MLB Player News

The 30-year-old will make $1.2 million if he makes the big league roster. Difo spent most of the 2022 season at Triple-A Reno where he slashed .269/.312/.398 with seven homers, 43 RBI and four swipes in 306 plate appearances. He’ll add infield depth for the Bombers.

The rotation held up well very all weekend against the Dodgers, so rather than call up a pitcher (and send down one of their only two relievers with options), the Braves can afford to pull Holmes out of the pen to make the start. He did throw 10 pitches on Saturday, so this probably won’t be a particularly lengthy outing for him.

Assuming his fractured left wrist poses no major problems, he’ll likely rejoin the Braves on Friday. The switch-hitting Albies plans to exclusively bat right-handed until his wrist is closer to 100 percent.

We’re still waiting to see where Yorke is going to play tonight. He’s known as a second baseman, but the Red Sox introduced him to left field this year before trading him to Pittsburgh. The Pirates mostly had him in those two spots initially, too, but in his last 16 games, he’s started seven games at short, four at second, three in center, one at third and one in right field. Third base is where the Pirates have the biggest need at the moment, but rather than have Yorke play here, they might use him at short and slide Isiah Kiner-Falefa over. Regardless, we’d expect Yorke to play pretty regularly these last two weeks, and it’s possible he’ll offer some late value in deeper formats. He hit .333/.420/.498 in 78 games for his two Triple-A clubs.

Williams is a fine defender at shortstop, but the bat just isn’t there. He was at .207/.242/.299 in 96 PA this year after coming in at .198/.270/.248 in 112 PA last season.

Miranda is actually hitting just .229/.254/.328 in 138 PA against lefties this season, compared to .324/.368/.517 in 280 PA versus righties. Both those figures are probably flukes, but neither is working in Miranda’s favor right now; he just sat out three out of four games against righties, too.

He’ll apparently step right in as Alejandro Kirk’s backup after the move to DFA Brian Serven. This is Heineman’s third stint with the Jays; he went 4-for-15 for them in 2022 before being lost on waivers to the Pirates and 8-for-29 for them last year after being reacquired in trade. He was later lost on waivers after the season. The 33-year-old is a lifetime .216/.297/.280 hitter in 286 plate appearances.

This is interesting, mostly because Serven has caught Bowden Francis’s last five starts during this incredible streak that Francis is on. Still, given that this wasn’t a relationship that was likely to continue into 2025 — Serven is just too weak offensively to justify the backup gig — the Jays might as well get Francis used to throwing to someone else again. Serven was hitting .159/.243/.222 in 71 plate appearances this season. He’s lifetime .187/.247/.293 hitter, in 299 PA even though about 40 percent of his plate appearances have come in Coors.

After five months away due to an adductor strain, Moncada will spend these last two weeks with the White Sox. He’ll almost certainly be set free by having his option declined this winter, and the team wants to keep providing at-bats for Bryan Ramos and Lenyn Sosa, so it doesn’t seem likely that Moncada will be an everyday guy. Moncada hit .282/.364/.410 in 11 games before getting hurt in April, and his 0.4 bWAR places him second among White Sox position players to Luis Robert Jr. at 1.1.

Julks was hitting .214/.275/.306 in 189 plate appearances while mostly playing versus southpaws. The White Sox are keeping all of their infielders with Yoán Moncada back, so we imagine that means Miguel Vargas will take over as the left fielder against lefties.

Francisco Lindor said tests on his back showed no structural damage but how long he’s out will “depend on how [his] back reacts.” Lindor is battling through a little bit of pain, but he believes the training staff has a plan to get him back out on the field quickly. Given how important he is to the Mets, we’d expect him to get back out on the field as soon as he can play without pain. It just might not be until the end of the week, which makes him hard to start in weekly lineup leagues. Jose Iglesias will likely start at shortstop for the time being.