MLB Player News

Meyers was responsible for three of the Astros’ nine hits on the night and was part of the team’s five-run first inning. Meyers singled in the first to drive in Yordan Alvarez from second and later came around to score himself. Despite the strong night, Meyers is hitting just .203 on the month but has a slash line of .260/.302/.392 on the season.

Alvarez came into this game ready for Yusei Kikuchi’s fastball and twice put first pitch fastballs in play, once for a homer, and also worked a long at-bat that wound up in a double also off that same fastball. He also sliced another double late off Bowden Francis to break this game open for Houston. Watching him hit is a marvel.

The Blue Jays once again shook up their lineup and Varsho landed in the fifth spot with George Springer back to lead-off and Bo Bichette fourth. Regardless, it still could not spark their struggling offense. Varsho briefly got his average back above the Mendoza-line before it sunk back to .199. He and nearly every Blue Jays’ hitter has been a disappointment this season.

Kikuchi was cruising right along until the sixth inning when Yordan Alvarez smacked a lead-off homer and Jeremy Peña’s two-out double forced him from the game. Those who play in quality start leagues will surely be frustrated, but Kikuchi still had a solid start. His fastball had great life and averaged over 96 MPH for the fourth straight start as he mixed his curveball, changeup, and slider off it nicely.

Blanco was just fine in this one. He had some trouble finding the zone with his breaking balls and the Blue Jays worked some long and tough at-bats against him. He fell one out short of a quality start and the Astros pulled ahead in the seventh inning giving him no chance for the win despite a decent outing. He’ll take a 2.53 ERA into his next scheduled start against the Marlins.

Marte kicked off the scoring on Wednesday evening at Yankee Stadium with a 111.5-mph rocket into the left-field seats off New York starter Carlos Rodón in the second inning. It was his first round-tripper in six games since returning from a league-issued 80-game PED suspension back on June 27. The 22-year-old top prospect continues to show flashes of massive fantasy potential, but he’s gotten off to a pretty slow start as he re-acclimates to everyday life in the majors after an extended layoff. It might not all come together this season, but Marte has the skills to be a four-category fantasy monster in the near future.

Volpe got New York on the scoreboard in the seventh inning with a two-run double off Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott. It wasn’t all positive for the young shortstop as he grounded into a key double play in the ninth inning to squash any hope of a Yankees rally against Reds stopper Alexis Díaz. The 23-year-old shorstop has been struggling the last few weeks, batting .212 (29-for-137) with zero homers and only four steals over his last 30 games.

Díaz was called upon to protect a one-run lead in the final frame at Yankee Stadium and immediately got into trouble by issuing a leadoff walk to light-hitting backstop Austin Wells. Fortunately, he managed to wriggle out of the jam by coaxing a double-play ball from ensuing batter Anthony Volpe before getting Juan Soto to fly out to extinguish the threat. He’s converted 19 of 21 save opportunities this season for Cincinnati.

Abbott finished with only two strikeouts, and also handed out four free passes, but managed to avoid any serious damage as a two-run double by Anthony Volpe in the seventh inning accounted for all of the damage against him in Yankee Stadium’s hitter-friendly environment. He’ll carry a solid 3.28 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 74/36 K/BB ratio across 96 innings (17 starts) into a home outing on Monday against the Rockies.

Rodón struggled once again to keep the ball in the yard, serving up a two-run homer to Noelvi Marte in the second inning before coughing up a solo shot to Stuart Fairchild a couple frames later. He kept Cincinnati’s lineup in check otherwide, allowing just one additional hit and three walks. The most encouraging development here from a fantasy standpoint was that he piled up an eye-popping 15 swinging strikes, and finished with a 33 percent CSW, despite some diminished velocity across the board. There’s still some work to be done here, but Rodón didn’t look completely cooked in this one, which qualifies as an encouraging development. He’ll square off against the division-rival Rays on Tuesday in his next outing,

The assumption when Jones was pulled after just 78 pitches was that it was simply another way for the Pirates’ to manager the 22-year-old hurler’s workload, but it sounds like there was an injury issue at play as well. Jones told reporters after the game that he wasn’t too concerned about it, but the Pirates aren’t going to take any unnecessary risks with him. His availability for next week’s start against the Mets is completely in the air at this point.