MLB Player News

It feels like a matchup-specific adjustment from manager Alex Cora since Anthony has batted leadoff in five consecutive games. The 21-year-old rookie sensation, who delivered a walk-off hit to center field during the 10th inning of Friday’s series opener, has been moved to the heart of the lineup with Romy Gonzalez leading off and Rob Refsnyder in the cleanup spot to face Astros rookie southpaw Colton Gordon. Meanwhile, Jarren Duran has been dropped to seventh in the order for this one after hitting third in five straight contests and Wilyer Abreu is on the bench.

It looks to be a routine day off for Kim against Red Sox LHP Payton Tolle. Kim has struggled mightily since returning from his torn finger tendon, hitting just .095/.191/.095 in 12 games for the Braves so far. Jorge Mateo is manning shortstop today in his absence.

Elbow soreness is never something we want to see, of course. More tests are likely incoming, and we’ll have better information after the Twins provide an official update. Rojas had looked promising in the early going with a 1.26 ERA in 14 1/3 innings pitched, albeit with 10 walks over that span.

Kendry Rojas was scratched with an injury ahead of the game. Obviously, with a 7.20 ERA and 0-6 record, there’s little reason for fantasy managers to give Woods Richardson a chance until we see better work.

Sommers hasn’t had a stint in the bigs yet this year, though he did serve as the 27th man in a doubleheader over the weekend. Sommers holds a 3.00 ERA in 21 innings with Toledo, striking out 35 in just 21 innings while walking 11. He doesn’t figure to initially be part of the holds or saves conversation, but if he keeps striking out batters like that at the big league level, it’s on the table.

Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest would appear to be the options to replace Jansen, with Finnegan the vastly preferred one since he’s pitching much better at the moment. It wouldn’t be surprising if this became a committee while Jansen is out. There’s no word yet on how long we should expect Jansen to miss, but it wouldn’t be surprising if this injury knocked him out longer than the minimum stay on the injured list.

The Orioles have already brought him back from free agency to the bigs once this year in what has become an increasingly common tactic with older pitchers like Suárez and Martín Pérez. We would not be surprised if that happens again. For the moment, Suárez is a free agent.

Schanuel was placed on the injured list yesterday after leaving Saturday’s game with an aggravation to the injury. He has been dealing with it since early April, per his own account. We’ll see how Schanuel’s ankle recovers with rest — it sure seems like if he was playing through it earlier, it could eventually get to the point where he can play with it again — but he remains without a timetable.

It’s a perfectly logical move in the wake of Teoscar Hernández’s upcoming placement on the injured list. Ward has hit .254/.379/.418 in 214 Triple-A plate appearances this year, but hit 36 homers last year at Oklahoma City. He’ll likely make up a platoon with Alex Call for the short term. Ward could be on the more active side of the platoon, giving him some short-term fantasy value in a good lineup to hit in.

While Cubs manager Counsell termed this as “good news,” it doesn’t sound like Steele has made much progress from April, when it was believed he would be out until after the All-Star break. At this point, his timeline might be closer to August. Fantasy managers in redraft leagues certainly don’t need to keep holding him at this rate.

It appears to be just a routine day off for Martin, who is sitting against White Sox RHP Davis Martin while Kody Clemens gets some reps in right field. Martin is hitting just .220/.270/.339 in his last 16 games as a (mostly) full-time starter after the Twins optioned out Matt Wallner.