MLB Player News

McCullers hasn’t been able to throw a pitch in an MLB game since 2022, and suffered another setback in early July with renewed arm discomfort. The right-hander will attempt to get back on the mound in 2025, but it’s very possible his days of fantasy relevance are over.

The Padres brought in Wandy Peralta to face Nimmo with two on in the third, and Nimmo responded with his seventh homer off a lefty this year. He’s hit 24 homers total this season, matching his career high from two years ago. Nimmo has been slumping somewhat of late, in part because he’s striking out so much; today’s game was the fifth in a row in which he fanned twice. He still has a fine .261/.326/.442 line for the season.

Tong allowed four hits, all of them singles, and walked none in the 82-pitch outing. He excelled even though his velocity was down some; he averaged 94.4 mph with his fastball today, down from 95.7 mph in his first three starts (and his two Triple-A starts before that). Tong will probably pitch just once more during the regular season next week against the Cubs.

Vásquez surrendered a solo homer to Pete Alonso in the first, but he retired six of eight batters through two innings. Nevertheless, with lefty Brandon Nimmo up, Vásquez was pulled after two singles, a groundout and a walk to start the third, only to watch Wandy Peralta immediately give up a three-run homer. Vásquez dropped to 5-7 with a 3.97 ERA. He’ll probably face the Brewers on Tuesday.

Alonso’s 37th homer was a solo shot off Randy Vásquez that gave him 120 RBI for the third time in his career, and he later added No. 121 on a sac fly. Alonso finished at 120 RBI while hitting 53 homers as a rookie in 2019, and he came in at 131 in 2022.

Chisholm will get a rare night off with left-hander Cade Povich toeing the slab for the Orioles. Amed Rosario will start in his place at second base and will bat fifth for the Bombers on Thursday evening in Baltimore.

Marte had started each of the team’s last five games, so this appears to be just a routine night off for the dynamic 23-year-old. Will Benson will slide over to cover right field while Austin Hays will start in left field and bat third for the Reds against Cubs’ right-hander Colin Rea.

A three-game sweep has brought the Guardians within 3 1/2 games of the Tigers in the AL Central and 1 1/2 games back of the Red Sox for the third wild card spot. Bibee and Tarik Skubal pitched to a draw today, but the Guardians got two runs in the top of the seventh to put Bibee in line for the win, which evened his record at 11-11. He has a 1.25 ERA in his last three starts. Most likely, he’ll be matched up again with Skubal with the Tigers in Cleveland next week.

Cade Smith had this one off after pitching the previous two days (and four games in a row, with Monday’s off day mixed in). Gaddis was making his fourth appearance in six days, as the Guardians have worked their best relievers hard to grind out some of these wins. Smith should be back out there in a save situation on Friday.

In spite of the side issue that forced him to leave his last start, Skubal’s velocity was better than usual today and he wound up with 20 whiffs and a 32% CSW. The nine strikeouts moved him to 233, surpassing his career high from last year. Skubal finished his first Cy Young season with a 2.39 ERA and a 228/35 K/BB in 192 innings. Right now, in one fewer start, he has a 2.23 ERA and a 233/30 K/BB in 189 1/3 innings. He’ll face Cleveland again next week. As of right now, he’s slated to go Wednesday and make just the one more start. However, if things continue to tighten up, the Tigers could instead set him up to start Tuesday and Sunday.

Noel’s 411-foot homer was responsible for the only run off Skubal in six innings. It was his fifth long ball in 141 plate appearances this season. He’s batting just .161/.177/.285 in his role as a starter against left-handed pitching.