MLB Player News

Pederson was 0-for-11 in his previous five games before singling twice today. Both hits today were solid liners to the outfield, something he’s really struggled to do this season; he entered the game with a 10.4 percent line-drive rate, compared to 20.5 percent last year and 18.4 percent over the course of his career. Still, as disastrous as this season has been overall, he has been fine for the last month and a half; he’s hitting .255 with six homers and 19 RBI in 35 games since the beginning of August.

Harrison’s magical season continued with possibly his best start to date. It was one strikeout off his season-high from last month, but was the first time he completed seven innings. He simply blitzed the Cubs with high fastball after high fastballs. That pitch forced 13 of his 19 total swings-and-misses, routinely sat around around 96 mph, and peaked at 98 mph. That is a slight velocity jump compared to his season averages and it beautifully set up his slurve. Funny enough, he only threw two total changeups, a pitch he’d used 17% of the time against right-handed batters heading into this start. It didn’t matter though as again, that fastball and slurve were more than enough. To this point in the season, his 1.77 ERA is the lowest in the National League and he has a 59:14 strikeout to walk ratio across 45 2/3 innings. We could have a league-winner on our hands, folks. Harrison is scheduled to face the Cardinals next time out.

This was a big night for the Brewers-Red Sox January trade with Hamilton having a big game at the plate and Kyle Harrison striking out 11 in a win. Apologies, Red Sox fans. Hamilton got some help on his big night too when he dropped a single in front of Pete Crow-Armstrong in the second inning that squirted under his glove and rolled all the way to the wall. Hamilton was credited with one RBI on a play that turned into a little league three-run homer. He also tripled in the seventh and soon after on a wild pitch. Hamilton remains a decent deep league option when seeking for speed as a part-timer in the Brewers’ lineup.

Swanson entered this game riding a four-game hitting streak that followed a 0-for-12 slump in what’s been a horrific season thus far. He hasn’t had a multi-hit game since April 27th and hasn’t had a batting average higher than .220 since the fourth game of the season. At 32 years old, there’s reasonable fear that his production could fall off a cliff.

Grisham wasn’t moving well after a third-inning double and wound up being replaced by rookie Spencer Jones a couple innings later. There should be an additional update on his status shortly.

The move seems intended to clear a roster spot for Nationals closer Clayton Beeter to return from the injured list for Thursday’s finale against the Mets. Poulin holds a respectable 2.91 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 16/14 K/BB ratio across 21 2/3 innings this season

Merrill was replaced in center field in the fourth inning after striking out in his lone at-bat of the game. He appeared to be in some discomfort after attempting to rob Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff home run earlier in the contest. There should be an update on his status shortly.

White will not be called up to start against the Mets later this week. No word yet on the specific injury. The 21-year-old southpaw has posted a 4.01 ERA and 35/15 K/BB ratio across 24 2/3 innings across seven starts in the minors this season. It’s an unfortunate development for the Marlins and fantasy managers since Braxton Garrett’s demotion and Robby Snelling’s elbow injury likely would’ve carved out a path for him to pitch in Miami at some point soon.

Miranda had no clear path to at-bats with San Diego and had an opt-out looming in his minor league deal. The 27-year-old corner infielder has put up decent numbers at Triple-A El Paso this season and figures to be able to find another opportunity elsewhere as emergency depth.

Sale is on another level right now. The Marlins squeaked out a run via a sac fly in the first inning and from that point forward he faced just two batters over the minimum. His slider was especially lethal, forcing 14 of his 18 swings-and-misses as the Marlins helplessly flailed at it low and below the zone. Apart from an odd blow-up against the Angels in early April, Sale has allowed two or fewer runs and completed at least six innings in every start this year. In total, he has a 1.89 ERA plus 72 strikeouts and just 14 walks in 62 innings this season. He’s still firmly one of the best few pitchers in the game and is scheduled for a two-start week coming up against the Red Sox and Reds with both starts coming on the road.

Smith’s first “home run” of the game knocked out Marlins’ starter Janson Junk and put an exclamation point on a five-run sixth inning that broke this game open. His second “home run” was technically a triple because Owen Caissie and Esteury Ruiz collided in the outfield, but Smith still crushed it in the gap. It’s a bit shocking to see his .337 batting average, .903 OPS and five home runs through 40 games played as a key cog for the resurgent Braves.