MLB Player News

Hernández just spent 15 days in Triple-A in spite of a 2.72 ERA in 36 1/3 innings in the majors this season. Of course, it makes sense that the Braves don’t entirely trust him, given that he’s walked 30 batters. He’ll rejoin the pen.

Gore had just three strikeouts and seven whiffs versus 11 hard-hit balls surrendered, but that all worked out just fine in what’s arguably the league’s best environment for pitchers at Globe Life Field. He’s been quite the disappointment in going 4-4 with a 3.96 ERA to date, but in such a situation for great pitchers, maybe for once he’ll reverse his usual trend and actually get better as the season goes along. He’ll pitch in St. Louis next time out.

Facing the Rangers in Arlington is probably the second most favorable assignment a pitcher can get right now (next to most home starts against the Rockies), so this is quite the letdown after Kolek pitched a shutout against the Mariners last week. Still, he did strike out five and generate 15 whiffs. Kolek isn’t much of a streaming option next week for his start in Cincinnati.

Nimmo hit a 435-foot homer off Stephen Kolek two innings after his 407-foot blast to center came up just a little short. Statcast said the first drive would have been a homer in 14 ballparks. Nimmo has seven homers while hitting .263/.344/.427 this season. The .769 OPS is 33 points shy of his career mark, but it’s good for a 128 OPS+ that beats his career output of 124.

Thomas is still holding his own against lefties, hitting .244/.407/.356, but he’s been even weaker than usual versus righties this year, coming in at .173/.290/.192 thus far. His bat speed and his EV numbers aren’t what they used to be, so most of his value has come in the form of walks. It doesn’t really seem sustainable, so he might find himself out of work at some point.

Kirby had no issues over the first three innings, but fell apart late; something that has been a problem for the 28-year-old in his last few outings. He gave up a solo homer to Geraldo Perdomo, and four more runs came across in the sixth — three of them charged to Kirby — to erase the Mariners’ 5-1 lead. Kirby still possesses a solid 3.77 ERA on the season with a 59/17 K/BB over his 74 innings, but there have been some cracks in the armor as of late. He’ll try and put it all together against the Mets on Wednesday.

Arozarena also stole his 15th base. With two strikes, the 31-year-old outfielder poked a ball into the gap on a double to score J.P. Crawford and gave Seattle their fourth-straight win. Arozarena has been outstanding with the bat in 2026 with a slash of .297/.382/.467, and he’s been able to drive in 26 runs in the process.

It’s the 11th homer of the season for Rodríguez, and the ninth that the 25-year-old slugger has hit in the month of May. A notoriously slow starter, Rodríguez is now slashing .263/.323/.357 over the first two months of the season. One can’t help but wonder how much these numbers will (likely) improve over the summer.

Perdomo got the Diamondbacks on the board with a solo homer off George Kirby in the fourth inning. He scored his third run of the game in the ninth inning on a game-tying fielder’s choice from Ildemaro Vargas, but Seattle would score in the 10th to prevent Arizona from winning their sixth consecutive game. Perdomo is now slashing just .232/.341/.362. That’s a far cry from his breakout 2025 campaign, but he does appear to be back on the right track as of late.

In addition to the two homers, Crawford — who has not exactly wowed with his defense over the past few years — also made a game-saving play on a diving stop in the top of the tenth. He came around to score his fourth run of the game in the bottom of the frame on a walk-off hit from Randy Arozarena. Crawford has homered nine times in 2026 while forging a solid .741 OPS. He’s a much different player at this stage of his career, but the power and plate skills make him worthy of roster consideration.

Muñoz allowed a pair of singles while trying to protect a one-run lead, and then hit Nolan Arenado square in the elbow. The right-hander was able to procure a strikeout, and should have gotten a second out at home plate, but Josh Naylor was unable to field the ball and the tying run scored. Muñoz has now blown four saves on the season, and since the run is earned — for now — his ERA is up to 4.98 on the season. Even while missing bats at a level few other hurlers have reached, it’s fair to say that Muñoz has been significant disappointment in 2026.