MLB Player News

Brubaker, who was slated to make around $2 million in arbitration, presumably would have been non-tendered if he hadn’t agreed to a deal. The former Pirates starter had a 4.26 ERA in 12 2/3 innings after being cut by the Yankees and signed by the Giants late in the year. He could have a chance to compete for a rotation spot in spring training, but it seems likely that he’ll open up in the pen.

Smith has struggled with just one hit over his last three games. The 28-year-old will get a breather with Ezequiel Duran drawing the start at the hot corner in Smith’s absence.

Bellinger took Royals lefty starter Noah Cameron deep for a two-run shot in the third inning before taking reliever Mitch Spence deep in garbage time a couple frames later to cap off his first multi-homer performance of the year. The 30-year-old reached base safely in four of his five plate appearances during the one-sided slugfest. It was his first time leaving the yard since April 4. He’s hitting .274/.368/.452 with three homers, 11 RBI and three steals in 20 games this season.

Jensen got the start behind the plate in this one and broke up a potential shutout with a seventh-inning homer against Yankees starter Will Warren. The 22-year-old rookie backstop has put together a sustained hot stretch at the dish of late, hitting .279 with four homers in his last 15 games.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone has begun trusting Rice against left-handers over the past week and he’s rewarded that faith with a couple round-trippers. The 27-year-old first baseman’s seventh round-tripper of the season came off Royals lefty starter Noah Cameron in the third inning to give New York a commanding five-run lead at the time. The 398-foot blast was his second big fly against a southpaw within the past week. He’s been one of the best hitters in baseball this season and should be starting everyday for New York, regardless of whoever is on the mound.

Warren received a touchdown and a field goal’s worth of run support from New York’s formidable lineup and held up his end of the bargain, carrying a shutout into the seventh inning before finally relenting a two-run homer to Royals rookie Carter Jensen. He was in complete control from the outset in this one, generating 11 swinging strikes and needing just 93 pitches (62 strikes) to navigate seven frames. He’ll carry a sharp 2.49 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 31/6 K/BB ratio across 25 1/3 innings into a road tilt against the Astros on Friday.

Not great. Cameron was cruising early before a calamitous third inning where he served up home runs to Amed Rosario, Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice as part of a five-run frame. He didn’t get a ton of help from Kansas City’s defense, which committed a costly fielding error, but it didn’t make much of a difference in the one-sided affair. There was always going to be some regression coming from a run-prevention standpoint based on last year’s underlying numbers, but Cameron appears to have swung completely to the other side of the pendulum where he’s underperforming his advanced metrics this season. He’ll bring a pedestrian 5.40 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and 17/6 K/BB ratio over 20 innings into a home outing against the Angels on Friday.

The positive news here is that it doesn’t sound like a potential injured list situation with Donovan is officially day-to-day following an early exit from Friday’s game with left hip tightness. The 29-year-old infielder dealt with some groin discomfort earlier this month and has implied that the lower-body issues might be related to the sports hernia surgery he underwent last October. He’s gotten off to an excellent start in his Mariners debut, hitting .304/.437/.518 with three homers, eight RBI and one steal through 18 games.

Loperfido will get some additional time off to rest and recover after leaving Friday’s game with right quad tightness. Yordan Alvarez heads out to patrol left field in his absence.

It’s a positive sign to see Paredes in the lineup at all following an early exit from Friday’s game against the Cardinals due to a leg issue. The 27-year-old third baseman will likely be limited to DH for the remainder of the weekend with Carlos Correa at third base and Nick Allen at shortstop.

Gurriel’s lightning-quick return to Arizona’s lineup comes just over seven months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee last September. The 32-year-old impending free agent, who hit .248/.295/.418 with 19 homers, 80 RBI and a career-high 10 stolen bases in 546 plate appearances last year, will make his season debut during Saturday’s showdown against the Dodgers. His return should provide a much-needed lift for the Diamondbacks offense, which has been forced to roll with Tim Tawa and Jorge Barrosa prominent roles of late. Gurriel doesn’t offer massive fantasy upside at this stage of his career, but he’s worthy of a roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.