MLB Player News

Cole has given the Blue Jays all of eight innings this year because of injuries. The right-hander was transferred to the 60-day injured list back in June, but he’s been eligible to come off that list for quite some time. He could help the Blue Jays in the middle innings in September.

Criswell has been a frequent traveler between Worcester and Boston, and the 28-year-old will head back to the minors to make room for Robert Stock to give Boston a fresh arm in their bullpen.

Stock returns to the majors for the first time since he was designated for assignment back in April. The 35-year-old will provide a fresh arm, but likely not in a high-leverage situation while he’s with Boston in this stint.

The second run proved key. With the Jays up by one, he singled to lead off the ninth, advanced to second on a grounder and then scored on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s single. The Jays wound up needing the insurance run, as Kody Clemens homered off Jeff Hoffman in the bottom of the ninth. Heineman has been one of the year’s biggest surprises, even if we are talking only 59 plate appearances. Previously a lifetime .212/.298/.273 hitter with one homer in 299 plate appearances since 2019, he’s batting .429/.441/.625 with two homers this season. It’s raised his career OPS from .571 to .657.

Gausman lost the strike zone in the fourth today; having already allowed two singles, he went walk, HBP, walk to force in two runs. Fortunately, he got a double-play ball afterwards. The hit batter was his first of the year. Gausman didn’t factor into the decision today, but the Jays improved to 8-5 in his starts. He’ll face the Phillies next week.

Kody Clemens hit a leadoff homer in a two-run game, but Hoffman retired the next three batters he faced. The homer was the seventh surrendered by Hoffman in 26 2/3 innings this season. He gave up six in 66 1/3 innings last year and three in 52 1/3 innings in 2023. Still, he’s striking out more batters than ever this season, and he’s not giving up an abundance of hard contact besides the homers; he’s allowed just seven barrels, which would typically equate to three or four homers. Hoffman also pitched last night, so he should have Sunday off, potentially leading to a save chance for Yariel Rodríguez or Chad Green.

Paddack left with a one-run lead that was later blown. He’s allowed one or two runs in six straight starts, but while he won the first two of those, he’s 0-2 in the last four. He’s just 2-5 with a 3.53 ERA overall. He’s likely to make his next start Friday against the Astros.

Wallner has three homers in five games since coming off the injured list, putting him at .260/.380/.532 in 92 plate appearances. While he’s been treated strictly as a platoon guy so far, it seems like time for the Twins to give him a real shot against lefties. Trevor Larnach has been playing against some southpaws, and he’s just not as good as Wallner, who is a lifetime .252/.368/.504 hitter.

This was originally scheduled for the weekend, but because of the potential for inclement weather in St. Louis, the two-way star will instead face hitters before Monday’s game against the Padres. Ohtani remains without a timetable to return to the mound, but it’s getting closer, and that’s exciting.

Volpe is absent from the lineup as expected, but Boone did say that they’re hopeful that the 24-year-old can return Sunday against the Red Sox. The Yankees won’t rush him back, but it does appear that the shortstop has avoided a significant injury. Consider Volpe day-to-day.