MLB Player News

Torkelson is hitting just .182/.333/.227 in 81 plate appearances this season. It’s nice that he’s walking more, and that’s clearly part of his plan since his overall swing rate has dropped eight percent; however, Torkelson is also taking far more called strikes, and his strikeout rate is actually up from last season. His hard-hit rate is still in line with what he produced last year, and his swinging strike rate is better, so the first baseman may need to simply tweak his approach to stop being as passive as he has been. Colt Keith will play first base and hit third on Monday with Hao-Yu Lee at third base and batting eighth.

Amazing. Rivero’s first four hits were singles that left the bat at 72, 56, 73 and 84 mph, but they were all perfectly placed. The three harder ones were liners sure to drop in front of outfielders. The 56-mph shot to second would have been an out most of the time, but not against the drawn-in infield the Dodgers were employing with runners on second and third. Finally, in his last at-bat, Rivero crushed a 103-mph liner to the gap for an RBI double. The 27-year-old Rivero, who debuted with the Royals in 2021, came into the day with a .160 average and eight RBI in 156 career plate appearances. He had six hits and two RBI in 49 plate appearances for the Angels this season. In spite of his success, he’ll probably be back on the bench in favor of Logan O’Hoppe on Monday.

Wild of late, Soriano seemed focused on throwing strikes, at the expense of some velocity, early in this one. It worked out nicely, too. He allowed just one run and one walk through five. In the sixth, however, he walked Kyle Tucker to start things, got victimized by a Zach Neto error and then gave up back-to-back homers to score four runs. Fortunately, Soriano had the margin for error and still improved to 7-4 with a 2.96 ERA in what ended up being a 13-5 game. He’ll pitch at home against the Rays next weekend.

Early April’s biggest surprise, Rushing had been very quiet these last seven weeks. With the bat, anyway. However, he was able to get a second straight start today with Will Smith ailing and took advantage of it with his first homer since Apr. 20. He had been 9-for-51 with one RBI since the beginning of May.

Adell had four hits for the first time since Aug. 26, 2022 and the second time of his career. He hadn’t even had two hits since May 20, as he came into the game in an 8-for-54 slump. Ideally, Adell will find his way into the cleanup spot in Anaheim with Jorge Soler out for at least a few weeks, but he hasn’t made a great case yet with his .243/.283/.392 line.

Taillon signaled to the trainer immediately after completing a six-pitch walk to Matt Chapman to open the second. Based on the way he tried to stretch out for a moment, it seemed to be a back or leg issue, but he didn’t make any argument for staying in the game.

Kepler is still serving an 80-game PED suspension announced in January, so he goes on the restricted list for now. The Diamondbacks will have him go on a rehab assignment in the minors and then decide whether they want him to be a part of their outfield. With Jordan Lawlar and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. getting healthy and Ryan Waldschmidt and Tommy Troy still candidates to step up, ideally, they wouldn’t need Kepler at all. But, then, if they thought that would be the case, they probably wouldn’t have made the signing. Kepler hit .216/.300/.391 in 127 games for the Phillies last season, and if he was cheating then, it didn’t seem to do him much good. He doesn’t offer as much defensive value as he used to, either. Maybe he’ll surprise, but he seems like a weak platoon option at the moment.

Benge has his best major league game to date for a second time in a week. The first was when he homered twice against the Mariners on Tuesday. This one was probably more fulfilling, since it came in a victory. It raised his average from .248 to .265 and his OPS from .682 to .733. Benge’s balls in play ranged from 94.9 mph to 106.4 mph, which produced a 389-foot homer. The triple, on a grounder that made it into the right field corner, was his first as a major leaguer.

The surprising velocity jump Manaea enjoyed in his first outing as a bulk guy did not carry over to today; he averaged 89.7 mph with his sinker, which was also his average for the year before he suddenly surged to 91.7 mph Monday against the Mariners. He proved adequate but nothing more than that today, which might increase the chances of him returning to a more traditional relief role after Kodai Senga comes off the IL. Before then, Manaea could face the Braves on Friday or Saturday.

Williams gave up a walk and a double with two outs before striking out Fernando Tatis Jr. to end things. The run is the first Williams has allowed in four appearances since his ugly May 24 outing against the Marlins, when he gave up a walkoff grand slam. He earned a save three days after that, but the Mets haven’t had any save chances in nine games since.

Vásquez missed bats like basically never before at the beginning of the season and got off to a great start, but that seems mostly over now. This was his fifth straight start in which he’s fanned three or fewer, with him totaling 11 strikeouts in 25 innings during the span. His velocity jump has remained intact and he’s still doing a good job of limiting walks, so he might not be completely useless in mixed leagues going forward. However, his ERA, currently at 3.63, will probably continue to climb. He’ll face the Orioles next weekend.