MLB Player News

Heim was a big part of the success of the Rangers in 2023 while helping the club win their first World Series, but he hasn’t had much success since and was usurped by Kyle Higashioka behind the plate. The 30-year-old will likely see interest as a backup backstop on the open market.

Campusano suffered a fractured big toe while fouling a pitch off himself on May 5. He’ll replace Rodolfo Durán as Freddy Fermin’s backup once healthy.

Cronenworth has been sidelined since May 5 and is definitely still weeks away. He might return as a utilityman if the Padres want to keep playing Fernando Tatis Jr. at second base.

If Andujar can’t go on Monday, maybe the Padres will stick the streaking Freddy Fermin in the DH spot.

Taillon seems likely to land on the injured list. The Cubs are about to get Matthew Boyd back from his knee issue, so that’s something. Colin Rea would no longer be in danger of being replaced in the rotation with Taillon out.

Amazing. Rivero’s first four hits were singles that left the bat at 72, 56, 73 and 84 mph, but they were all perfectly placed. The three harder ones were liners sure to drop in front of outfielders. The 56-mph shot to second would have been an out most of the time, but not against the drawn-in infield the Dodgers were employing with runners on second and third. Finally, in his last at-bat, Rivero crushed a 103-mph liner to the gap for an RBI double. The 27-year-old Rivero, who debuted with the Royals in 2021, came into the day with a .160 average and eight RBI in 156 career plate appearances. He had six hits and two RBI in 49 plate appearances for the Angels this season. In spite of his success, he’ll probably be back on the bench in favor of Logan O’Hoppe on Monday.

Wild of late, Soriano seemed focused on throwing strikes, at the expense of some velocity, early in this one. It worked out nicely, too. He allowed just one run and one walk through five. In the sixth, however, he walked Kyle Tucker to start things, got victimized by a Zach Neto error and then gave up back-to-back homers to score four runs. Fortunately, Soriano had the margin for error and still improved to 7-4 with a 2.96 ERA in what ended up being a 13-5 game. He’ll pitch at home against the Rays next weekend.

Early April’s biggest surprise, Rushing had been very quiet these last seven weeks. With the bat, anyway. However, he was able to get a second straight start today with Will Smith ailing and took advantage of it with his first homer since Apr. 20. He had been 9-for-51 with one RBI since the beginning of May.

Adell had four hits for the first time since Aug. 26, 2022 and the second time of his career. He hadn’t even had two hits since May 20, as he came into the game in an 8-for-54 slump. Ideally, Adell will find his way into the cleanup spot in Anaheim with Jorge Soler out for at least a few weeks, but he hasn’t made a great case yet with his .243/.283/.392 line.

Taillon signaled to the trainer immediately after completing a six-pitch walk to Matt Chapman to open the second. Based on the way he tried to stretch out for a moment, it seemed to be a back or leg issue, but he didn’t make any argument for staying in the game.

Kepler is still serving an 80-game PED suspension announced in January, so he goes on the restricted list for now. The Diamondbacks will have him go on a rehab assignment in the minors and then decide whether they want him to be a part of their outfield. With Jordan Lawlar and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. getting healthy and Ryan Waldschmidt and Tommy Troy still candidates to step up, ideally, they wouldn’t need Kepler at all. But, then, if they thought that would be the case, they probably wouldn’t have made the signing. Kepler hit .216/.300/.391 in 127 games for the Phillies last season, and if he was cheating then, it didn’t seem to do him much good. He doesn’t offer as much defensive value as he used to, either. Maybe he’ll surprise, but he seems like a weak platoon option at the moment.