MLB Player News

Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters Simpson will receive another full day off to address a lingering thumb bruise that he’s been dealing with since last week. The 25-year-old speedster is available off the bench. The hope is that the additional rest puts the ailment to bed. Austin Slater gets the nod in left field to face Red Sox lefty Connelly Early on Monday night with Simpson missing his third straight game.

The go-ahead run scored on a popup behind second after Jose Altuve tagged from third and Logan O’Hoppe whiffed on the throw home. Hader got five missed swings on his 12 pitches in a tie game tonight. In three appearances since coming off the IL, he has one win, one save and seven strikeouts in three hitless innings.

The runs all came in the second inning, when Arrighetti hit a batter and issued two of his four walks. It’s the sixth time in 10 starts this season that he’s walked four batters. He’s an incredible 7-1 with a 2.21 ERA anyway, but there isn’t much reason to think he’ll be a top starter going forward, given that he’s always been wild and that he’s just average in terms or recording strikeouts. He’ll face the Royals next.

This likely would have been a blown save, but the antsy Angels just couldn’t resist sending automatic runner Mike Trout home on Jose Siri’s single to open the bottom of the 10th. Trout was thrown out, and Abreu then struck out Jo Adell before Denzer Guzman’s liner to center, which surely would have been a sac fly with one out, was caught to end the game. It’s Abreu’s fourth save, but he isn’t in line for many more with Josh Hader back.

Rodriguez became the first pitcher this year to allow six doubles in a game. It was seven at one point, but Yordan Alvarez’s fly to deep center that Mike Trout should have caught was correctly changed to an error. In all, he gave up 10 hard-hit balls and had an average EV against of 94 mph tonight. The last three doubles came in a four-batter span in the sixth, forcing his removal. His ERA stands at 8.10, and he’s not to be trusted in mixed leagues right now, even if he might be later. He’ll face the Rays on Sunday.

Brought in with a 4-3 lead, Yates blew the save after Jeremy Peña singled, stole second base and scored on a Christian Walker single. After the game, manager Kurt Suzuki said Yates was closing tonight because that’s what the Angels signed him to do in the offseason, which was pretty amusing because Suzuki made no such claim while declaring the ninth an open competition this spring. Signing Yates didn’t seem like such a bad idea then, but his velocity has been down about two mph from last year. Maybe he’ll get a little better than his current 5.23 ERA, but it’s hard to be overly optimistic.

Pretty cool. The 34-year-old Mancini was making his first appearance since July 31, 2023. His last three-hit game came for the Cubs against the Dodgers on Apr. 21 of that season. He doubled and singled off Don Drysdale and knocked in Ernie Banks twice.

Taylor also swiped his first bag in his third game since being called up Wednesday. In another timeline, Taylor is a well-established MLB bench player thanks to his speed, versatility and modest on-base skills. It hasn’t worked out in this one, but as lacking as the Padres are at the moment, maybe he’ll play enough to offer some NL-only value.

He’s probably not getting a plaque for it, but Buehler is the first pitcher this year to allow eight hits in an outing of fewer than five innings and allow only one run. He struck out four and walked two before coming out a 1-1 game with two on and two out in the fifth. Buehler deserves credit for keeping the Padres in the game every time he takes the mound, but he’s shown little in the way of upside while going 3-3 with a 4.33 ERA. He’ll face the Orioles on Sunday.

Abbott took a 2-1 lead into the seventh, when he gave up back-to-back doubles to start the inning and was pulled. Tejay Antone came in and allowed the inherited runner to score before preventing further damage. Abbott, who has now allowed three runs while getting exactly 18 outs in three consecutive starts, fell to 4-4 with a 4.10 ERA. He’s doing solid work, but the Cincinnati offense hasn’t been good enough to make it pay off in victories. He’ll face the D-backs on Sunday.

Fermin hadn’t started three straight days all year, so it’s safe to say he was only in there tonight because he homered Saturday and Sunday. Now we’ll wait and see whether the Padres will make it four games in a row. They could always DH him if they think he needs a break from catching.