MLB Player News

He walked away with a win in his first start. Ritchie allowed solo shots to James Wood and C.J. Abrams and little else, though he was bailed out in the second inning by Daylen Lile being caught stealing after Drake Baldwin threw to second with runners on the corners and Lile drifted too far off third base. Ritchie averaged 94.7 mph with his fastball, but wound up leading with his curveball against a lefty-heavy Nationals lineup and generated a 27 percent whiff rate overall with a trio of secondaries. This start probably isn’t worth throwing out a huge chunk of the FAAB for, but Ritchie could get some runway in this rotation if the Braves start to believe in him. He’d look to be in line to start against the Tigers next week.

The Diamondbacks sent Baker to Triple-A on Monday, and he elected free agency. Now he’s back with Arizona on a minor league contract. The 29-year-old has big-time power but has yet to establish any consistency at the big league level.

Cole threw 42 of his 52 pitches for strikes, which is great to see. He also struck out four and didn’t want a batter. There is no Statcast data in the ballpark, but reports are that he sat around 94-95 mph on his fastball throughout the outing. He also threw all of his pitches, so this was a positive step in his return from elbow surgery.

The good news is that surgery won’t be required, it’s something that rest and rehab should be able to take care of. It’s going to cost the 26-year-old outfielder at least a month’s worth of action though, if not longer.

The 23-year-old southpaw functioned as an extra bullpen arm for a few days while Kody Funderburk was on paternity leave. With Funderburk set to return on Friday though, he’ll head back to Triple-A where he’ll resume his regular role in the rotation. Rojas allowed two hits and three walks over two innings in his lone appearance with the Twins, though he did not allow a run.

Seager victimized Pirates’ starter Bubba Chandler for his 382-foot (104.7 mph EV) three-run shot in the fourth inning, extending the Rangers’ lead to 6-0. Through his first 104 plate appearances on the season, the 31-year-old shortstop is slashing just .207/.317/.448 with six homers, 16 RBI and one stolen base.

Carter thought he had worked Bubba Chandler for a walk in the third inning, but the fourth ball was overturned after the Pirates challenged. Carter then smacked a ball off of the bullpen wall in right center and it caromed into no-man’s land in center field, affording the speedy 23-year-old outfielder time to race around the bags and dive in safely with a headfirst slide just ahead of the tag at home. He also singled in the contest, finishing the day 2-for-4. On the season, Carter is slashing just .216/.337/.392 with three homers and nine RBI.

DeGrom scattered just five hits and one walk on the evening. The only blemish on his day came on a solo blast off the bat of Oneil Cruz in the fifth inning. DeGrom piled up a whopping 20 swings and misses on 89 pitches on the night — nine of those on his heater which averaged 97.5 mph — while registering an elite CSW of 38 percent. He has been terrific through his first five starts, posting a 2-0 record, 2.13 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and a 35/7 K/BB ratio across 25 1/3 innings. He’ll look to keep the good times rolling when he takes on the Yankees at home on Tuesday.

Cruz got the Pirates on the board in the fifth inning of this one, depositing a Jacob deGrom curveball into the seats in center field for a 415-foot (107.5 mph EV) solo shot. That would be one of just five total hits by the Pirates in the contest. Cruz is off to a blistering start to his 2026 season, slashing a robust .284/.348/.569 with eight homers, 23 RBI, 19 runs scored and 10 stolen bases in his first 112 plate appearances.

Chandler also issued three free passes on the night while striking out four. After starting his day with two scoreless frames, he allowed a two-run inside-the-park homer to Evan Carter in the third inning. Things got worse in the fourth as the Rangers tacked on four more — the last three on a blast by Corey Seager. The 23-year-old righty got just five whiffs on 78 pitches on the night, posting a miserable CSW of only 21 percent. He’ll try to pick up the pieces as he carries a 4.88 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and a 21/16 K/BB ratio (24 innings) into Tuesday evening’s matchup against the Cardinals.

Bichette led off the home half of the first inning with a single and rode home on Brett Baty’s three-run blast. He then reached on a passed ball in the second inning, swiped second base and scored on an RBI double off the bat of Luis Robert Jr. The 28-year-old infielder then smacked a bases-clearing three-run double off of Anthony Banda with two outs in the eighth inning, snapping a 7-7 tie and proving to be the difference in the ballgame. With the three-hit attack, Bichette is now hitting .238/.270/.314 with one homer, 12 RBI and one stolen base through his first 111 plate appearances with the Mets.