MLB Player News

The 22-year-old has a 1.27 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 20/7 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 innings at Triple-A to start the season. He was sitting 95 mph with his fastball on Wednesday and posted 40 percent whiff rates on both his slider and changeup. His fastball itself doesn’t get many whiffs, which has limited his strikeout upside, but he has five pitches he trusts and has shown great command of the strike zone. With Gerrit Cole (elbow) and Carlos Rodon (elbow) both likely to return in May, there likely won’t be many innings at the big league level for Rodríguez this season, but he is setting himself up as a future piece in the Yankees’ rotation or a really valuable trade chip.

Massey ambushed Mike Paredes to open the fourth inning, crushing a first-pitch fastball for a 360-foot (95.5 mph EV) solo shot that tied the game at 3-3. He also singled in the ballgame. With his two-hit attack, the 28-year-old infielder is now slashing .266/.287/.477 with six homers and 20 RBI on the season.

Rojas came on to hit for Nick Loftin with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning. He got ahead in the count 3-1 against Justin Lawrence before lining his go-ahead two-run single into center field. That would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him stick around and potentially find himself in the starting lineup on Friday after his heroics on Thursday night.

Lange was called upon after the Royals scored twice in the top half of the ninth inning to take a two-run lead. He made things interesting, allowing a leadoff single to Victor Caratini and a two-out walk to Byron Buxton to put the tying runs on base, but battled back to get Brooks Lee on a ground ball to second base to end the ballgame. It’s his second save in the last three days and could signal that he could be the favorite for save chances going forward with Lucas Erceg continuing to struggle.

The 36-year-old hurler walked one and struck out four in the ballgame. He struggled to keep the baseball in the yard during this one, serving up a pair of solo homers to Kody Clemens and another to Byron Buxton to open the ballgame. Lugo generated 11 swings and misses on 92 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 25 percent. He’ll attempt to bounce back as he totes a 3.91 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a 64/24 K/BB ratio (76 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Rangers.

Ildemaro fielded a ground ball deep behind the bag at first and raced Muncy to the bag, resulting in a violent head-on collision between the two. The Diamondbacks should have an update on the 34-year-old infielder’s status as soon as more information is available. Stay tuned.

Muncy was hustling in an attempt to beat out an infield single when he and Vargas were involved in a nasty head-on collision at the first base bag. The Dodgers announced that Muncy was pulled due to shortness of breath and to rule out a potential concussion. He’ll continue to be evaluated but his availability for the weekend is certainly in doubt at the moment.

Clemens tagged Seth Lugo for a solo shot in the third inning, jumping on a first-pitch curveball for a 414-foot (101.4-mph EV) blast that gave the Twins a 3-2 advantage. He then left the yard again in the fifth inning, that time a 379-foot (101.7-mph EV) solo shot on a sweeper that made it a 5-3 ballgame. The versatile 30-year-old has been a key cog in the Twins’ offense this season, slashing .236/.311/.460 with eight homers and 20 RBI in his 195 plate appearances.

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out one batter in the contest. He served up a solo homer to Michael Massey to lead off the fourth inning, then put two men on with two outs before turning the ball over to the bullpen in the sixth inning. Anthony Banda came on and immediately gave up a two-run double, charging both of those runs to Paredes’ ledger. He got just one swing and miss on 50 pitches on the night, posting an underwhelming CSW of 20 percent. Paredes now sports a 4.91 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a 4/4 K/BB ratio over his first 7 1/3 innings in the big leagues. He remains an unappealing option for fantasy purposes for Wednesday’s matchup against the Tigers in Detroit.

O’Hearn got the scoring started in the ballgame with a two-out, RBI single off of Kei-Wei Teng in the top half of the first inning. He then ambushed a first-pitch fastball for a 349-foot (94.0 mph EV) two-run shot off of Teng during a four-run uprising in the sixth inning. The 32-year-old slugger hasn’t missed a beat since returning from the injured list and is now slashing a robust .295/.371/.486 with nine long balls and 33 RBI on the season.

Lowe smacked a one-out double off of Kei-Wei Teng in the top half of the first inning then scored the game’s first run on a two-out single off the bat of Ryan O’Hearn. He also doubled to open the sixth inning and scored on Bryan Reynolds’ RBI knock. Lowe has made a major impact to the Pirates’ lineup this season, slashing .257/.341/.532 with 15 homers and 40 RBI across his first 252 plate appearances.