MLB Player News

Smith’s home run was a 404-foot shot at 101.8 mph for his 11th of the season. His steal was also his seventh of the year to go along with a .282/.379/.452 slash line. The 26-year-old is enjoying a breakout season and has single-handedly won the 2021 trade that sent Joey Gallo to the Yankees for Smith, Ezequiel Duran, 2B/OF Trevor Hauver, and RHP Glenn Otto. The Rangers will find a way to keep him in the lineup even when Josh Jung returns.

Cowser is eligible to return from the concussion injured list on Thursday, but it’s not going to happen. He’s still dealing with some soreness and is in concussion protocol.

Kopech was put on the injured list back on July 1st with knee inflammation and then had surgery later in the month to repair a torn meniscus. The Dodgers wanted Blake Treinen to throw on back-to-back days before being activated, so if they take the same approach with Kopech, it might be a couple of weeks before the 29-year-old is back in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Goldschmidt banged his right knee on the ground after his left leg slipped out from under him while he was trying to catch a foul popup on Tuesday. The Yankees are calling the injury a sprain, but they’re hopeful he can avoid the injured list.

Butler took Drew Rasmussen deep for the only earned run that was allowed by Rasmussen in the contest. Butler has homered 16 times and stolen 17 bases, but the overall numbers have paled in comparison to his breakout 2024 campaign.

Caminero also doubled. The 22-year-old is now up to 34 homers on the season, an impressive number for the wide majority of hitters, but particularly for a player that is playing his first full season in the majors. The approach leaves a bit to be desired, but the offensive upside competes with anyone even if he isn’t likely to be a stolen-base threat.

Ginn was solid with nine strikeouts against the Orioles on Friday. He was not so solid Wednesday, giving up six hits with one walk and three strikeouts before exiting. The 26-year-old will try and find the swing-and-miss stuff he showed off against Baltimore when he faces the Twins next Wednesday.

Rasmussen allowed only three hits, and he didn’t walk anyone while striking out five. The 30-year-old gave up his first earned run of the season when he allowed a homer to Lawrence Butler, and this makes eight straight appearances where Rasmussen hasn’t allowed more than two runs. Some of those appearances are as a reliever, but still, an impressive run that pushes his record to 10-5 and lowers his ERA to 2.60. His next start hasn’t been announced yet, but likely comes against the Cardinals next week.

Smith gave the Dodgers an early 3-0 lead with a two-run shot off Kyle Hendricks in the first inning. His third RBI and 54th of the season came on a bases-loaded walk. Smith has been superb in 2025 with 16 homers, a .316 average and a .940 OPS over 94 games.

Ward blasted his 29th homer of the season off Shohei Ohtani in the second inning. The 31-year-old also drew a couple of walks to push his slash to .236/.318/.496 in 2025. When he’s hot, he’s hot. There’s just such large spans where Ward is anything but.

Jansen’s save comes with no walks and no strikeouts, and he didn’t allow a walk. Effectively boring. It’s the 23rd save of the season for the 37-year-old, and his ERA is now a solid 2.74 in 2025. He’s done a very nice job, and the Angels probably should have let him do a very nice job for someone else before the trade deadline.