MLB Player News

Buxton participated in pregame workouts over the weekend but has been held out of game action since last Wednesday due to right hip flexor soreness. Twins manager Derek Shelton told reporters prior to Monday’s series opener that Buxton is “very close” to returning to the lineup. However, it’ll be James Outman patrolling center field on Monday night. It certainly sounds like there’s a strong possibility Buxton is ready for Tuesday’s contest, which is a massive relief for fantasy managers.

As per usual, Paredes’ homer was pulled to left, but at 388 feet, this one didn’t need any help from Daikin Park. He’s hitting .260/.352/.429 with 13 homers and 53 RBI in 350 plate appearances for the year.

There really aren’t any middle-of-the-road outings with Imai on the mound. In the seven starts in which he’s completed five innings. he’s gone 6-1 with a 1.77 ERA. In his other seven starts, he’s 0-3 with a 14.54 ERA. He’ll face the Angels next time out. Not that it means much of anything, but he gave up four runs and walked four in 2 2/3 innings against them in his first MLB start back in March.

Hader struck out one in a 12-pitch inning. The Astros also had him finish an 8-4 game on Monday, so he’ll probably get Wednesday off after this, potentially putting Enyel De Los Santos or Bryan Abreu in line for a save.

Phillips allowed five hits, walked one and struck out two. He exited in the fifth after a Javier Sanoja error put a runner on base with one out, and the Astros went on to score three times in the inning. Phillips has been adequate as a starter for the most part, but it’d probably be best for the Marlins’ postseason hopes if he could resume working out of the pen. It’s just not likely to happen in the short term after Max Meyer’s injury. He’ll likely face the Phillies on Monday.

Seven outs in four at-bats. Altuve isn’t really cutting it as a league-average hitter and well below average defender this year, and the big increase in his strikeout rate — he’s at 22 percent right now after coming in at 17 percent the last three years — doesn’t bode well for a rebound. Still, he’s spent most of his career defying expectations and might have one more round left in him at age 36.

Rocker struck out six and walked two in his fifth scoreless start of the year. The victory was his first since May 19 and third overall against eight losses this year. He’ll try to build on the positive effort against the Rays in a road start on Tuesday.

Pitching in the majors for the first time in two years, Gonzales recorded his first ever save after 162 starts and eight relief appearances. It seems incredibly unlikely that he’ll continue to help the Rangers, given that he had an 8.16 ERA in 64 innings in Triple-A this year, but he gave the team a lift by saving the pen ahead of a Cal Quantrill outing Wednesday.

Schultz has had just one decent start in four turns since coming off the IL and that was against an A’s team that doesn’t score on the road. He has a 6.04 ERA and a 49/29 K/BB ratio in 56 2/3 innings overall. He’ll probably face the Yankees on Monday, but he’s in line to be replaced in the White Sox add a starter before the deadline.

The two-run homer off Noah Schultz in the first came on just a 62.5-mph swing and was hit 351 feet. Statcast says it was the third lowest bat speed to produce a homer this year, exceeding only a pair of 61.8-mph homers from Jacob Young and Jesus Rodriguez. The 4-for-4 game follows one of Nimmo’s worst nights of the year in Monday’s loss; he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in that one. He’s back up to .268/.336/.433 for the season.

Incredibly, Osuna’s first start in 12 days came in a lefty-lefty matchup; the Rangers had kept him on the bench the last six times they faced righties. Osuna’s ceiling is very much in question, but he entered tonight with a .351 OBP in 192 plate appearance, and he’s just 23 years old. He ought to be playing fairly often if the Rangers are going to continue to keep him in the majors.