ninth for the Angels on Friday night.

It’s the first trip to the big leagues for the 26-year-old outfielder since appearing in a handful of games for the Giants in 2023. He has excelled at the minor league level this season, slashing a robust .312/.444/.477 with four homers, 14 RBI and six stolen bases in 136 plate appearances. He’ll start in left field and bat sixth for the Halos on Friday evening against Jacob deGrom and the Rangers.

It’s the same knee that Moncada hurt during the 2025 campaign and it sounds like it has been bothering him for a while now. He underwent an MRI exam on Friday, the results of which are not yet known. Donovan Walton was promoted from Triple-A Salt Lake to take his place on the Angels’ active roster.

Merrill was hit by a pitch during Wednesday’s game and is still experiencing some soreness. The good news is that he has shown significant improvement and is expected to return to the Padres’ lineup at some point over the weekend.

Vázquez homered off Jameson Taillon in the third and then singled in a second run an inning later. Playing more than expected to Yainer Diaz out, he’s hit .258/.324/.430 with 16 RBI in 104 plate appearances. It seems pretty crazy now that he had to settle for a minor league contract on March 7 in order to stay in the league.

Arrighetti walked four and hit two batters, but that only shortened his day. He struck out five and allowed just two hits. Technically, he allowed two hard-hit balls, but they were 95.7 and 95.3 mph. None of the other 10 balls in play checked in at over 89 mph. Arrighetti’s ERA is down to 1.32, even though he has a 40/25 K/BB in 41 innings. He’s allowed only one homer, even though he’s sporting a 35 percent groundball rate. This run of great luck should come to an end at some point, but it probably won’t be next week in a very favorable road matchup against the Rangers.

King came in with two on and two out in the eighth and got what he thought was an inning-ending groundout, only for Jeremy Peña to make a throwing error. King, though, retired Nico Hoerner on another grounder afterwards and then pitched a perfect ninth. It’s his fifth save, while both Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan Abreu recorded their third holds. King definitely seems like the Astros reliever worth rostering right now, but Josh Hader is still trending to return at the end of the month.

The wind saved Taillon from giving up a homer to Cam Smith in the second, but it couldn’t stop Christian Vázquez’s blast two innings later. Taillon also gave up seven other hits for a .438 BABIP that was more than twice as high as his season mark of .211. He fell to 2-4 with a 5.20 ERA. That his velocity is trending up some is a good sign — he averaged over 92 mph with his fastball today for a second straight start after never once doing so in his first eight — but he’s a tough play in mixed leagues right now. He’ll pitch in Pittsburgh next week.

Crow-Armstrong’s homer off Steven Okert, which accounted for the Cubs’ only runs in a 4-2 loss, was his second off a lefty and sixth overall this season. After a nice start to his month of May, he entered the day in a 4-for-37 slump over his previous 11 games.