MLB Player News

Williams will have a chance to make his season debut after missing the first four months of the season with stress fractures in his back. The right-hander has been among the best relievers in baseball, and he should be an excellent fantasy option if he’s the semblance of a hurler he was prior to the injury. Janson Junk was designated for assignment to make room for Williams.

The Dodgers prevailed in a bullpen game in which seven pitchers worked, with none of them throwing more than two innings. Edman’s double was perfectly placed down the left field line in the first inning, bouncing into the stands on one hop. He’s hitting a modest .266/.284/.328 since coming off the IL, but things are looking up there, and he does have four steals in 17 games.

Williams, whose start was moved up at the last minute because of Alex Cobb’s blister issue, had plenty of velocity tonight and didn’t give up a hard-hit ball, but he walked three of the seven batters he faced and two of the balls in play against him wound up as hits. The Guardians couldn’t risk running up his pitch count too high in the first, so out he went. He still seems like a decent enough bet versus the Rays on Thursday or Friday.

Thomas has started against most righties of late, not because he’s done well against them but because the Guardians’ alternatives have failed to step up. His homer tonight did come against a righty in Michael Grove. Thomas is batting .198/.274/.317 with a ridiculous 41 strikeouts in 101 plate appearances for the Guardians.

Apparently, this is more about getting Tanner Houck extra time off than it is about Bello. Houck was in line to start Monday against the Orioles, but he’ll apparently now face the Yankees on Friday, giving him eight days’ rest. Richard Fitts is expected to either start or pitch in a bulk role Sunday against the White Sox.

He’ll be taking the spot of Kyle Harrison, who is probably out for the year. Bivens will be pitching on three days’ rest after throwing four innings in relief Wednesday. One imagines he’ll probably be limited to three or four innings as a result.

The bad news is that Merrill was unable to get the hit after pinch-hitting for Tyler Wade. The good news is that he was able to play, and that bodes well for him either returning to the lineup Sunday against the Giants or early in the week; possibly Tuesday against the Mariners in Seattle.

Arraez singled for all three knocks. One of those hits drove in a run off Logan Webb to make it a 4-3 game, but the Padres would get no closer. The .313 average for Arraez is a bit lower than his .322 career mark, but there aren’t any batters more likely to help in the average category than Arraez across the sport.

McCray was “only” credited with five RBI, but he was responsible for all six runs scoring. On top of the two homers, he also hit into a double play that scored a run, but rules say you don’t get credited for an RBI there because reasons. McCray has homered five times in just 19 games with the Giants, and he’s slugging a robust .569 in his 65 at-bats. That’s not even kind of sustainable, but it does show you there’s some pop in the 23-year-old’s bat.

Walker gave up a hit, but he kept the runner from scoring to lower his ERA to a very strong 1.86 ERA. He’s had no issue transitioning to the closer role, as he’s now up to six saves on the season, and he hasn’t blown one since taking over the gig in the middle of August.

Cease gave up a three-run homer to Grant McCray, and McCray also drove in a run — without getting an RBI — on a double play. Outside of that it was a fine start for Cease, but damage done. The right-hander has been a bit shaky as of late, as he posted a 4.43 ERA in the month of August and he’s given up seven runs thus far in his 12 innings in September. He’ll take on the Giants again over next weekend.