MLB Player News

It’s nice to hear that Yates’ surprising trip to the injured list with knee inflammation appears to be a minor issue. After throwing a bullpen, it likely won’t be long before he’s back with the club. Jordan Romano secured the save for them on Opening Day with a scoreless ninth inning and it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be ahead in the pecking order for saves when both are in the bullpen together.

Kelly struck out six, matching his season high. After averaging a season-high 93.4 mph with his fastball last time out against the Brewers, he came in at 93.2 mph tonight. He averaged 92.0 and topped out at 92.7 mph in his first 14 starts this season. If his velocity stays up, he might be of use in deeper formats during the second half. Kelly figures to face the Cardinals in the D-backs’ first or second game after the break.

Sewald sandwiched strikeouts of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado around a Jackson Merrill flyout. He’s still blown just one save opportunity this season.

Canning struck out five and walked none, but the D-backs got to him for single runs in the fourth and fifth and the Padres offense failed to respond. Canning ends the first half 1-7 with a 6.47 ERA, so he could be bumped from the rotation if the Padres rotation gets healthier and/or if A.J. Preller can make an addition or two.

With Jake Cronenworth back and Luis Rengifo up, Song is probably on thin ice at this point. He’s hitting .213/.308/.288 through 91 plate appearances. It seems like he has the bat speed to get around on major league fastballs, but his exit velocity numbers thus far are ugly.

Waldschmidt didn’t seem ready the first time around, but he had dragged his strikeout rate under 20 percent in the three weeks since he returned to Triple-A. He’s probably not ready to hit homers in the majors, but if the Diamondbacks want to play him regularly, he might steal enough bases to be useful in 12-team leagues. Tommy Troy, Max Kepler and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. could all lose at-bats with Waldschmidt back.

That was the expectation all along, but the Angels finally confirmed it on Thursday. Rodriguez looked strong in his latest minor league rehab start, hurling 5 1/3 innings of one-run baseball at Triple-A Salt Lake. Fantasy managers may want to see how he looks one turn through the rotation before throwing him right back to the wolves.

Texas coughed up a 6-1 lead in the seventh but won the game on Wyatt Langford’s single in the bottom of the ninth. Foscue homered off Reid Detmers in the fourth and doubled in a run in the sixth. Both hits were off lefties, as is typical. He’s now hitting .367/.466/.796 in 49 at-bats against southpaws, compared to .216/.255/.353 in 51 at-bats versus righties. As a result, he’ll likely be on the bench Friday against Houston’s Hunter Brown.

Eovaldi had a 6-1 lead after six, but the seventh started with a catcher interference, a walk and a single, at which point Eovaldi exited. Peyton Grey came in and allowed all three runners to score while getting two outs. Tyler Alexander entered then and allowed both of Grey’s runners to score, making it a 6-6 game. Eovaldi still ends the first half on a four-game winning streak. He’s 9-7 with a 4.04 ERA overall. The 10 strikeouts were a season high. He fanned nine in each of his three previous starts.

Detmers served up homers to Brandon Nimmo in the first, Ezequiel Duran in the third and Justin Foscue in the fourth. All were hit at 104 mph, oddly enough. We’ll feel better about Detmers as a fantasy starter if and when he gets out of Anaheim. He closes out the first half with a 3-6 record and a 4.19 ERA despite an excellent 123/35 K/BB in 108 2/3 innings.

Yates came into a tie game in the ninth and gave up a groundball single, a sac bunt and then a long single off the wall in left to end the game. It was a tough break for a reliever who has been very good of late with little to show for it. It was the first run he’d allowed since June 22 and the first earned run since June 8. He’s still a candidate for saves in the Angels’ pen, though he has earned just two so far.