MLB Player News

The 36-year-old makes his triumphant return to the Astros’ lineup on Friday after missing several weeks due to a strained oblique. On the season, he has slashed .245/.326/.380 with four homers, 12 RBI and just one stolen base through his first 185 plate appearances. He’s starting at second base and batting fifth for the Astros on Friday evening against the Athletics.

Ramírez led off the third inning with a solo homer off Jack Leiter to put the Guardians on the board. He then singled, stole second, and scored in the fifth. Ramírez would reach for a third time on a walk in the sixth. The 33-year-old third baseman is hitting .242/.349/.434 with 10 homers, 39 runs scored, 33 RBI, and 23 steals across 289 plate appearances. The 23 steals have Ramírez tied for the MLB lead with Bobby Witt Jr. and Nasim Nuñez.

Rocchio took Jack Leiter deep for a solo home run in the fifth inning, then later knocked a base hit in the sixth. The two-hit game snaps a small, three-game hitless streak. Meanwhile, the home run is his first since May 17 and his fifth of the season. The 25-year-old infielder has enjoyed a strong season so far, hitting .283/.361/.410 with 28 runs scored, 29 RBI, and 11 steals across 235 plate appearances.

Bibee put together his best start of the season on Saturday, holding the Rangers scoreless over eight innings. He scattered three hits and two walks, tossing an efficient 54 of 87 pitches for strikes. He struck out three. The 27-year-old right-hander knocks a half run from his ERA, coming into the day with a 4.57 mark and ending with a 4.09 with a 1.23 WHIP and a 63/24 K/BB ratio across 77 innings. He’ll look to keep it going against the Tigers in Cleveland on Friday.

Leiter got off to a good start, stranding one baserunner over three scoreless innings. He then served up a solo homer to José Ramírez. Things then completely fell apart in the fifth. Brayan Rocchio took him deep for a solo homer. Leiter then gave up three more runs on a walk and three straight hits. His day would be done with two outs in the inning at 92 pitches. He struck out two. The 26-year-old right-hander will take a 4.69 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and a 76/31 K/BB ratio across 71 innings into a start against the Red Sox in Boston on Friday.

Sanoja paced the Marlins’ offense here. His fifth inning blast off Rays’ starter Shane McClanahan was the first run that was scored in this game and began the domino effect that forced his exit soon thereafter. To which, his run-scoring single in the following inning was the final blow. He’s been Miami’s swiss-army knife this season, appearing at six different positions and working his way to an acceptable .702 OPS through nearly 150 plate appearances.

Zuber came in to relieve Peter Fairbanks, who did everything in his power to blow this game. After walking the lead-off batter in a three-run game, chaos ensued with another walk, a bunt hit, and a wild pitch. Eventually, a Yandy Díaz single cut the lead and the third walk of the inning put the tying run in scoring position with Junior Caminero heading to the plate. Enter Zuber who went right at him and eventually struck him out with a fastball at the letters. Zuber may not be the guy to get the next save opportunity for the Marlins, but Fairbanks’ grip on the role seems to be slipping away.

Possibly stretching out to start, Bachar was literally perfect in one full revolution around the Rays’ order. He mixed five pitches and his fastball held firm around 94 mph. That was his only pitch that induced a swing-and-miss though and still only reaching 49 pitches, it still feels like it’ll be a little while if he can work up to a full starter’s workload.

It took the Rays eight innings to finally scratch across a run in what was mostly a bullpen game for the Marlins. Díaz knocked the lid off the basket with an RBI double and chipped in another run-scoring single in the ninth as their rally fell just short. Nevertheless, his .326 batting average leads the American League and his 11 home runs already are on pace for a career-high.

McClanahan wasn’t sharp here, but still didn’t break until the fifth inning. He missed his spot more often than usual with his changeup and hung more than a few curveballs and sliders. Still, he only faced two batters over the minimum through the first four innings before unraveling in the next two frames and being yanked with the bases loaded and nobody out in the sixth. He still has a 2.85 ERA and 1.10 WHIP on the season and is set to face the Angels next time out.

The homer in the third went 367-feet to left and would have remained in play in 16 ballparks, according to Statcast. The triple was actually more interesting, traveling 357 feet to the opposite field to get over Colton Cowser’s head at the wall in right. It was his first extra-base hit to right this year. Clement is batting .366 with four homers in his last 19 games, raising his OPS from .694 to .791.