MLB Player News

Miller has been cleared to begin “rotational exercises” but isn’t swinging yet. It’s a confusing situation since Phillies president Dave Dombrowski told reporters last week that Miller had resumed swinging a bat. The 21-year-old top prospect is one of the more intriguing power/speed combo shortstops in the entire minors but he’s been ostensibly on the shelf since early on in spring training due to a mysterious back issue. It doesn’t sound like he’s close to returning to game action.

Basallo has been out since July 22 with shoulder inflammation, but it looks like he’ll be back before the end of next week. Yohel Pozo will probably lose his spot once Basallo is activated.

The Padres are giving Luis Campusano a very rare start at DH with Freddy Fermin catching tonight, so there’s no room for Rengifo against a lefty. The switch-hitting Rengifo is hitting just .213/.283/.278 versus southpaws this season, though he’s at .344/.417/.469 in 37 plate appearances against them since joining the Padres and he’s been better versus lefties over the course of his career.

Mesa indicated that he’s probably not ready to play the outfield. Jonny DeLuca is getting a start against a righty with Mesa sitting Saturday.

Benintendi knocked a base hit and scored a run in the third inning, then came through in a big spot for Chicago in the seventh. With left-hander Drew Sommers on the mound, after intentionally walking Miguel Vargas, Benintendi singled on a ground ball to left field to drive in the go-ahead run for the White Sox. The 32-year-old outfielder is hitting .248/.310/.424 with 12 homers and 60 RBI across 366 plate appearances.

Valencia put the Tigers on the board with a single in the first inning to drive in a run. He then led off the fourth inning with a solo homer off Anthony Kay. The home run was his sixth of the season while hitting .404/.426/.865 across just 54 plate appearances, though he’s been mostly limited to a short-side platoon.

Hudson got the call to close out the game in the ninth inning with a one-run lead over the Tigers. This came after a scoreless eighth inning by Grant Taylor. Hudson got the job done, pitching a clean inning with one strikeout to secure his fifth save of the season.

Kay surrendered a run in the first inning on a walk and two hits. Eduardo Valencia later took Kay deep for a solo homer in the fourth inning before a pair of doubles scored a third run in the fifth. Kay recorded the first out in the sixth and departed at 86 pitches with four strikeouts. The 31-year-old left-hander will take a 4.01 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and a 98/44 K/BB ratio across 121 1/3 innings into a start against the Braves in Chicago on Thursday.

Melton opened the game allowing the first two batters to reach and surrendered a run on a base hit before getting out of the first inning. Melton continued to labor through the next two innings, stranding two runners in the second before giving up a pair of runs on three hits in the third. He completed a scoreless fourth inning, then recorded one out in the fifth, departing with a runner on at 87 pitches. He struck out four. The 25-year-old right-hander had gone his previous three starts without allowing a run. He’ll take a 1.71 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and a 73/25 K/BB ratio across 84 1/3 innings into a start against the Royals in Kansas City on Friday.

He’ll join the major league roster. Ornelas was dropped from the Athletics’ 40-man and cleared waivers last week, allowing him to be traded. He was 2-for-12 during his time with the A’s prior to being DFA’d. The 26-year-old is a lifetime .200/.257/.231 hitter in 71 major league plate appearances, but he offers a solid glove, which is something the Brewers need with Cooper Pratt on the IL and Brice Turang hurting.

With their infield so banged up, the Brewers needed a true backup there over Bae, who serves primarily as an outfielder and is a subpar second baseman these days. Bae went 1-for-4 with a steal in his six days with the Brewers.