MLB Player News

Midgame replacement Andruw Monasterio delivered the game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th. It was a little surprising to see Bauers start over Tyler Black today, but Pat Murphy seems to have made the right call. Bauers’ 444-foot slam was the first ever surrendered by Eovaldi. It was the second of his career, and his seventh homer in 192 plate appearances this season.

The Cubs didn’t need to turn to their shaky pen this time out, as Steele finished off the Angels in just 95 pitches. He struck out seven and walked two for his first win in 13 starts this season and 18 outings dating back to last year, when he opened up 16-3 before going 0-2 in his final four turns and perhaps costing himself a Cy Young Award. Of course, it was hardly his fault that he was 0-3 this year coming into this one. His ERA stands at 2.95 after this one.

Just five of the 15 balls in play against Canning were hit hard, but those five did produce four hits, including a homer. While Canning definitely looks better now than he did in April, he’s still been more adequate than good. One imagines he’s someone who could be made available in trade talks this month; another club could probably get more out of him than the Halos have.

Just like last night, it was again Happ and Seiya Suzuki, who hit a two-run homer, doing the heavy lifting for the Cubs offense. They both have .806 OPSs at the moment and, given the state of the NL outfield poor, legitimate cases for All-Star nods. Happ probably has the better argument, since he’s played in 20 more games than Suzuki.

That one hit was a homer, but he still has only two of those in 92 plate appearances for the season. At just .205/.295/.313 overall, he might be in danger of losing his spot once Anthony Rendon returns.

The Pirates are tying to find ways to manage the 22-year-old right-hander’s workload this season, so this doesn’t change his overall outlook for the season all that much. He’ll be re-evaluated after the two weeks to determine the schedule for ramping him back up. Fantasy managers may want to plan on being without Jones for the entire month of July.

The 26-year-old hurler continues to work his way back from inflammation in his right elbow. There’s no clear timetable for his return just yet, but if all goes well with Saturday’s session he could potentially be cleared to start a minor league rehab assignment. With Winn, Robbie Ray and Alex Cobb all making progress in their respective recoveries, the Giants’ rotation is poised to get reinforcements very soon.

The 31-year-old second baseman has really struggled since returning from the injured list, hitting just .192/.222/.231 with no homers, one RBI and a 13/0 K/BB ratio over 27 plate appearances. Yikes. Dylan Moore will start in his place at second base on Friday night and will bat eighth against Kevin Gausman and the Blue Jays.

It’s the second time in the last three games that Canha has been excluded from the lineup, so perhaps he’s battling something minor. Gio Urshela will cover first base in his absence on Friday night and will bat seventh against Carson Spiers and the Reds.

With Parker Meadows rejoining the team on Friday, someone needed to go to make room in the outfield and Baddoo drew the short straw this time around. The 25-year-old outfielder hit just .132/.242/.340 with two homers, four RBI and one stolen base during his stay with the big-league club.

As expected, the dynamic 24-year-old outfielder will rejoin the big-league club after spending nearly two months refining his approach at the plate at Triple-A Toledo. He’ll start in center field and bat eighth against Carson Spiers and the Reds on Friday evening in Cincinnati. Prior to his demotion, Meadows was slashing a cringe-inducing .096/.224/.219 with two homers, three RBI, three stolen bases and a 32/11 K/BB ratio over 85 plate appearances.