MLB Player News

Manaea now has a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings out of the pen, but his velocity still isn’t coming back; he topped out at 90.5 mph and averaged 89.2 mph with his fastball today. The Mets still might turn to him as their sixth starter at some point, but expectations shouldn’t be very high.

The Rockies entered the home half of the eighth inning embattled in a 2-2 tie with the Mets. They got things going with a pair of singles and a walk though, that’s when Jake McCarthy strolled to the dish. He walloped a 1-0 fastball from Craig Kimbrel for a majestic 448-foot (107.4 mph EV) grand slam that changed the entire complexion of the game. McCarthy also had a game-tying RBI double in the sixth inning. It was the first grand slam of McCarthy’s career. He finished the day 2-for-4 and is now hitting .275/.346/.507 with a pair of homers and 14 RBI on the season.

Castro got the Rockies on the board with a two-out RBI single off of Christian Scott in the fourth inning. He then worked a walk and rode home on Jake McCarthy’s go-ahead grand slam in the eighth. The versatile 29-year-old has had an underwhelming season offensively so far, slashing just .250/.321/.333 with a homer, 12 RBI and a pair of stolen bases.

The 37-year-old southpaw struck out two batters on the day while also issuing a pair of free passes. All of the damage done against him came in the second inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Andy Ibanez and an RBI single from Tyrone Taylor. Quintana got seven swings and misses on the day, registering an uninspiring CSW of only 19 percent. He now holds a solid 3.90 ERA and 1.33 WHIP over his first 30 innings with the Rockies despite the fact that he has only 14 strikeouts. He’ll do battle against the Pirates his next time out in Pittsburgh on Wednesday as Quintana continues his revenge tour against his former teams.

The 37-year-old hurler took over in a 2-2 ballgame in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving up singles to TJ Rumfield and Troy Johnston before issuing a walk to Willi Castro to load the bases. He then served up a grand slam to Jake McCarthy that blew the game completely open and sunk the Mets’ hopes. He now holds a miserable 7.56 ERA over 8 1/3 innings in nine appearances with the Mets this season.

Scott scattered just three hits on the day while issuing two walks. The lone tally against him came in the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single by Willi Castro. The 26-year-old right-hander threw 53 of his 82 pitches for strikes in the contest, generating 11 swings and misses while posting a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll try again to pick up his first victory of the season as he carries a stellar 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and a 15/7 K/BB ratio (11 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Tigers.

Naylor’s homer to seemingly put the game away in the seventh — it made the score 8-2 before the Royals were able bring it back to within three — was just his second of the year. It upped his RBI total from four to seven. Naylor actually has a greatly improved contact rate with pretty solid exit velocity numbers this year, but it’s produced only a .143/.200/.238 line in 90 plate appearances. One imagines he’s due for a run of good luck.

Cecconi got the job done, but with three strikeouts and three walks, he was far from dominant. The 26-year-old has completed six innings just once this year, and he’s given up eight homers in 41 innings. He might wind up bumped to the pen at some point, but he’ll surely stay in the rotation for now and face the Angels next time out.

Smith has converted seven chances in a row. He’ll likely be down Friday after working the last two days. Hunter Gaddis and Eric Sabrowski also toiled last night and today, so maybe Matt Festa could sneak in a save chance. Sabrowski, though, might be available after facing just one hitter to finish the eighth today.

The typically efficient Lugo walked four and needed 102 pitches to get his 12 outs on Thursday. It’s the first time since last August that he’s failed to complete five innings in a start and the second time in eight starts this year that he’s allowed more than two runs. With the Kansas City offense continuing to do him no favors, he dropped to 1-2 with a 3.21 ERA. He’ll get the White Sox next.

Bazzana is hitting .192 with zero extra-base hits through eight games, but he’s now 4-for-4 stealing bases. He was also 8-for-10 in 24 Triple-A games to open the year. The hits will come, so he seems well worth using in mixed leagues.