MLB Player News

Williams played a starring role during New York’s 12th consecutive loss on Tuesday night when he failed to record an out during an ugly meltdown against the Twins where he walked three batters and was charged with a pair of runs. The 31-year-old has struggled mightily in his Mets debut, compiling a bloated 9.95 ERA and 11/6 K/BB ratio across 6 1/3 innings over eight appearances. The hedge here for fantasy managers is to pick up Luke Weaver, who has plenty of closing experience, on the chance that he gets a look in the next save chance for the Mets.

The 110-mph homer was Mayo’s lone hit of the day, but he did have a 108-mph lineout to go along with it. Kind of incredibly, Mayo now has 12 100-mph balls in play this season but only seven hit between 90-99 mph. The power is obviously there, but the consistent contact just isn’t, which is why he’s hitting .164 this year and .195 in 122 big-league games to date. If the Orioles get healthy, he still could wind up back in the minors at some point.

Bassitt allowed eight hits, including two homers, and struck out just three, but eight runs of support proved sufficient to put him in the win column. Bassitt is sporting a 6.75 ERA and a hideous 10/13 K/BB in 21 1/3 innings. He’ll face the Astros next week, but if this keeps up, he’s going to get sent to the pen at some point.

With Ryan Helsley on the on the bereavement list, Nunez, making just his 11th big-league appearance, was the pick to protect a two-run lead in the ninth, and he did so easily, even after a Coby Mayo error brought Bobby Witt Jr. to the plate as the tying run with two outs. Nunez went on to strike out Witt on six pitches, five of which were sweepers out of the strike zone. This comes two days after he picked up his first win in extra innings against Kansas City. He has a 1.46 ERA and a 15/2 K/BB in 12 1/3 innings.

Wacha gave up a two-run homer to Pete Alonso in the first but then kept the Orioles scoreless until the sixth, when the team erupted for six runs. Wacha was charged with four of those after a walk and three singles, but the big blow came after he departed and Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer off Eli Morgan. It’s Wacha’s first loss this season, as he’d allowed just three runs in four starts prior to today. He rates as a weak play next week in a road start in Sacramento.

Henderson seems like more of a No. 5 hitter than a leadoff man at the moment. He’s hitting .189/.269/.443 with a whopping 36 strikeouts in 25 games. He’s currently on pace for 233 strikeouts, which is 10 more than Mark Reynolds’ major league record from 2009.

Jensen has been great in hitting .275/.354/.585, but it has come with a scary jump in his strikeout rate; he entered today having fanned 22 times in 75 plate appearances, compared to 12 times in 69 plate appearances in his September audition last year. However, this now makes back-to-back starts without a strikeout, and he has his average over .260 for the first time this season.

That’s better. The homer was hit a season-high 108.1 mph on just his eighth fast swing (75 mph or better) of the year, and his double was hit 102 mph. Pasquantino’s bat speed has been well down and his strikeout rate well up in the early going. Hopefully, both trends will turn around.

Technically, the move isn’t official, but Langford told reporters he’s headed to the shelf after undergoing an MRI that revealed the forearm strain. The 24-year-old outfielder was lifted from Tuesday’s game against the Pirates with forearm tightness. He told reporters that he only expects to miss 10 days. We’ll see. Alejandro Osuna is coming up from Triple-A Round Rock to take his roster spot with Ezequiel Duran likely to see more time in left field during his absence.

Boyd returns to Chicago’s rotation to take the ball on Wednesday evening against the Phillies at Wrigley Field following a two-week absence recovering from a biceps strain. The 35-year-old southpaw posted 10 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his final start before hitting the shelf. He’s in line for an extremely favorable matchup against a struggling Philadelphia lineup in his return from the injured list. Fantasy managers should make sure he’s back in lineups for this one.

Little heads back to the minors with Matthew Boyd returning from the injured list to start Wednesday’s game against the Phillies.