MLB Player News

The homer notably came off lefty reliever JJ Romero, Lowe’s second off a southpaw this season (and eighth total). He’s only started against one of the past five lefties Pittsburgh has faced, but he hits second against all right-handers. Not much about his hitting profile has changed since being traded to the Pirates. Health willing, he’ll remain one of the top power-hitting second basemen in the league.

Reds’ manager Terry Francona described it as more of a clicking noise that Lowder’s shoulder was making during Thursday’s start and noted that the 24-year-old hurler thought that he could stay in the game and pitch through it. They’ll know more after getting the results of the MRI, but it seems likely that Lowder will be ticketed for the injured list.

Betts has been sidelined since early April due to an oblique strain, though he has been progressing nicely in his recovery and has been taking live batting practice this week without issue. He’ll play in two games there on Friday and Saturday and it sounds like if all goes well and he feels alright on Sunday, he could be cleared to rejoin the Dodgers.

With Jasson Domínguez (shoulder) heading to the injured list, Jones will finally get an opportunity to show the Yankees what he can do at the big league level. The 24-year-old slugger was hitting .258/.366/.592 with 11 homers, 41 RBI, seven stolen bases and a 32 percent strikeout rate in his first 142 plate appearances at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. He’s worth a look in deeper mixed leagues for as long as he remains with the Bombers’, though he could be sent right back out once Domínguez or Giancarlo Stanton are ready to return.

Simpson started against each of the previous two left-handers that the Rays faced, but he’ll get a night off in this one with Jake Bennett toeing the slab for the Red Sox. Ryan Vilade will cover left field in his absence and will bat second for the Rays on Thursday evening at Fenway Park.

The 24-year-old hurler just got the call on Saturday, but the Twins need to clear a spot for the arrival of Yoendrys Gomez on Friday and unfortunately for Klein he drew the short straw this time around. He appeared in two games in his brief time with the Twins, posting a 7.71 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across 2 1/3 innings.

It was all about the catchers today, as Ryan Jeffers also homered and doubled twice for the Twins. The two had six of the nine extra-base hits in the game. Ruiz’s performance was certainly the bigger surprise, though. The homer was his second of this season and fourth since the beginning of last year. It’s the first time in his career that he’s had three extra-base hits. He scored three runs for the fifth time and drove in four for the fourth time. He had done either since 2024.

Ryan Jeffers had a walk and a double against Irvin when the Nationals decided to send their starter back out to face him for a third time to begin the sixth. A homer followed, and Irvin was done for the day. Irvin, who had his strikeout rate up to 25.3 percent for the season, fanned just two today. He’s 1-4 with a 5.22 ERA, and he’s slated to face the Reds next time out.

Varland came in with two outs in the eighth and gave up a single to Byron Buxton before slamming the door in a two-run game. He was removed from a save opportunity for matchup purposes in Sunday’s game, but he’s very clearly the favorite for saves in D.C. right now.

The Twins already had to be thinking about keeping Connor Prielipp in the rotation over Woods Richardson following Mick Abel’s return, but with Abel having something of a setback, one wonders how much longer they’ll wait to make a move. Woods Richardson is 0-5 with a 6.92 ERA after this. He’s struck out a total of 19 batters in 39 innings, and he’s given up 27 earned runs over 27 2/3 innings in his last six starts. Zebby Matthews had a rough April in Triple-A, but he has pitched well in his last couple of starts, making him an option to step in.

With a .302/.409/.531 line and 22 RBI in 29 games, Jeffers couldn’t have started his walk year any better. It could be quite the fascinating battle for the AL All-Star catcher spots this year with Cal Raleigh and Salvador Perez lagging way behind Jeffers, Shea Langeliers and Dillon Dingler in the performance department thus far. Adley Rutschman is looking like he’ll be a factor, too.