MLB Player News

Shewmake’s homer on a 99-mph fastball was a 337-footer into the Crawford Boxes. Statcast said it would have been a homer in four ballparks, but it was a pretty impressive piece of hitting regardless. It was his third homer in 85 plate appearances as a major leaguer. He’s 4-for-13 with two homers since the Astros added him.

Soriano is under contract for two more years after this one, so the Blue Jays had to pay a decent price to acquire him. Nimmala was the Blue Jays’ first-round pick in 2023 and is the 43rd-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He’s just 20 years old, but has played at four levels this season, reaching as high as Double-A while slashing .265/.364/.453 with eight home runs, 34 RBI, six steals, and a 60/33 K/BB in 62 games. He needs some time to fill out his frame, and he will need to continue to improve his swing decisions, but he has been making strides there, and the power potential is evident. His acquisition may mean the Angels don’t see Zach Neto as their future shortstop. Angel Rivero is a 19-year-old starter in the Florida Complex League, who has looked good in 42 innings this season but is a long way from the majors.

Soriano will bring a 3.29 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 25 percent strikeout rate to the Blue Jays rotaiton for the next two seasons. While we wouldn’t expect major changes for him in 2026, this is a nice landing spot for him going forward because the Blue Jays have become a solid pitching development organization that should get the most out of his plus secondaries but inconsistent fastballs. Soriano was originally scheduled to start on Tuesday for the Angels, but we would imagine the Blue Jays would want to give him a little more time with his new team before putting him out on the mound.

This is an interesting pivot for the Blue Jays after trading Kevin Gausman to the Cubs yesterday. Toronto still clearly views itself as a contender in 2027 and beyond, so they replace Gausman with Soriano, who is under team control for two more seasons after this one. Soriano has regressed since his hot start to the season, and his reliance on a mediocre four-seam fastball led to far too many home runs; however, he has a good collection of secondary pitches, and this is a Toronto organization that has gotten the best production out of Dylan Cease by tweaking his changeup. This is a nice landing spot for Soriano, but the Angels get a solid return here, headlined by Arjun Nimalla, a 20-year-old shortstop who is the 43rd-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.

Brazobán essentially replaces Seratnhony Domínguez after his salary was sent off to help even things up in the Luis Castillo trade. The 36-year-old had a 2.56 ERA and a 49/23 K/BB in 52 2/3 innings while often working in the sixth and seventh for the Mets. He’s under control for three more years after this one, though age might catch up to him before he reaches free agency. In return, the Mets will get Davis, the White Sox’s fifth-round pick last year, who currently has an 8.31 ERA in 10 starts since moving up to Double-A, and Franklin, a 27-year-old reliever with a 4.37 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings in Triple-A.

Gausman departs Toronto with just a couple of months to go on the five-year, $110 million contract he signed as a free agent prior to the 2022 season. He’s posted a 4.38 ERA this season, but his strikeout rate has held steady at 23.5 percent and he has a 3.85 xERA and a 3.95 SIERA. He’s also about as reliable as pitchers come, which is pretty important given the state of the Cubs rotation. Colin Rea could get bumped to the pen to make room for him. The Jays will likely replace him with Jameson Taillon, who they acquired from the Cubs in a separate deal earlier in the day.

The Jays have been prioritizing contact over strikeouts these last couple of years, and their prospects of choice here continue the trend. Bateman isn’t quite as skilled at making contact as Southisene, but at least he does offer doubles power with his lefty bat. The 24-year-old was hitting .312/.431/.422 with three homers and 20 steals for Triple-A Iowa this year. As a capable center fielder, he should fit in nicely as a bench bat. The Jays might be inclined to give him a look in the near future if they move Daulton Varsho before the deadline.

Southisene, a fourth-rounder in 2024, was hitting .311/.431/.378 with no homers and 31 steals in 314 plate appearances between Low-A and High-A this year. The 21-year-old might need to move to second base at some point and he’s never going to develop much power, but the on-base skills are very impressive and could make him at least a bench guy in the majors.

Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Yoshida all homered off Emmet Sheehan in a four-batter span in the third to give the Red Sox a 5-3 lead. Yoshida’s homer was his fifth of the year, with four of those coming in his last 24 games, and he’s hitting .264/.341/.388 in 255 plate appearances overall. It looked like he might lose some playing time when the Red Sox acquired Curtis Mead, and that still could be a danger if the Red Sox try to add offense again prior to Monday’s deadline.

All of the runs came in the third after a Teoscar Hernández grounder that really should have been handled rolled through the infield. There was also a very debatable intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani that preceded a two-run single from Andy Pages. Fortunately, the Boston offense picked Bennett up afterwards. He’s 7-4 with a 2.90 ERA ahead of a favorable home start next weekend against the A’s.

It was a surprise not to see Whitlock involved in Saturday’s win, but interim manager Chad Tracy said today that he was giving his “beat up” setup man some extra time off after a very busy July. Whitlock would have closed tonight with Aroldis Chapman having pitched three of the previous four days, but he missed out on the save after the Red Sox upped their lead from two runs to four in the eighth. Whitlock’s arm seemed fine tonight, as he topped out at 97.1 mph. His two sliders averaged 87.3 mph, which is 1.4 mph better than his season average.