MLB Player News

Alvarado entered with the A’s down 2-1 in the eighth and then remained in after they took a 3-2 lead in the ninth. He walked two. One of those was technically intentional, but it came after a 2-0 count to Ryan Noda. Alvarado, a 26-year-old rookie, was making his 19th appearance for the A’s. and he’s now sporting a 3.04 ERA and a 29/13 K/BB in 23 2/3 innings. He’s about as likely as anyone else to be the team’s closer on any given day, but we wouldn’t go picking him up just yet.

The Rays are expected to go with Mason Englert, either as a traditional starter or behind an opener for the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. Ian Seymour will then get the ball on Saturday and Shane McClanahan will start in Friday’s series finale.

Cole will be followed by Ryan Weathers on Saturday and Cam Schlittler on Sunday. The 35-year-old hurler had a solid first half in his return from Tommy John surgery, posting a 4.04 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and a 47/11 K/BB ratio over 49 innings of work through his first nine starts.

He’ll take the roster spot that was vacated when Tommy Troy (shoulder) landed on the injured list. Lockler, 25, has slashed an impressive .313/.394/.502 with eight homers and 36 RBI in 241 plate appearances over 54 games at Triple-A Reno this season. He should get an opportunity to see regular action at first base and could make for an interesting deep league or NL-only pickup.

He’ll be followed by Emmet Sheehan on Saturday and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Sunday. The Dodgers have not announced when Shohei Ohtani will return to the rotation. That makes it likely that it’ll be Justin Wrobleski and Eric Lauer in some order for the first two games against the Phillies in Philadelphia to open next week.

He missed Friday and Saturday with the injury before the All-Star break, and sat Sunday as well though he debatably wouldn’t have played against a left-handed starter either way. There’s no real fantasy value for Crawford at this point as he’s hitting just .263/.312/.353 with 12 stolen bases, but it’s good to see him back in the lineup.

He was used as a pinch-hitter on Saturday and Sunday while resting ahead of the second half, but Bichette looks to be full go coming off the layoff.

The Mariners will open the second half with Miller on Friday, Bryan Woo on Saturday, and Logan Gilbert on Sunday. All three of them have been gifted a good matchup against a Giants team that has struggled at the plate this year.

The Nationals will open the second half with Cavalli on the mound. He’ll be followed by Zack Littell (who has been opened for recently) on Saturday. and Foster Griffin on Sunday. Cavalli’s first half ended with a 3.83 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings. He’s been going deeper into starts lately and is a viable 12-team starter against West Sacramento on Friday.

He has a 7.15 ERA in 11 1/3 innings this year and will likely provide some low-leverage relief help in the short-term while the Phillies try to find a new way to address Brad Keller’s injury going forward.

It’s a huge blow for Philadelphia’s bullpen depth and they’ll undoubtedly be looking to add at the deadline as Keller is likely to miss well into next season. Keller pitched in just one game after dealing with forearm tendinitis. He finishes his age-30 season with a 4.02 ERA in 31 1/3 innings pitched. He’s due $13 million next season from the Phillies.