MLB Player News

Peña seems to have things turned around now after a month-long slump; he’s 9-for-29 with five extra-base hits, eight RBI and a 2/4 K/BB in his last eight games.

That sounds like more than a 10-day thing. Rece Hinds was called up to replace Fairchild, who was seeing regular playing time with TJ Friedl on the injured list. Blake Dunn will also get some extra at-bats.

The 23-year-old Hinds will be making his major league debut. Hinds hits the ball very hard when he makes contact, but he was striking out 38 percent of the time while batting .216/.290/.409 for Louisville. It’s doubtful that he’s ready for the majors now, but the Reds will give him time against lefties until they get an outfielder back from the IL.

Zulueta was up briefly last month and allowed one run over three innings in his lone appearance. He’ll be available as a middle reliever for now, but he might head back to the minors on Thursday.

Ashcraft returns to Triple-A despite allowing one run over 4 2/3 innings in his start Sunday. The Reds are getting Nick Lodolo back Thursday to fill the open rotation spot.

Jordan’s versatility wasn’t enough to get him claimed on waivers. He was designated for assignment last week after going 1-for-10 in seven games with the Reds.

We’re not sure what exact home run/arrest ratio is necessary to get back into MLB’s good graces, but Ozuna seems to have exceeded it. On performance alone, he’s obviously a deserving choice. He’s at 23 homers right now after finishing with 40 last year.

Coming off consecutive subpar outings, Keller was terrific today, at least aside from a Brandon Nimmo two-run homer. He allowed nothing but singles otherwise, and he wound up with six strikeouts and no walks. Keller improved to 10-5 with a 3.40 ERA. That’s about what he was at this time last year, when he made his first All-Star team, but at least for now, he’s currently set to stay home next week.

Scott allowed just one hit and one walk today, but unfortunately, the former followed the latter and happened to be an Oneil Cruz home run. That was enough to keep Scott winless once again. He’s gone without a victory in spite of allowing two runs or fewer in four of his seven big-league starts and no more than four runs in any.

Cruz has five homers in his last 15 games, and his current .747 OPS is his highest mark since mid-May. It seems like there’s probably still more to come here; Cruz is tied for 10th in the majors with 36 barrels, but he’s merely tied for 36th with his 14 homers.

Palacios delivered 10 homers while batting .239/.279/.413 in 264 plate appearances for the Pirates last season, but he spent the first three months of this year in the minors before being recalled Thursday. He’s since gone 3-for-9 with five walks, which is a little surprising since he totaled just 12 walks in his 91 games last year. The Pirates will continue to give him a fair amount of playing time in right field versus righties.