MLB Player News

Bradley was 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA in his six starts for Minnesota last year and was pulled with a lead in the fifth in his season debut last week. He touched 100 mph on the gun today, but he still settled for three strikeouts and eight whiffs on 51 swings. He gave up 10 hard-hit balls, three of which actually topped 110 mph. Still, the results were great for a second straight outing, leaving him with a 0.87 ERA to date. We’d be more optimistic is his CSW and EV numbers weren’t just as mediocre as usual. He’ll face the Tigers on Tuesday, probably in a matchup against Tarik Skubal.

With his Rockies up one, Johnston delivered a clutch, two-run knock to stretch their lead out. The Mets wound up responding with a rally of their own, but fell one run short. Just as he and his teammates have done all season, Johnston attacked a first-pitch fastball from Sean Manaea to get his big hit. On the season, he has a .317 batting average and .834 OPS as a pleasant surprise in the middle of the Rockies’ order.

Painter avoided serious trouble in the first inning, pitching a scoreless frame despite allowing two runners to reach base. He would retire all three batters he faced in the second inning, but in the bottom of the third, the rookie allowed back-to-back hits to Eli White and Ronald Acuña to kick off the inning, with Acuña’s hit coming in the form of a two-run homer to tie the game at 2-2. Painter would fall victim to a two-RBI double by Michael Harris in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Phillies down 4-2, and was pulled later in the inning after walking Acuña. The five earned runs allowed by Painter were the most in any game this season, while his lone strikeout tied a season-low. He’ll make one more start this month when he takes the mound on Thursday against the Giants.

Baty was one of the few Mets who were able to convert scoring chances in this one. He came around to score the game’s first run after hitting a second inning double and smashed a two-run single through the hole in the eighth that nearly pushed the Rockies to the brink. After a disastrous first few weeks of the season, he’s 6-for-16 over his last seven games while showing much, much better plate discipline and power.

There’s a hump that Peralta just can’t get over at the moment. Just like in many of his other starts this season, he cruised early and then ran into trouble during the fifth and sixth innings. It wasn’t much hard contact – a swinging bunt, some walks, and ball that caromed off the second base bag – but he was pulled with two outs in the sixth after having given up the lead. His fastball and changeup were sharp, combining for 14 of his 16 total swing-and-misses. We’re just still looking for some consistency from his slider. His next start is scheduled to come against the Nationals.

Okamoto took Gavin Williams out to dead center -- it landed over the batter’s eye some 430 feet away -- and added a walk and a single to up his season line to .222/.307/.378 with four homers. It hasn’t been what we’d hoped yet, but Okamoto still has a chance to boot up.

Kazuma Okamoto and Andrés Giménez singled to start proceedings in the ninth, but Smith got pinch-hitter Eloy Jiménez to ground into a double play to quash the rally before Davis Schneider popped up to end the game. Smith’s 4.15 ERA and 1.50 WHIP weren’t what you were hoping for when you sprung an early pick on a closer, but he’s underperforming his xERA by almost a full run and his strikeout rate remains high.

Martinez barely scraped over the wall in right-center field with a two-run homer in the first inning -- then cleared his second in essentially the same spot, but a few rows deeper as he chased Max Scherzer. The Guardians have started pivoting away from Martinez of late as he has just three starts in his last six games while George Valera plays more often. Maybe this will get him back in the starting lineup conversation. On the season he’s hitting .284/.329/.541 with five long balls and four stolen bases.

He walked three and didn’t strike out a single batter -- he actually was one punchout from 3,500 in his illustrious career, but couldn’t get it. The Guardians bludgeoned him for two long balls in the first inning, then Angel Martínez got him again in the third inning to chase him from the game. With one strikeout over his last two starts, Scherzer looks like a do not start until further notice. His fastball was pounded as it averaged just 92.8 mph on the gun. Carrying a 9.64 ERA and complaining of forearm tendinitis a few starts ago, we can only say that his next scheduled start is against Boston while implying it might not happen.

Lee put the Twins on the board in the top of the fifth inning when he hit a 402-foot solo homer off Drew Rasmussen to cut the Rays’ lead to 3-1. Lee has tallied three-hit nights in back-to-back games and has pushed his homer run total to four on the season with his latest bomb. He’s slashing .296/.356/.556 over his last 15 games and seems to be heating up after his slow start.

Williams’ first real dud of the season -- it didn’t seem like there was anything particularly wrong under the hood here, and he somehow escaped with a win anyway. His average fastball velocity was up to 97 mph. He just didn’t seem to be able to spot his curveball, allowing four of his nine hard-hit balls on 25 of those pitches. Homers continue to be a sneaky problem as he’s now allowed six in six starts. He’ll try to pick up the pieces against the Rays next week.