MLB Player News

Matz gets the green light after making it through Monday’s bullpen session without any issues. The 34-year-old lefty has been on the shelf recovering from elbow inflammation since May 5. It’s a decent landing spot right out of the gate and Matz has been a viable streaming option in deeper mixed leagues with a 3.86 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 28/13 K/BB ratio across 37 1/3 innings this season.

Witt is returning from back tightness without a rehab assignment after 13 days on the injured list. He’ll probably get more days off than usual in the near future, but fantasy teams will surely want him back in their lineups right away.

Cuas is up to join the Royals pen for a third time this season after allowing two runs in 6 1/3 innings the first two go arounds. He has a career 4.30 ERA in 125 2/3 innings since debuting in 2022.

The signs were there last year that Strahm was slipping, which is why the Royals were able to get him from the Phillies for Jonathan Bowlan, but the magnitude of his collapse is still stunning. He went from posting a 2.71 ERA the last three years to 7.32 in 41 appearances this season. There will be teams interested in taking a chance on him once he clears waivers, but if anyone was willing to take on the remainder of his $7.5 million salary, that would have happened prior to Monday’s deadline.

The 31-year-old Velazquez went 1-for-15 while helping to fill in for Bobby Witt Jr. the last two weeks. It’d be a surprise if he fails to clear waivers.

They will be opposed by Tyler Glasnow (back), who is on a rehab assignment with Single-A Ontario, so that’s quite a low-minors pitching duel. Both Musgrove and Pivetta are working back from long layoffs due to elbow injuries, but both have been building up to around two or three innings. We could see both of them in the Padres’ rotation by September if all goes according to plan.

With Lars Nootbaar being traded to the Diamondbacks, the Cardinals will call up
Prieto, who is hitting .307/.373/.517 in 71 games at Triple-A with 12 home runs and six steals. Bryan Torres will likely play a lot of left field until August 14th, when the team can call up Joshua Baez without exhausting his rookie eligibility.

McCutchen signed a minor league deal last month and was playing for Triple-A Gwinnett. The 37-year-old was hitting .275/.370/.450 in 46 plate appearances with one home run and seven RBI.

After trading away plenty of expiring contracts on Monday, the Angels are now moving on from Soler as well. The 34-year-old has hit .203/.291/.373 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI in 361 plate appearances for the Angels this season. It’s possible that some team will take a chance on him as a right-handed power bat off the bench.

This move was reported yesterday and is now official. We like Rodríguez, but are surprised by this decision since the Reds didn’t actually trade away an outfielder at the deadline. We assume Rodríguez will play nearly every day between outfield and DH, and the DH spot could be used as a rotation for the extra outfielders. The 22-year-old is an aggressive hitter, and his 42 percent hard-hit rate and 89.2 mph average exit velocity don’t suggest tons of power, but he is hitting .274/.347/.533 with 27 round-trippers and six steals in 455 plate appearances for Triple-A Louisville. He’s worth a flyer in most fantasy formats.

Leonard had slashed .287/.371/.502 with 12 homers and eight steals in 288 plate appearances for Triple-A Nashville in Milwaukee’s system before being let go. In just eight games in Sacramento, Leonard has hit .143/.273/.571 with four home runs and five RBI. The 25-year-old has played second base, third base, and right field this season, but he figures to get a chance to see regular reps at second base with Luis Arraez now in Philadelphia.