MLB Player News

Cliff Lee will be saved for the nightcap. Kendrick could get another spot start or two if the Phillies want to give their starters some extra rest entering the postseason.

Schanuel is batting .212 in 33 at-bats this season against left-handers, so he’ll grab a seat on Wednesday night with veteran Kevin Newman getting a chance to face Athletics southpaw JP Sears. The suddenly red-hot Angels are vying for their sixth consecutive victory and are close to getting Mike Trout back from the injured list.

Glasnow is making gradual progress towards rejoining Los Angeles’ rotation at some point in late June or early July as he starts to ramp up his throwing progression. The 31-year-old righty hit the injured list back in late April with shoulder inflammation.

It’s a rare night off for Gurriel with rookie Tim Tawa entering the lineup to play left field and face Dodgers righty Dustin May. It’ll be Gabriel Moreno, who has homered in back-to-back contests and is hitting .321 over his last 15 games, moving up to the third spot in Arizona’s lineup.

Melvin added that Verlander, who is dealing with a nerve-related issue in his pectoral, felt fine playing catch on Wednesday. However, he wasn’t going to be ready to make his next start on Saturday against the Nationals. Nothing official regarding his replacement in San Francisco’s rotation, but Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks, who threw a scoreless frame in relief on Wednesday, are stretched out enough to provide multiple innings. The dark horse candidate is top pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt, who boasts a sparkling 3.00 ERA and 52/7 K/BB ratio this season at the Triple-A level.

Santana has four homers and 17 RBI this month after finishing April with two homers and seven RBI. His homer today was just the second off Cole Sands this season and made it a 3-1 game in the eighth before the Guardians added two more insurance runs in the ninth.

Williams lowered his ERA to 3.94 in a third straight positive outing. Even though his velocity was down a bit today, he got 13 whiffs, and only four of the 14 balls in play against him were hit hard. His stock is trending up a bit, but he doesn’t rate as a great play in mixed leagues with the Dodgers next on the schedule.

Clase has averaged 99.0 mph with his cutter, but he came in at a season-low 95.5 mph today, with his hardest of his 10 cutters clocking in at 98.6 mph. His five sliders were down even further, averaging 86.4 mph. That’s nearly three mph lower than his season mark of 89.3 mph. Clase also had a little less velocity than usual in his last appearance four days ago. It seems like something to watch, especially since he already had a little shoulder scare last month. Cade Smith is second in line for saves in Cleveland.

Paddack allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out two today. He actually left with a shutout intact in the sixth, but the bases were loaded and Louis Varland allowed two of the three runners to score before finishing the inning. While Paddack has a 2.22 ERA over his last eight starts, it’s difficult to feel much excitement about what he’s doing. His 16% strikeout is particularly discouraging, and he’s neither excelled at keeping the ball on the ground nor preventing walks. Odds are that he’s in for a downturn. His next start will come in Tampa against the Rays.

Jeffers is on a nice roll at the moment. His two outs today both left the bat at 105 mph and had xBAs of .800 and .730. He also wound up 1-for-2 with three walks in Monday’s suspended game that was completed today. He’s 7-for-15 with a homer in his last four games, and he’s at .296/.387/.444 for the month of May.

Perez connected for a rare opposite-field homer for a right-handed batter at Oracle Park, taking Giants starter Logan Webb deep into the right-field seats for his first big fly since April 13. It was his third long ball of the season. The three hits matched a season-high and raised his batting average from .213 to .223 on the season. The 35-year-old veteran backstop has gotten off to a slow start relative to his usual standards, but he’s starting to look like himself again in recent days.