MLB Player News

The box score won’t tell you that Nick Yorke hit what was nearly a walk-off home run off O’Brien with two outs in the ninth before Nathan Church leapt up to rob it. Watching on hopelessly, O’Brien could not believe his eyes. If that ball wasn’t caught, O’Brien may have blown his third save in his last four tries. It was though and O’Brien’s eight saves trail only Mason Miller and David Bednar so far this season.

For a start in Coors Field… we’ll take this. Rather than ‘Fastball Freddy’, Peralta has been more of ‘Five Inning Freddy’ so far this season, only completing six frames in two of eight starts so far. He kept the Rockies at bay here despite not having anything close to his best swing-and-miss stuff before classic Colorado bullpen chaos ensued for both teams in the later innings. For all the jeers regarding his inability to pitch deeply into games, he has an excellent 3.12 ERA through eight starts and has a two-start week coming up against the Tigers and Yankees.

It felt like there was no chance Williams or anyone would be called upon for a save chance for most of this game. The Mets opened up an 8-0 lead after the top of the sixth, but immediately gave four runs right back. Then, they stretched their lead back out to 10-6 entering the bottom of the ninth when Sean Manaea allowed one run and loaded the bases while only recording one out. At that point, it was technically a save opportunity and the Mets called on Williams to escape the jam. He did so in dominant fashion and has now stacked up five straight scoreless outings after a series of implosions two weeks ago. Baby steps here and at least the Mets still fully trust him as their closer. It’s not like they have another option, anyway.

Semien desperately needed a game like this. He entered this game with a .208 batting average and .531 OPS after a dreadful start to the season and having gone just 2-for-19 over his last five games. Well, after his second home run of the season, a double, and his first game with at least three hits in more than a month, he now has a .231 batting average and .601 OPS. Those are still not good by any means, but much better. He also made a slick, back-handed play up the middle on defense to start a double play. Hey, maybe he’s getting some of his mojo back. Or, we should just enjoy the Coors Field bump.

This was a classic Coors game with 11 total runs being scored after the fifth inning. Rumfield got himself in on the action with a solo shot in the sixth inning that started a mini-comeback for the Rockies. While they never cut their deficit to fewer than four runs, Rumfield’s fourth multi-hit game in his last eight tries has helped him steady the ship after a recent cold spell.

Things did not get off to a good start for Lorenzen here when Juan Soto sent his third pitch of the game 435 feet deep into the Denver night. From there, it didn’t get much better. He gave up 11 hits, 10 hard-hit balls, and was chased before recording an out in the sixth inning after three consecutive hits by the Mets six, seven, and eight hitters. He should not be considered a viable option in any fantasy leagues.

Skenes struck out seven and walked none in an efficient 97-pitch outing. The two hits came back-to-back in the fifth, but they were both two-out singles and Gabriel Moreno lined out afterwards. Skenes is 5-2 with a 2.36 ERA. He’s allowed four earned runs with a 45/5 K/BB in 40 1/3 innings since the Oneil Cruz-fueled debacle on Opening Day, and he’ll probably again lower his 2.36 ERA in a home start against the Rockies next week.

Soto has three wins and two saves in a rather spectacular start to his season. He’s not the Pirates’ sole closer right now, but with a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings, he’s made a case for getting the nod over Dennis Santana. Alas, he has a long history of disappointing when faced with elevated expectations.

Bouncing back from a loss to the Brewers in which he gave up eight runs, Soroka allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out six in what ended up being a 1-0 game. He’ll take a 4-2 record and a 4.14 ERA into his next start in Texas.

Lowe’s homer was a 435-foot blast in the first inning off Michael Soroka, and it held up the rest of the way. He has nine homers on the year, but with a .143/.189/.314 line against lefties, he still seems best utilized as a platoon guy. That will continue to cut into his fantasy value.

This was certainly one of the starts of all time. Facing a lineup of almost all right-handed hitters, his changeup was very inconsistent. It still forced six of his seven total swings-and-misses, but couldn’t carry him like he needed it to. Still, it’s not like any other pitch found its way to being effective either and the Guardians decided to give him a quick hook with just 70 pitches over five innings. He’ll take a 3.43 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 37:19 strikeout to walk ratio over 39 1/3 innings into a two-start week against the Angels and Reds.