MLB Player News

Ortega was released by the Angels in 2011 and missed all last season due to injury. The 27-year-old is strictly organizational depth.

Blue Jays manager John Schnieider said the move was precautionary, but also admitted that Santander has been dealing with right quad tightness for the past few days. Even if the injury isn’t major, it would seem plausible that the Blue Jays would give Santander a day or two off to manage the injury without exacerbating it.

It sounds like a precautionary measure. There should be an update on his status prior to Thursday’s series finale out in Los Angeles.

That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.

Soler also singled and walked, but the big blow was obviously the bases-clearing double that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead off Jeff Hoffman. That gives the veteran slugger eight doubles on the season to go with 16 RBI. Soler has not been spectacular with the bat over the first 35 games of the season and had just two hits coming into May before Wednesday’s game, but the 33-year-old is always capable of fireworks, even if they are often followed by long stretches of disappointment.

While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.

Not the best couple of days for Hoffman. A night after he allowed three runs while getting just one out, the closer did the same thing Wednesday. With the score 4-2 and the bases loaded, Hoffman gave up a double to Jorge Soler that cleared the bases, gave Hoffman his first blown save and saw his ERA inflate to 4.24. Hoffman had been fine prior to these last two gaffes, but fantasy managers will take little solace in that. For this week, anyway.

The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.

Fried’s excellent season continued as he set down the Padres easily besides for a mammoth solo home run by Jackson Merrill. It was no matter though, as they rarely threatened otherwise and Fried continued to find his strikeout stuff. This was his fourth outing of the year with at least seven strikeouts, a mark he only hit 10 times last season in 29 starts. Fried with a strikeout rate that’s better than league average – which is where he’s at right now – is a clear top-10 pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Mariners and Mets.

Berrios was able to generate 18 whiffs over 89 pitches while allowing five hits. He also issued five walks, but those free passes were left on base as both runs allowed were solo homers. This makes three-of-four outings being quality starts, and he’s lowered his ERA from 5.02 to 3.86 in the process. He gets the Rays next week.

Kikuchi, 33, scattered five his while striking out six, and he issued just one walk. The southpaw threw 70-of-91 pitches for strikes, and he was able to generate 11 swings and misses on those offerings. Unfortunately he got just a single run of support, so a start deserving a win goes unrewarded. He’ll take a 3.83 ERA into a start Sunday against the struggling Orioles.