MLB Player News

Rojas is the highest-profile prospect to join Minnesota’s 40-man roster in advance of next month’s Rule 5 Draft after coming over from the Blue Jays in the Louis Varland trade back in July. The soon-to-be 23-year-old southpaw posted a 4.70 ERA and 90/32 K/BB ratio across 69 innings over 19 appearances (18 starts) across four minor league levels.

Brought into a 2-2 game, Sterner retired Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho on groundouts to start the bottom of the ninth. After that, though, he gave up a single to Kazuma Okamoto, a double to Ernie Clement and a game-winning single to Andrés Giménez. He already appeared to be behind Hogan Harris and Mark Leiter Jr. in line for saves on the A’s, and this one won’t improve his standing.

Hoffman struck out four in the ninth, with Tyler Soderstrom reaching on a wild pitch. However, one batter before that, Shea Langeliers hit a game-tying homer on a 98-mph fastball at the top of the zone to tie the contest. There was no real harm after the Jays were able to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but given that the team doesn’t have a ton of confidence in Hoffman in the ninth, it’d be for the best if he doesn’t blow another save chance right away.

This most likely would have been Romano’s second save in two days if Zach Neto hadn’t homered in the top of the ninth to expand the Angels’ lead from three runs to four. However, since Romano has now pitched two days in a row, Drew Pomeranz, who didn’t throw tonight, is probably the favorite to close should the opportunity arise in Saturday’s game.

Tucker drove in Alex Freeland with an RBI single into right field off of Kevin Ginkel, snapping a 4-4 tie and proving to be the difference in the contest. He also drew a walk, swiped a base and struck out twice on the night. Through two games, the superstar outfielder is hitting .286 (2-for-7) with two runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base with his new ballclub.

After striking out Carlos Santana to begin the frame, Díaz made things interesting by issuing a walk to Alek Thomas. Thomas then swiped second base to get himself into scoring position, but the 32-year-old right-hander battled back to strike out Jordan Lawlar and then got Ketel Marte on a ground ball to end it. As long as he stays healthy, there’s little reason to believe that Díaz won’t finish among the upper echelon closers once again at season’s end.

On the plus side for fantasy managers, Sheehan managed to rack up six strikeouts on the evening while allowing two walks. He allowed an RBI double to Alek Thomas in the second inning and a solo homer to Ketel Marte in the third. Sheehan then exited with two men on and one out in the fourth inning — and both inherited runners came around to score. He got 13 swings and misses on 83 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 30 percent. His fastball velocity remained down in this one, averaging just 94.0 mph (-1.6 mph). It’s troubling trend that fantasy managers should continue to monitor when Sheehan takes on the Nationals in Washington on Friday.

Thomas opened the scoring in the contest with a run-scoring double off of Emmet Sheehan in the second inning. He then added a two-run double in the fourth that tied the game at four runs apiece. He also drew a one-out walk in the ninth inning and swiped second base to get himself into scoring position, but the Diamondbacks were unable to cash him in. As long as he’s seeing regular at-bats for the D’Backs, his dynamic skillset makes him a viable option in deeper mixed leagues.

The 28-year-old right-hander also issued three free passes on the night while striking out four. The problem, is that while Nelson allowed only two hits in the ballgame, both of them left the yard — a solo shot by Alex Freeland and a three-run blast by Mookie Betts in the third inning. He got 11 whiffs on 83 pitches on the night, posting an underwhelming CSW of 25 percent. He gets a pass since it was such a difficult matchup, but fantasy managers are going to need to see more when he toes the slab against the Braves his next time out at home on Thursday.

The 22-year-old infielder did his damage in the fourth inning of this one, launching an 0-2 fastball from Gavin Williams for a 367-foot (98.6 mph EV) go-ahead three-run homer. That proved to be all of the run support that George Kirby and company would require in this one. That was his only hit on the evening and his only knock through his first six at-bats on the season thus far.