MLB Player News

With Thursday’s big news that Kyle Bradish will start the season on the IL with a UCL sprain, it appears that Tyler Wells will have a chance to work his way back into the rotation. Wells was great for Baltimore in 2023, pitching to a 3.64 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and a 117/34 K/BB ratio over 118 2/3 innings in his 25 appearances (20 starts), but the Orioles removed him from the rotation late in the season to monitor his innings. Today’s news makes him a big bargain at his current ADP in fantasy baseball drafts; although, Rill also mentions Chayce McDermott, Cade Povich and Justin Armbruester as players who could push for one of the final spots in the rotation.

The homers came off Brandon Leibrandt in the final two innings of the game. He wound up with four homers in the three-game series against the Reds, and his current .405 slugging percentage and .696 OPS are his high marks since early May.

Sale’s velocity was down from the start today. He dialed it up some in the third, but he was particularly low in the final two innings. In the fifth, six of his seven fastballs failed to reach 91 mph. On the whole, he averaged 92.7 mph with his fastball, down from 94.9 mph on the year. Sale’s velocity was also down in his first two starts on September before bouncing back last time out against the Dodgers. We’re guessing some of this is intentional as he tries to save bullets for the postseason. It hasn’t hurt him in the process; he’s allowed only three runs this month, and the Braves have won his last eight starts. He’s 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA headed into a potentially huge final regular-season start next week against the Mets.

Aguiar gave up two homers, the seventh and eighth he’s allowed in 31 2/3 innings this season. Somewhat incredibly, this is the Reds’ first loss in seven games with Aguiar on the mound; they had been 6-0 in spite of his 4.88 ERA. Aguiar should get one more start against the Guardians next week.

His 25th two-homer game, four of which have come this year. It’s been a disappointing season for Olson, but he’s now two homers and six RBI away from a fourth straight 30-homer, 100-RBI campaign.

Horn is going back to the minors as the corresponding move for the activation of Lucas Sims. He had a 6.50 ERA and 1.77 WHIP in 18 innings with Boston this year.

Dunn scored all of Cincinnati’s runs in the 15-3 loss. The homer was a 422-foot blast against Chris Sale, which will be memorable even if the final score wasn’t. Dunn was making his first start since being recalled on Sept. 2, and he came into the game 2-for-21 in three separate stints with the Reds. Maybe they’ll make a little more room for him over the final 10 days after this.

The Red Sox traded for Sims prior to the trade deadline this year. He had an 8.10 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and seven strikeouts in 10 innings with Boston. Then he went on the injured list with a lat strain. Sims had a 3.57 ERA in 43 appearances with the Reds this year and a 3.10 ERA in 67 appearances in 2023. The Red Sox could certainly use an arm like that out of the bullpen.

Gausman threw five scoreless innings while allowing no hits and only one walk before his back forced him to leave the game. Considering this isn’t an arm injury, this is good news even with the injury sullying one of his better starts of the season. It’s unclear if Gausman will need a stint on the injured list or be able to make his last start of the season next week.

Lindor has missed four games already due to a back injury. The 30-year-old shortstop is only doing indoor activities on Thursday. Luisangel Acuna will play shortstop and bat ninth for Thursday night’s game against the Phillies.

After getting one game off on Thursday, Díaz be back in the lineup but will be hitting third with Dylan Carlson starting in left field and batting lead-off against Brayan Bello and the Red Sox.