MLB Player News

Kloffenstein was always an extreme longshot to crack the Cardinals’ Opening Day rotation — even with the injury to Sonny Gray — so his demotion doesn’t come as a surprise. It also won’t be surprising to see him debut with the big league club at some point during the upcoming season, Kloffenstein registered a 3.16 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a 140/55 K/BB ratio across 128 innings in 26 appearances (25 starts) between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Memphis in 2023.

Tightness doesn’t sound bad, but that’s pretty much always the initial diagnosis these days, and we’re assuming there’s a good chance Martinez, who was on the IL last month with shoulder inflammation, will land back on the injured list. Shelby Miller will be the clear favorite for saves in the Arizona pen while Martinez is sidelined, and he’s worth picking up in most leagues.

The second double plated the go-ahead run in the 10th inning. It’s his seventh career four-hit game and first ever with three extra-base hits. All four of Kirk’s balls in play tonight left the bat at over 95 mph, upping his hard-hit rate to 57.3 percent. That puts him fifth place in the majors, right in between Kyle Schwarber and Aaron Judge. Alas, he’s much further down on the barrels list, which is why he has only four homers.

Berríos left with a 3-0 lead that went to 4-0 before the bullpen wiped it out by giving up four runs in the bottom of the eighth. It’s pretty remarkable that he has recorded just two wins while giving the Jays nine quality starts and a 3.38 ERA over 82 2/3 innings this season. He’s pitching a little better than he did last season, when he finished 16-11 with a 3.60 ERA in 32 starts. If he matches up with Paul Skenes at any point, the score might go into the negatives. Next up, though, is a matchup with the Phillies and probably Zack Wheeler on Sunday.

Hoffman had just one run to work with, so he had to prevent the automatic runner from scoring, which he accomplished by retiring the side on nine pitches. Although he’s given up a couple of homers along the way, Hoffman has converted six straight save chance since May 26.

Even if’s not a win, Pallante needed to show some improvement tonight and did so in lowering his ERA to 4.75. It’s Pallante’s first quality start in his last four tries and fifth in 13 outings overall. He’s set to pitch in Milwaukee this weekend.

It’s Helsley’s third straight blown save, though the previous two both still turned into Cardinals wins. This one didn’t, as Toronto prevailed in 10. We still can’t imagine his job is in jeopardy at the moment, though one more blown save might change that. Helsley has a 3.75 ERA, with three homers allowed and 28 strikeouts in 24 innings. It doesn’t seem like he’s far off at all.

Clase tied the game off Ryan Helsley in the ninth, and the Jays went on to win after Alejando Kirk doubled in the automatic runner in the 10th. Clase’s homer was his first of the year. He was 0-for-14 in his previous four games coming into the night, and he hadn’t driven in a run since May 22. He’s likely to continue logging plenty time in center until Daulton Varsho returns, though it sounds like Varsho could be back from his hamstring strain a little earlier than originally thought.

Herrera would have been the hero if Ryan Helsley could have nailed this one down tonight, but it wasn’t meant to be. The homer was Herrera’s seventh of the year. Including tonight’s, five of those have come in his 11 games behind the plate, compared to two in 22 games as a DH. It’s hard to say if that means anything, though.

Mangum gave Tampa Bay a commanding two-run lead in the 11th inning with a run-scoring infield single to cap off an impressive four-hit performance. Mangum gave Tampa Bay a two-run lead in the 11th inning with a run-scoring infield single to cap off an impressive four-hit performance. He kicked off the scoring back in the fourth inning with a run-scoring single and delivered the proverbial knockout blow in extra-innings to close out a back-and-forth slugfest at Fenway Park that took nearly four hours to resolve. The unheralded 29-year-old outfielder holds a respectable .701 OPS with one homer and 10 steals through 30 games this season in his first taste of the big leagues.

It was an eventful first night in the big leagues for baseball’s consensus top prospect. Anthony flew out to left field in his first at-bat before scalding a 111.2 mph line drive his next time up, which ricocheted off Rays starter Shane Baz and was still somehow converted into an out. He committed a costly fifth-inning error in right field when Yandy Díaz’s grounder went under his glove, which led directly to a run crossing the plate on the play. He struck out looking in the sixth inning against lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger before drawing a walk in the seventh. He had a chance to be the hero for Boston in the ninth inning when he came to the plate with the potential tying runs in scoring position but wound up grounding out to shortstop, picking up his first career RBI in the process. There will certainly be brighter days ahead for Anthony as he makes the jump to the big leagues at just 21 years old as one of Boston’s potential future franchise cornerstones.