MLB Player News

The Marlins needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster for Sunday’s acquisition of Leo Jiménez from the Blue Jays and Acton drew the short straw this time around. There’s a chance that that 27-year-old hurler could pass through waivers unclaimed and continue to function as extra bullpen depth for the Marlins.

The revelation comes as a bit of a surprise as the Angels appear to be more willing to move on from someone like Neto, who was viewed as one of their more long-term building blocks. There are plenty of teams that could use a shortstop, which is probably why Los Angeles interim general manager John Mozeliak is going to entertain overtures. It doesn’t sound like anything is imminent, but the Angels could be headed for more of a full-scale teardown than many anticipated.

Susac’s first homer off Thomas Pannone was a three-run shot that opened the scoring in the second inning. His second, a solo shot off a 60-mph fastball from Andrew Vaughn in the eighth, was less significant but still counts. Susac is now batting .256/.306//372 in 136 plate appearances. The start today was his first in four games, as the Giants prefer Drew Cavanaugh behind the plate at the moment. They also have Jesus Rodriguez up as an occasional option. However, Susac, as a Rule 5 pick, is locked into a spot the rest of the way.

Webb was probably done at 96 pitches anyway, but any chance of him coming back out disappeared when the Giants scored seven runs off three pitchers in a lengthy bottom of the sixth. The big inning ensured that Webb would get his first win after two losses and two no-decisions this month. He’s now 6-7 with a 3.93 ERA overall. He’ll make his next start Monday against the Rangers. That’s trade deadline day, but the Giants have been very clear that he’s not one of the players they’re willing to move.

Pannone’s first major league appearance in three years wasn’t much different than his last one; he allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings in his one outing for the Brewers in 2023. He’ll likely be swapped back out for a fresh arm, perhaps Drew Rom’s, prior to Friday’s game.

The Brewers have asked for a whole lot from Ashby this year, even when they scarcely seemed to need him. For instance, just last night, he was brought in to get one out in the sixth inning of a game with no one on and the team leading by five. Whether Ashby has enough left in October figures to have a significant impact on the Brewers’ chances then, and one would think it’s past time to back off him somewhat. He’s given up 19 earned runs in 24 2/3 innings since the beginning of June, taking his ERA from 2.00 to 4.02.

Ramos’s ninth-inning single off Andrew Vaughn gave him his third career four-hit game. After a nice first half of July, he had been cold in hitting .174 with one extra-base hit and a 15/1 K/BB in 48 plate appearances since the All-Star break. There’s at least a slim chance that he’ll be traded before the deadline, since while he fits in nicely with the Giants offensively, he doesn’t really offer anything defensively on a team that isn’t poised to have any first base/DH at-bats available for the next several years. Most likely, though, he’ll stay and finish out the year as the regular left fielder.

Arraez lined out in his first at-bat before collecting four straight singles for his 24th career four-hit game and second of this season. He has three career five-hit games, all of which came in a 17-day span with the Marlins in June 2023. Arraez is now back in first place in the majors in average, with his .331 mark leading Otto Lopez at .329 and Yordan Alvarez at .325. He also recorded a steal today, making him 10-for-10 there this year. He was 31-for-48 over his first seven seasons.

Murray notes that the White Sox, Dodgers, Rays, Rangers, Diamondbacks and Phillies were among teams in attendance for Holmes’ minor league rehab start for Low-A St. Lucie earlier this week. The 33-year-old, who is coming off a fractured fibula that put him on the shelf back in mid-May, tossed four scoreless innings while sitting in the low-to-mid 90’s with his fastball. There are a plethora of teams looking to upgrade their rotations at next week’s trade deadline and Holmes would make a ton of sense as a fallback option for clubs that miss out on the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes.

Duran takes a seat with lefty Jacob Lopez drawing the starting assignment in this one. It’ll be Jahmai Jones taking over in left field. He’ll continue sitting against the occasional southpaw, but Roman Anthony’s ongoing absence means he’ll continue playing pretty much everyday in Boston.

Emerson is back at shortstop and hitting ninth after being scratched from Tuesday’s lineup for an undisclosed reason. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern moving forward. The 21-year-old top prospect is hitting .202/.265/.365 with seven homers, 21 RBI and three steals in 197 plate appearances during his first taste of the majors.