MLB Player News

Soroka wasn’t nearly as dominant as he was in his win Monday over the Tigers, but five innings of one-run baseball are hard to complain too much about. He walked three with three strikeouts, but he also allowed six hits that were considered “hard” and didn’t exactly fool the Atlanta lineup before leaving. Soroka will look to miss more bats Friday, but it’ll be a tough matchup against the Phillies.

Not exactly a banner start for Gallen, though it’s his first real blowup since April. Perhaps the shoulder contusion he suffered in his last appearance was bothering him. He managed just five whiffs on 42 swings and gave up eight hard-hit balls. His defense didn’t help him as Ildemaro Vargas let a Carson Kelly pop up drop in the first that led to a third run. Jorge Barrosa allowed an Alex Bregman liner to skip past him to score a few more in the fourth inning. It’s hard to feel confident about starting Gallen in fantasy leagues right now between the lack of strikeouts and the defense behind him. He’ll take on the Pirates next week.

Back on form after a rough outing against the Dodgers, Rea effectively dazzled the Diamondbacks, missing a quality start only because of an elevated pitch count. Rea managed a sizzling 16 whiffs on 54 swings, but the Diamondbacks did get 12 hard-hit balls against him. The Cubs bullpen immediately put Rea’s win in jeopardy by allowing a three-run homer to Geraldo Perdomo, but hung on. Rea’s in line to start again against the Reds in Wrigley next week and should be a viable-if-unexciting streamer for that one.

He also walked in his final at-bat, and somehow managed only one RBI and zero runs scored despite reaching base every single at-bat. Vargas is hitting .404 with a 1.131 OPS, as everyone suspected would happen before the season. Fantasy managers are advised to keep riding the hot streak and understand that this is likely just a prolonged heater, not a new norm, for Vargas. It’s still a lot of fun.

Busch opened scoring with a two-run single with the bases loaded to make it 2-0, then added a hard-hit double later on. Busch has been struggling this year, so this game at least gets him over the Mendoza line at .203/.301/.297. Fantasy managers in deeper leagues should stick with him for now, but his expected batting average of .204 is rough — he’s simply not barreling the ball enough yet.

At that point, his 30-day rehab window will come to a close and they’ll either have to activate him or option him to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. It sounds like he’s just about ready to go, so the Yankees have a couple of days to figure out how to reconfigure their roster to get him activated for Monday’s series finale against the Orioles.

He walked Ildemaro Vargas at the start of the ninth, but struck out Corbin Carroll and quickly got through Gabriel Moreno and Ketel Marte to lock down the save. It was a bit surprising to not see Phil Maton summoned for the ninth on two days rest, but it’s hard to argue with the result. The Cubs closer situation should be resolved soon when Daniel Palencia returns from the injured list.

Well that was a short stay for Wagaman, who heads back to Triple-A Syracuse after joining the Mets for Thursday’s contest against the Nationals. He did not make an appearance in that game. Andy Ibáñez, who was claimed off of waivers from the Athletics on Thursday, will take his spot on the Mets’ active roster.

That explains why Vest hasn’t appeared in a game since Sunday. It doesn’t sound like there are any plans to move him to the injured list at this time, so expect him to return at some point during their weekend series against the Rangers.

It sounds like if everything goes well with that session that he’ll be cleared to face live hitters. Whether or not that’s on a minor league rehab assignment or in a controlled environment remains to be seen. The 43-year-old hurler has been sidelined since the beginning of April due to right hip inflammation.

Tracy noted that the imaging revealed nothing more than inflammation, which is the best possible news that the Red Sox and fantasy managers could hear at this time. He’ll be shut down from throwing for a few days while he builds up strength in his shoulder before he starts to ramp back up. Still no firm timetable on when they expect him to return, but it doesn’t appear to be as dire as originally feared.