MLB Player News

The 28-year-old Jordan will be making his major league debut after hitting .302/.384/.443 with five homers and six steals for Louisville. He has a little outfield experience and he’s playing right field tonight, but the Reds should treat him as more of a utility infielder in TJ Friedl’s absence.

Mountcastle was the lone Orioles batter to record multiple hits during Wednesday’s shutout loss at the hands of the Cubs as they were completely stifled by lefty Shota Imanaga for six frames to open the contest before a trio of relievers came on to slam the door. Baltimore’s offense had plenty of opportunities, but went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on-base. Not great.

Facing an Orioles lineup that has done some serious damage this season against southpaws, Imanaga surrendered only seven total baserunners over six sharp frames to close out a brilliant first half in his Cubs debut. The 30-year-old lefty, who is headed to next week’s Midsummer Classic, leaned heavily on his fastball and splitter combination in this one, finishing with 12 swinging strikes and a pedestrian 26 percent CSW. Yet, he managed to allow just six batted balls with an exit velocity over 95 mph. He’ll bring a pristine 2.97 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 98/16 K/BB ratio across 97 innings (17 starts) into the All-Star break.

Burnes was tagged for a whopping nine hits, including a second-inning solo shot by Christopher Morel, and wound up being outdueled by Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga in this one. He finished with five strikeouts and didn’t hand out a free pass. The 29-year-old fantasy ace hasn’t come close to a double-digit strikeout effort since an 11-punchout performance back on May 19 against the Mariners, but he’s allowed three earned runs or fewer in all but one outing since that point. He’ll carry a sparkling 2.43 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 110/25 K/BB ratio across 118 2/3 innings (19 starts) into the All-Star break.

India smacked his seventh home run of the season in the third inning off Kyle Freeland to give the Reds their first run of the night. The veteran infielder DH’d on Wednesday after missing Tuesday’s game with a knee bruise but looked solid in his return. India is now hitting slashing .269/.369/.411 on the season but has struggled this month, going 5-for-27 (.185) with just three RBI.

Grisham was responsible for New York’s lone extra-base hit of a low-scoring contest when he smacked a run-scoring double off Rays starter Zach Eflin in the second inning. He also brought home an additional run a couple frames later with a sacrifice fly.

Soto singled twice and picked up his fifth theft of the season in a low-scoring showdown at Tropicana Field. It was a notable development if only for the fact that it was New York’s first successful stolen base by any player on the roster since June 14.

Holmes came on to record the final out of the eighth inning and came back out to toss a perfect ninth inning to notch his first save since June 9. It was his 20th save of the year. The 31-year-old righty has has converted 20 of 25 save chances this year to go along with a solid 2.89 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 39/8 K/BB ratio across 37 1/3 innings (38 appearances).

Stroman was in control early on, but wound up being lifted in the fifth inning after loading the bases with only one out in the frame. He allowed seven hits, struck out two and also handed out a pair of free passes. He’ll bring a respectable 3.51 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 78/47 K/BB ratio across 105 innings (19 starts) into the All-Star break.

Eflin certainly deserved a better fate in this one as he surrendered a run-scoring double in the second inning to Trent Grisham, who also added a fourth-inning sacrifice fly, which accounted for all of the damage against him during a low-scoring tractor pull at Tropicana Field. He finished with six strikeouts and only handed out one free pass. It was a strong bounce-back effort for the 30-year-old righty after being lit up for six runs (five earned) over five innings his last time out against the Royals. He’ll carry a solid 3.99 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 78/9 K/BB ratio across 99 1/3 innings (17 starts) into the All-Star break.