MLB Player News

Smith went through a full workout on Tuesday and must have still felt some residual soreness from his neck inflammation. There is no firm timeline for his return, but he didn’t suffer a setback, so he likely won’t remain out for long. Dalton Rushing will continue to handle the majority of the catching reps for the Dodgers.

Levine mentions that Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Steele could “help in the pen at some late summer point.” Steele is working back from elbow surgery and a setback he suffered earlier in May, so the team is clearly being cautious with him. While he may pitch innings for the Cubs later this summer, it doesn’t seem needs to be stashed in redraft fantasy leagues.

Congrats to Ali Sánchez and his growing family. He will likely return to his spot as the backup catcher later this week.

With Ali Sánchez going on the Paternity List, Escarra will get another shot with the Yankees. He will likely catch one game before Sánchez returns later this week.

Benson is hitting just .188/.310/.333 in 114 plate appearances this season with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate. Now 28 years old and with a 33.3 percent career MLB strikeout rate in 405 games, you have to wonder if Benson’s time in Cincinnati may be drawing to a close. Noelvi Marte could also be pushed off of right field if the Reds want to play Spencer Steer out there with Elly De La Cruz back.

The Reds’ star missed a little over three weeks with a hamstring strain and will be back in the lineup on Tuesday. The bigger question will be who is in the lineup alongside him. With the Reds sending Will Benson to the minors, all of Eugenio Suarez, Edwin Arroyo, Matt McLain, Sal Stewart, and Nathaniel Lowe remain in Cincinnati’s infield. It will be curious to see how they balance the playing time, but Elly needs to be back in all lineups.

Farmer landed on the injured list with a forearm strain back on May 18th. With Ha-Seong Kim struggling and Jorge Mateo hitting .120 in June, there is a chance for Farmer to come back and push for a spot on the active roster in a few weeks.

Pérez made just one rehab start after missing three weeks with a thigh strain. He hit 99 mph during that rehab start and was allegedly “sneezing 95 mph” fastballs during his pitch design session. Even though a matchup against the Rangers is a solid one, Pérez only threw 51 pitches in his rehab start, so he is unlikely to be fully stretched out for this one. We might hold him on the bench for one start before throwing him back in your lineup.

Houston was the 16th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. He hit .325/.406/.461 with five home runs and 24 steals in 56 games at High-A this season before being promoted. He’s the seventh-ranked prospect in the Twins’ system, according to MLB Pipeline.

Machado’s 11th homer in the fourth off Grant Holmes accounted for the only run in the finale of what was an incredibly low scoring day of baseball; 24 teams combined to scored 64 runs, with no team scoring more than six runs. Seven of the 12 games saw the teams total five runs or fewer. Machado, a future Hall of Famer, is currently hitting .185/.265/.384, probably due to analytics and algorithms and Driveline, which could all be fixed if someone would hire John Smoltz as a GM and Jeff Frye as a manager.