MLB Player News

Franco is carrying a 3.18 ERA in three appearances, but threw 31 pitches on Tuesday and 43 pitches on Thursday, so the Reds will opt for a fresh arm in the short term as the back-end bullpen shuffle commences.

After Jensen’s sac fly, Bobby Witt Jr. looped a liner over Orlando Arcia to give the Royals the lead. Jensen’s homer off Joe Ryan was his eighth of the year, though just his second in his last 37 games. He’s gone 5-for-31 with a 11/1 K/BB in seven games since the Royals moved him in the leadoff spot. It worked out today, but fifth or sixth is probably still the right slot for him,

Avila was sharp through four hitless innings before loading the bases with none out in the fifth. He escaped with minimal damage after getting a sac fly and starting a double play on a comebacker from Ryan Kreidler. Apparently, that gave the Royals enough of a scare that they didn’t trust him to come back out for the sixth at 70 pitches. Avila has allowed one run over five innings in both of his starts to date, though that has included seven walks between the outings. He has a 28/19 K/BB overall in 31 1/3 innings this season. He’s doing enough to stick as a starter, but he’s not very interesting in fantasy leagues yet. He’ll likely face the Astros on Friday.

Erceg walked one, but he also got two easy popups and a strikeout while pitching in a 1-1 game. Just two of his 15 pitches today were four-seamers, which may or may not be an indication that he’s working on his pitch mix. He usually throws the four-seamer about one-third of the time. With Alex Lange getting his third save in four days, Erceg doesn’t seem worth rostering in mixed leagues right now. However, given Lange’s volatility, things could always change again in a hurry.

That’s three saves in four days for Lange, all of them taking at least 20 pitches to get three outs. He threw 28 while giving up a double and hitting a batter today. There’s certainly no comfort to be had with Lange closing, given his wildness. He’s also already surrendered10 barrels this season, but since only two have turned into homers, he has a respectable 4.03 ERA. He’ll probably keep getting save chances until he blows at least one, but he shouldn’t be available Sunday. Maybe Matt Strahm and Lucas Erceg will be the choice then.

The first inning was eventful for Ryan. After the leadoff homer, Bobby Witt Jr. sent a shot to left-center that both Trevor Larnach and Ryan Kreidler tried to catch, leading to a collision. Fortunately, both were OK after being checked on and Kreidler actually held on to the ball. After that, things were pretty quiet. Ryan struck out five and allowed no additional extra-base hits. He remains 4-3 with a 3.07 ERA. He’ll next face the Tigers on Thursday, unless the Twins decide to add a fifth starter before then and push Ryan back to Friday against the Cardinals.

Orze’s pitching wasn’t so much the issue; he allowed a pair of singles, neither of which were hit hard, and threw 13 of his 17 pitches for strikes. However, he made a bad judgment call on a comebacker following a leadoff single and a stolen base, choosing to try to throw out the runner returning to second instead of taking the easy out at first. The gambit failed, and after a successful sac bunt, the Royals tied the game on a sac fly and took the lead on a Bobby Witt Jr. liner just over a leaping Orlando Arcia at short. It’s Orze’s third blown save, but he’ll still be in mix for saves in the wide-open Twins pen.

Lewis made his second career start at second base and, after some shuffling, his first major league appearance at first today. The error came on what should have been a routine double play turn, but Lewis, still a novice at second, didn’t realize how much time he had with his back to the runner and made a bad throw. Of course, that still wouldn’t have been an error, since the double play can’t be assumed, but the ball went into the dugout and allowed the batter to advance to second. On offense, Lewis had a weak groundout, a walk and a weak popout before coming up with two on and two outs while down by one run in the bottom of the ninth and striking out looking against Alex Lange. It’s all a good reminder that there might not ever have been a bigger skill gap between Triple-A and the majors than there is right now. Still, Lewis will surely get another chance Sunday.

Jansen will be eligible to return next Saturday, though it’s unclear if that’s realistic. He’s hit .171/.277/.309 while splitting time with Kyle Higashioka this season. Higashioka will play regularly, with veteran Elias Díaz backing up, in Jansen’s absence.

Díaz will serve as Kyle Higashioka’s backup until Danny Jansen is ready to return from a forearm strain. The 35-year-old went 5-for-22 with two homers in 10 games with the Royals before being bumped from the roster last week.

Morán has been effective in low leverage situations for Boston, amassing a 3.00 ERA in 33 innings. Alex Gamboa is replacing him on the roster and will likely take over his role, as well.