MLB Player News

Hudson got the call to protect a two-run lead in the final frame and tossed a flawless frame on 12 pitches (10 strikes). It’s worth noting that both Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia might’ve been unavailable after pitching during Monday’s series opener. This was Hudson’s first outing since an ugly blown save last Friday against the Braves. It’ll presumably remain a closer by committee situation with Hudson, Treinen and Vesia splitting the ninth-inning duties until Evan Phillips is ready to return from the injured list at some point later this month.

We already knew that the news wasn’t going to be good when Smith-Shawver was transferred to the 60-day injured list on Friday and now we get the unfortunate diagnosis. It has yet to be determined whether the 22-year-old hurler will undergo the traditional Tommy John reconstructive surgery or whether he’ll get the internal brace procedure which could speed up his recovery timeline a bit. Either way, he’ll miss the remainder of the 2025 season and a large chunk of the 2026 season as well while recovering.

Elder was the most likely candidate to fill in for the injured AJ Smith-Shawver in the Braves’ rotation, so this move makes sense. Instead of joining the rotation next week as anticipated, he’ll arrive a few days early and give everyone else an extra day of rest. If he pitches well, expect Elder to stick around for a while this time. He holds a 4.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a 33/13 K/BB ratio over 44 innings in eight starts for the Braves this season.

The Tigers needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster for the arrival of Dylan Smith on Friday, so this move made obvious sense. Cobb, 37, has yet to pitch for the Tigers after signing a one-year, $15 million contract over the winter. He’s progressing towards a minor league rehab assignment though and if all goes well he could be an option to help out their rotation before the month of June is through. That’s good news, as they just lost Jackson Jobe (elbow) to the injured list on Friday and could use some reinforcements.

As anticipated, the 22-year-old right-hander lands on the injured list with a flexor strain in his pitching elbow after experiencing a sharp drop in his velocity during Wednesday’s start against the Giants. No word yet on how long the Tigers expect him to be shelved for, but they’re obviously going to take every possible precaution before bringing him back. Dylan Smith was promoted from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move on Friday.

The 25-year-old right-hander has excelled in his transition to the bullpen this season, registering a minuscule 1.61 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and a 32/8 K/BB ratio over his first 22 1/3 innings between Triple-A Toledo and Double-A Erie. It’ll be his big league debut when he gets into a game for the Tigers, which should happen at some point over the weekend against the Royals. As anticipated, Jackson Jobe (elbow) landed on the 15-day injured list in a corresponding move.

Abbott gave up only three hard-hit balls. He walked one and faced two over the minimum over the seven innings. The win moved him to remarkable 5-0 with a 1.51 ERA. Incredibly, he’s doing this even with his velocity down about one mph and a league-high flyball rate (just two of his outs today came on the ground) while also pitching half of the time in an awful ballpark for pitchers. It’s hard to imagine him keeping this up, but he’s always been a rather difficult pitcher to project. His next start will come at home against the Brewers.

Graham Ashcraft bailed the Reds out of a jam in the eighth by inducing a double play ball. In the ninth, though, he surrendered two doubles while getting one out. The second hit made it a save situation for Pagán, who struck out Dansby Swanson and then got a groundout from Nico Hoerner. It’s Pagán’s 14th save of the year.

Rea induced only five missed swings while giving up 10 hits today. He had pretty much the same start six days ago in Cincinnati, also giving up six runs (but only two homers) in five innings. He was terrific in seven prior starts, posting a 2.72 ERA, but those who picked him up in mixed leagues ought to move on now. He’ll face the Nationals next.

Friedl has been productive in recent weeks, but not in ways that led to a ton of fantasy value; the homer today was his first since May 7 and the steal was his first since May 6. Still, he’s currently working on a streak of seven straight multihit games, raising his average to .306. It’s the longest such streak anyone has had this season.

Happ is hitting .184/.262/.211 in nine games since coming off the IL, though he has scored six runs. Pete Crow-Armstrong experienced great success in the leadoff spot while Happ was out, so the Cubs could revisit the decision to slide him back down to the middle of the order. Of course, the team is playing well, and Happ still has a nice .345 OBP for the year; there’s not much of a sense of urgency here.