MLB Player News

Martinez was the Diamondbacks’ 8th round pick in this last draft. He posted a 5.47 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and 110/33 K/BB ratio in 77 1/3 innings at Arizona State. He’s a tall pitcher with a deceptive delivery and a big upper-90s fastball. While his ratios were not great in college, he has a true four-pitch mix and the frame to hold up to a long MLB season, so this is a solid gamble for the Cardinals, who are desperate for young starting pitching.

All four hits for Keith were singles. The 24-year-old gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with one of those knocks in the first, and he added another RBI with a sac fly an inning later. On the year, Keith is hitting an uninspiring — but not abhorrent — .256/.302/.399 over the first 98 games of the campaign.

Torkelson gave the Tigers an early 4-0 lead with a three-run blast in the first off an ineffective Grayson Rodriguez. His second homer of the game — and 18th of the season — was a solo shot in the fifth. Torkelson has provided some decent pop in 2026, but the .206 average and zero stolen bases have made that power production a little less impressive thus far.

Rodriguez has simply not been effective in his limited time in the majors with the Angels in 2026, and Saturday was no exception. He gave up four runs in the first — including a three-run homer to Spencer Torkelson — and two more in the second. He settled down over the next two frames, but obviously that means very little. That gives Rodriguez an ERA of 8.63 on the season, and it’s hard to remember the version of the 26-year-old that looked so impressive as a prospect and early on in his career with the O’s. He’ll try and get it going against the Giants on Friday in San Francisco.

In what very likely could be one of — if not the — final starts as a member of the Tigers, Skubal was brilliant. He allowed five hits that were all singles, and he generated an impressive 19 swings-and-misses over 87 pitches. It lowers his ERA to 2.83 on the season, and improves his K/BB to 98/11. Recent reports have Skubal more likely to be traded than sticking around Detroit past the deadline, but for now, the 29-year-old will get the nod again against the Royals on Friday.

Snell, returning from surgery to remove debris from his elbow, also walked one and gave up a single in the 32-pitch outing. His fastball averaged 95.3 mph, which is right around his norm (95.1 mph last year, 95.9 mph in 2024). This was expected to be a short outing, so it’s probably no issue that he exited in the second. He’s expected to make three or four more rehab starts before rejoining the Dodgers.

That saves the Giants almost exactly $1 million based on his slot value. Flora, the first pitcher taken in the 2026 draft, had a 1.06 ERA for UC Santa Barbara this year. It’s unclear if the Giants will have him pitch some in the minors before the end of the year or if they’ll hold off until next season.

Harris’ home run was his 17th of the season. He hit a solo shot off MacKenzie Gore in the third inning. Harris is 21-for-66 (.318) with three home runs and 14 RBI in 14 games in July. He’s hitting .299 with an .829 OPS and 57 RBI on the year.

Pederson’s home run was his 16th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Owen Murphy to leadoff the game. Pederson was just 4-for-23 (.174) in nine games in July entering play Saturday. He’s hitting .239 with an .812 OPS and 35 RBI.

Murphy gave up five hits, walked two and struck out two. He started what was essentially a bullpen game for the Braves. Murphy managed to pitch into the third inning, but gave up three runs in his third big league appearance. He’s one of the Braves’ top pitching prospects, but Murphy is unlikely to have much fantasy value in a bullpen role.

Latz entered the game with a man on first and two outs in the eighth inning. He got Drake Baldwin to line out before tossing a perfect ninth inning that included a strikeout of Matt Olson. Latz has 19 saves and a 1.57 ERA this year.