MLB Player News

Early couldn’t have asked for a much better outing in this one. The lefty was in command of the strike zone all night and held the Rays to just four hits, all of which were singles. He managed to work his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning when he forced Junior Caminero to ground into a double play to end the frame, but it was mostly smooth sailing for Early on Friday. It was a much-needed rebound after he allowed five earned runs in his previous start. Early will look to build on his best outing of the season in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday against the Phillies.

Anderson carried a shutout into the sixth inning before coughing up a solo homer with two outs in the frame. He threw a whopping 49 of 75 pitches for strikes in his latest dominant outing. He’s topped eight strikeouts in four of his six starts to kick off his professional debut. The21-year-old southpaw, who was selected third overall in last year’s MLB Draft, continues to look like one of the top pitching prospects in the fantasy landscape with a sparkling 0.60 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 47/5 K/BB ratio across 30 innings. There’s a very real possibility he’s pitching in Seattle by the end of the year.

Hernandez posted nine punchouts for the third consecutive starts and generated an eye-popping 24 swinging strikes in this one. He threw 56 of 81 pitches for strikes and allowed just four baserunners over six dominant innings. The 19-year-old continues to strengthen his case as the top fantasy pitching prospect in the game. He’s struck out 48.1 percent of the batters he’s faced in his professional debut while recording a microscopic 0.96 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 50/7 K/BB ratio across 28 innings over six starts at Low-A.

Carlson was removed from Chicago’s 40-man roster after going 0-for-4 in three games last month. The 27-year-old outfielder should be able to latch on somewhere else as organizational depth.

Strickland has bounced back-and-forth between the open market and the Angels organization over the last few months. The 37-year-old journeyman was in camp with Los Angeles as a non-roster invitee this spring. There’s a chance he’s back with the Angels shortly on a new deal.

Perdomo heads to the open market after being hit extremely hard in 10 outings for Triple-A Salt Lake. The 32-year-old lefty made four appearances for the Athletics last year.

Waguespack was in Brewers camp as a non-roster invitee this spring before posting a strong 2.25 ERA and 23/11 K/BB ratio across 16 innings over 11 appearances for Triple-A Nashville. The 32-year-old journeyman has made 31 appearances in the big leagues since 2019.

Willingham was in Astros camp as a non-roster invitee this spring before spending a couple weeks at Triple-A Sugar Land. The 27-year-old posted an uninspiring 7.11 ERA across 25 1/3 innings over 19 appearances for the Nationals from 2023-2024.

Devers’ homer was a one-out-of-30 ballparks, according to Statcast, traveling a projected 399 feet to dead center in San Francisco. That’s still nice hitting, but it likely would have produced a double elsewhere. Devers now owns an eight-game hitting streak, though this is his first multihit game since it started. He’s batting .348/.385/.696 since the calendar changed to May.

Ray walked four, but the only damage came from a Marcell Ozuna homer in the second. That’s been kind of the pattern for Ray, though; he’s given up eight homers but only 14 runs in 45 2/3 innings. Ray moved to 3-4 with a 2.76 ERA. He’ll face the Dodgers on the road next week, making him benchable in mixed leagues.

It’s definitely encouraging how Kilian was used tonight, even if it wasn’t quite a save situation. However, his performance wasn’t great, and fellow closing candidate Keaton Winn turned in a strong seventh for his eighth hold. Ryan Walker did not appear, as it was Matt Gage who had the eighth. Kilian now possesses a 1.59 ERA, while Winn is at 2.76. Kilian will almost certainly be unavailable Saturday after throwing 35 pitches tonight, so maybe Winn or Walker will get a save chance.