8 hours agoBoston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello went six innings Wednesday, allowing three earned runs on four hits and four walks while striking out six in an 8-5 victory over the Rays. It was just the righty's second quality start of the season in eight starts, but he's now 5-2 on the year with a 4.04 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 13.7% K-BB%. He's slated to square off against the Orioles in divisional matchup on the road next Tuesday. The 25-year-old faced them in early April, going five-and-a-third innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out three batters.Source: ESPN
8 hours agoMilwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta made a quality start but took the loss Wednesday in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Marlins. Peralta allowed a solo home run to the first batter he saw, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and that was the difference in the ballgame. Peralta went seven innings allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out seven. It was a much-needed bounce-back game from the 27-year-old, as he had allowed three earned runs or more in four of his last five starts, including five earned his last time out. The righty now has a 3.81 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and a strong 23.0% K-BB% on the season. He'll take on the Cubs in his next start next Monday at home.Source: ESPN
8 hours agoKansas City Royals third base prospect Cayden Wallace (side) was placed on the 7-day injured list with right side tightness. Wallace, the Royals No. 2 prospect exited Tuesday's contest early and will continue to undergo further evaluations and imaging to determine if it is an oblique injury and how long of a recovery time it will be for the 22-year-old. Prior to the injury, Wallace hit .282 with three homers and 16 in 34 games for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Wallace could earn a promotion to Triple-A before the season is over if he makes a full recovery, but he is unlikely to reach the big leagues until 2025 at the earliest.Source: MLB.com
8 hours agoThe Boston Red Sox have promoted pitching prospect Luis Perales to Double-A Portland. Peralaes, 21, is the clubs No. 9 prospect according to MLB.com. The 6'5 right-hander pitched very well in High-A with a 3.42 ERA in seven starts and an impressive 46 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings. Signed out of Venezuela in 2019, Perales has an electric arm that can reach up to 99 MPH with his fastball. The downside to his outstanding fastball is that he has struggled with developing his secondary pitches. At such a young age, Perales has plenty of time to continuing developing and managers shouldn't worry about his name for a couple of seasons.Source: MILB Central
8 hours agoTexas Rangers top pitching prospect Jack Leiter pitched well in his return to Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday. Leiter struggled in his previous start at the big-league level, but has found success at Round Rock this season. In his return to Round Rock, the 24-year-old tossed five scoreless frames with just two hits allowed and six strikeouts with two walks. Albeit a level lower, Leiter bounced back in a nice way and continues to find plenty of success on the farm where has a 2.37 ERA. The big leagues haven't been as kind to the teams top pitching prospect this season, but Leiter will get more seasoning in Triple-A and still has a bright future ahead of him. Leiter will likely get more opportunities in Texas this season, but is a better option in dynasty leagues than redraft leagues for now.Source: Milb.com
8 hours agoMinnesota Twins pitching prospect Zebby Matthews' streak of not allowing a walk came to an end on Wednesday evening in Double-A Wichita's loss. Matthews still had a beautiful night on the mound in six innings and allowed three hits, two runs (one earned), one walk and eight strikeouts in the no-decision. The big moment of the night came in the fifth inning, when Matthews issued his first walk of the season. Before issuing his walk, Matthews had struck out 49 batters on the season. Only closer Kenley Jansen in 2017 and Corbin Burnes in 2021 had longer streaks since 1893. It has been an impressive year for the Twins' No. 20 prospect, as he also owns a miniscule 1.02 ERA for Wichita. Matthews has shown unbelievable control but still needs to fine tune his pitch mix before making another jump. Matthews is unlikely to reach the big leagues in 2024, but he could be an option in 2025.Source: MLB.com
8 hours agoNew York Mets first base/outfield prospect Ryan Clifford went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer for Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday. Clifford, 20, was promoted from High-A last week and his home run on Wednesday was his first with Binghamton in seven games. Clifford is the Mets No. 4 prospect after coming over with outfielder Drew Gilbert for starting pitcher Justin Verlander at last year's trade deadline. The left-handed hitter has hit .198 between High-A and Double-A this season with two homers and 13 RBI. Clifford showed power last season with 24 homers, but the power has been slow to develop this season. He should continue to be a good source of power with his body continue to develop with him learning to pull the ball better to all fields as well. Clifford is a few seasons away from making any sort of impact in fantasy circles, but managers in dynasty leagues should monitor him on their watch-list.Source: Milb.com
17 hours agoMiami Marlins closer Tanner Scott earned his sixth save of 2024 in Wednesday's win over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers, fanning one and allowing one hit before locking down the shutout victory. William Contreras singled to get Christian Yelich to the plate and make things interesting in a one-run ballgame, but Scott got Yelich to ground out to wrap this one up. The 29-year-old left-hander remains manager Skip Schumaker's preferred ninth-inning man despite the return of fellow southpaw A.J. Puk to Miami's bullpen, and he hasn't surrendered an earned run in 14 straight appearances with five saves during this span. Scott owns a dicey 22:18 K:BB through 21 innings overall, however, and he could be on the move at July's trade deadline with many anticipating for the Marlins to host a fire sale later this summer. That makes Scott a sell-high piece in fantasy leagues.Source: MLB.com
17 hours agoMiami Marlins outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched his seventh home run of the year in Wednesday's win over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers, helping lift his team to victory. Chisholm wasted no time getting Miami on the board, drilling a leadoff homer to right field off Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta to give them a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Despite the last-place Marlins' struggles, the dynamic 26-year-old slugger has managed to stay healthy and go about his business while slashing .254/.329/.429 with seven round-trippers, 25 RBI, 26 runs scored, and nine stolen bases through 210 plate appearances (50 games) as the engine to Miami's offense. A three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks is on deck starting on Friday. In five games against Arizona in 2023, Chisholm hit a mere .176 (3-for-17) with no extra-base hits and zero RBI.Source: MLB.com
17 hours agoTexas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager clubbed his eighth home run of the year in Wednesday's loss on the road to the Philadelphia Phillies, adding a single and two walks in the blowout defeat. Seager smashed a solo shot to left-center field in the seventh inning, cutting the Rangers' deficit to 10-4. The 30-year-old All-Star slugger is still recovering from a painfully slow start to the season, but he's starting to look like the fantasy stalwart we've come to expect over the years. Over his last 17 games, Seager is hitting .313 with six big flies, 11 RBI, and nine runs scored. A daunting task awaits Seager in the form of Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler in Thursday's series finale, but the veteran infielder has gone 5-for-14 with a double and an RBI in 14 career plate appearances against Wheeler.Source: MLB.com
17 hours agoPhiladelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto broke out at the dish in Wednesday's blowout win over the visiting Texas Rangers, belting his first home run in 14 games since April 28 with three RBI in the rout. After smashing a solo homer to left field to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead in the third inning, Realmuto knocked a two-run single to left field to up the lead to 8-2 during the sixth. The 33-year-old perennial All-Star has been regularly batting second in Philly's lineup since Trea Turner (hamstring) went down, and while he's hitting an excellent .350 (21-for-60) in May, Realmuto only has five RBI and zero stolen bases over 14 games this month. Realmuto will clash with Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney in Thursday's series finale, and the veteran backstop is batting .360 (18-for-50) with two long balls, three doubles, and six RBI against left-handed pitching this year.Source: MLB.com
17 hours agoMiami Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo twirled a gem in Wednesday's victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers, striking out four batters and allowing just three hits (all singles) and no walks over a career-high eight scoreless innings for his second win of the season. It was the longest start of Luzardo's career, and he's now posted back-to-back scoreless outings for the Marlins after retiring 17 straight batters at one point on Wednesday. The 26-year-old left-hander has fared far better over his past four starts than he did during his first four starts to begin the campaign, turning in a 1.40 ERA and 25:4 K:BB since April 20. His hot streak will face a tough test when Miami takes on the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday, when Luzardo is next scheduled to take the ball, but it's hard to sit the former top prospect in fantasy with the way he's throwing right now.Source: MLB.com
17 hours agoSan Diego Padres second baseman Luis Arraez slapped his first home run of the year in Wednesday's victory on the road against the Cincinnati Reds, flexing some pop while going 4-for-5 with two RBI in the win. Not known for his power, Arraez got the scoring started on Wednesday with a leadoff homer in the first inning off Reds right-hander Nick Martinez, later adding three singles. The 27-year-old two-time batting champion is now riding a ridiculous seven-game multi-hit streak, hitting .391 (27-for-69) with three doubles, six RBI, eight runs scored, and three stolen bases in 16 games overall since joining San Diego, and he should get more work at second base with Xander Bogaerts (shoulder) on the injured list. Arraez next gets Cincinnati righty Frankie Montas during Thursday's series finale. In six plate appearances against Montas in his career, Arraez is 3-for-6 with a double.Source: MLB.com
17 hours agoNew York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto put up his second two-homer game of the season in Wednesday's win over the visiting Seattle Mariners, going 2-for-4 with three RBI in the victory. Soto tagged Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller for a two-run jack to score Anthony Volpe in the third inning before going deep once more to make it a 5-0 ballgame in the sixth. On the season as a whole, the 25-year-old perennial Silver Slugger is slashing an elite .313/.409/.569 with 13 home runs, 40 RBI, 37 runs scored, and four stolen bases in 195 at-bats over 51 outings as New York's everyday No. 2 batter. Soto will next face M's right-hander Luis Castillo in Thursday's series finale. In 13 plate appearances against Castillo in his career, Soto is 2-for-8 with a homer, an RBI, and five walks.Source: MLB.com
18 hours agoArizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly (shoulder) is scheduled to undergo an MRI this week to see how his strained right shoulder is progressing. It's possible that he could begin a throwing program relatively soon if everything looks good, manager Torey Lovullo said on Wednesday. Kelly remains without a clear timetable for a return from the injury, and he isn't eligible to be activated from the 60-day injured list until late June. The 35-year-old veteran right-hander carries a 2.19 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 21:6 K:BB over 24 2/3 innings (four starts) for the D-backs while sitting on the shelf, and he's still worth a stash for fantasy managers who can afford the roster spot. With Kelly sidelined, Ryne Nelson and Logan Allen will help eat innings in Arizona's rotation.Source: Nick Piecoro - The Arizona Republic