MLB Player News

Sandoval, 35, hasn’t given up hope of a return to the majors, but for now he’ll head south of the border. The two-time All-Star posted a .645 OPS in 69 games for the Braves last season.

Buxton drove in two runs with a single off Matthew Boyd in the third inning. He has a home run and four RBI in three games since retiring from a hip injury. Buxton hasn’t had double digit stolen bases in a season in years, but he’s still a good hitter with power when healthy.

With Steven Kwan dealing with body fatigue, Martinez replaced him in the leadoff spot and had three hits. He’s certainly valuable in deeper formats as long as he’s hitting at the top of the order, but he’s just a compiler. Martinez is hitting .258 with only three home runs and three stolen bases in 120 at-bats.

Weathers has missed three months due to a sprained index finger on his pitching hand. He pitched well on his last rehab start, throwing five scoreless innings for Triple-A Jacksonville, but we wouldn’t trust him against the Dodgers in his first start back.

Manzardo’s home run was his third of the year in 118 at-bats. He hit a go-ahead two-run shot off Griffin Jax in the eighth inning. Manzardo is 10-for-36 (.278) with three home runs and five RBI in 13 games since being recalled at the beginning of September. He’s an interesting bat in deeper formats right now.

McArthur was hurt while covering first base, but he did stay in to face one more batter. Angel Zerpa replaced him against the Tigers.

The save was Clase’s 46th of the season. He struck out two batters in a perfect inning of work. Clase has easily been the best closer in baseball this season. He lowered his ERA to 0.65 with the scoreless inning. With about two weeks left in the season, a 50-save year is within reach.

Lopez gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out four. He had won each of his last four starts. Lopez was in line to win again until Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run go-ahead home run in the eighth inning. He’s allowed three runs or less in 11 of his last 12 starts and has a 2.11 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 76 2/3 innings in that time. Lopez is 15-8 with a 3.84 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 187 strikeouts in 175 2/3 innings on the year. The 28-year-old right-hander is set to face the Red Sox on the road this weekend.

Boyd gave up five hits, walked three and struck out five. Boyd’s pitched pretty well for the Guardians this season, but hasn’t been able to complete five innings in his last two starts. In his last start against the White Sox, he struck out nine in 4 1/3 innings and his pitch count was elevated due to the strikeouts. On Monday, Boyd’s command was subpar and he was removed after throwing 31 pitches in the third inning alone. Boyd is 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 40 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings this year. The 33-year-old left-hander is set to face the Cardinals on the road this weekend.

Rosenberg has a 6.87 ERA in 18 1/3 innings for the Angels this season. He’s stretched out to start if the Angels need that from him — he has a fine 4.21 ERA in 21 starts in a tough environment at Salt Lake this season — but it looks like he’ll go into middle relief initially.

Kenny Rosenberg is taking his place. Dana gave up five homers and posted a 10.45 ERA in three starts after a callup that never should have happened in the first place. It’s not a disaster how things worked out, but now the Angels will be using a 40-man roster spot this winter on a 20-year-old who wouldn’t have been on there otherwise. Dana might be ready to help in the first half of next year, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be on the team out of spring training.