MLB Player News

With Devyison De Los Santos back in Triple-A, Connor Norby will move over to first base, which gives Pauley the chance to claim the third base job as long as Christopher Morel (oblique) is out. Pauley seemed in line to begin the starting season as the starter before a forearm injury sidelined him for much of spring training. He’s more of a deep league target in fantasy leagues.

The Red Sox still probably shouldn’t have given up Kyle Harrison for him, but Durbin has essentially the same WAR (2.1 entering the day) and OPS (.684) as Alex Bregman (2.2 and .681, respectively). Durbin has nine homers, six of which have come in his last 20 games. He’s also swiped five bags during those 20 games. It’s not assured that he’ll last as mixed-league option during the second half, but he’s certainly worth playing right now.

Sandoval got through four scoreless before giving up a single to Luisangel Acuña to start the fifth. Drew Romo tried to bunt him over afterwards, only to pop it up foul for an out. Acuña went on to advance to second on a wild pitch and steal third while Sandoval was walking Chase Meridoth. Sandoval was pulled at that point, and Acuña went on to score on a swinging bunt. Sandoval struck out five and walked just the one. He averaged a rather stunning 94.3 mph with his fastball. That’s an improvement on his career-best 93.7 mph from 2024, before he hurt his elbow, and a big step forward from the 92.8 mph he averaged in six outings in Triple-A. If he keeps that up, he could be at least a streaming option in mixed leagues. There’s a good chance we’ll see him again in the series against the Rays after the break.

What a find Guerrero has been for Boston. In his first MLB action since 2019, he has a 2.45 ERA and a 23/2 K/BB in 18 1/3 innings since being called up in late May. The walk rate is simply astounding. Guerrero has always had a great arm, but he couldn’t establish himself in the majors previously because of control issues. He improved there during his time in Japan, but even so, he still walked nine percent of the batters he faced for Chiba Lotte last year. Right now, he’s at three percent. Guerrero is 35, but if he keeps throwing strikes, he could well help the Red Sox beyond 2026.

Braden Montgomery nearly had a hit on a fly to left-center, but Ceddanne Rafaela ran it down and made a diving catch. Chapman threw just nine pitches, eight of them strikes. After a shaky June in which he was dealing with a hamstring issues, he’s 3-for-3 saving games this month.

The runs scored on a Caleb Durbin homer in the fourth. Kay got into trouble in the second, hitting the first batter of the inning and then, on a soft grounder to the first baseman, getting to the base just a tad too late to retire Connor Wong. At that point, though, the Red Sox opted to bunt for some reason. Anthony Seigler got down the sacrifice, but Boston failed to score from there. Kay dropped to 6-4 with a 4.23 ERA. The White Sox are surely still pleased with his first half, but his 17.6 percent strikeout rate, combined with average-ish walk and groundball rates, doesn’t bode particularly well for the second half.

Smith struck out two and didn’t allow a baserunner. The 27-year-old now has 27 saves in his first year as a full-time closer and looks every bit the part of one of the best closers in the league.

It was his first major-league homer. The 25-year-old Jarvis has started to get more at-bats as Jorge Mateo has cooled down, and Jarvis is now hitting .292/.320/.458 on the season in a paltry 25 at-bat sample. Jarvis was hitting .313/.406/.461 at Triple-A Gwinnett in 348 plate appearances this year and had stolen 32 bases there, so it’s plausible he’s fantasy-interesting if he can keep a high average. Deep leaguers should at least keep him on the radar if the playing time continues to shift in his direction.

DeLauter hit five home runs in his first seven games of the season and then seemed to go on a power outage, not hitting his next one until May 3rd. He now has two home runs in his last four games and is up to nine on the season. The 24-year-old makes plenty of hard contact, so maybe the summer months will lead to a bit of a power surge.

The Twins had three hits on the day, and Lewis had two of them. The 27-year-old has looked good since returning from the minors, coming into today hitting .255/.320/.455 with five home runs, 13 RBI, and a 12 percent barrel rate since June 6th. He has one of the highest pull air rates in the league over that stretch and is clearly committing to pulling the ball for power. He needs to be added in fantasy leagues while he remains healthy.

He had three of the Pirates five RBIs and one of the runs — he was also the only player with more than one hit — and is building a case as a waiver wire find after Konnor Griffin hit the injured list earlier this week. Mangum has just two homers, but he does have 18 stolen bases and is currently hitting .311. That skill set and the run opportunities at the top of the lineup should make him a viable starter in most leagues.