MLB Player News

There was some hope that Donovan could play Sunday after missing Saturday while dealing with an infection in his foot, but the Cardinals will give him at least one more day off. José Fermín again gets the start at second base in Donovan’s absence.

Fitts will get first crack at taking the rotation spot that was previously occupied by Hunter Dobbins, with Dobbins now out for the year due a torn ACL. Fitts has shown flashes of being a competent fantasy option, but fantasy managers can likely find a better option for that Tuesday outing.

Arrighetti will throw 45-50 pitches in his first rehab start since fracturing his thumb in early April. He’ll likely need to make multiple rehab starts before being a candidate to rejoin the Astros’ rotation in the middle of August.

Rodgers is rehabbing from a left oblique strain, and this obviously counts as a setback. It occurred when ran headfirst into the knee of shortstop Edwin Diaz. The 28-year-old will assuredly be sitting until he passes the concussion protocol, and isn’t likely to be rejoining the Astros in the coming days.

The double, a 108-mph liner to left that would have been a homer in 12 ballparks, broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth. Lopez has two homers and eight RBI in his last five games. There isn’t a whole lot of middle-infield help available, so Lopez should be in demand at the deadline. The Marlins, though, will see him as part of the 2026 plans and won’t give him away. After all, he won’t even be arbitration eligible until after next season.

Quantrill, who hadn’t previously completed six innings this season, left with a 1-0 lead, but the Royals later tied it on a Salvador Perez homer before the Marlins ultimately won 3-1. Technically, this is Quantrill’s first quality start, since he’d never met the innings threshold previously. It’s the seventh time in 19 outings that he’s allowed two runs or fewer over five innings. He’s 3-8 with a 5.24 ERA, and he’ll get the Brewers next.

Henríquez has been the Marlins’ primary closer of late, but the Marlins had him come in with a 1-0 lead in the eighth today and watched him give up a solo homer to Salvador Perez. Fortunately, they came back with two in the bottom of the inning, and since Bender closed it out, Henríquez picked up his sixth win. Henríquez still seems like the pitcher worth rostering in the Marlins pen. Bender is about as much of a lock as anyone to be traded at the deadline.

That should have been good enough for a dub, but the Royals couldn’t score against Cal Quantrill today. Wacha, who had just one strikeout despite recording 11 whiffs, at least avoided the loss, but he’s still 4-9 with a 3.62 ERA. He’ll face the Guardians next week.

Ironically, this might actually help Erceg’s future prospects, since Royals losses now make it more likely that Carlos Estévez will be traded at the deadline. Not that Mr. Erceg himself was looking at it that way. Pitching in a 1-1 game, Erceg went walk, double, intentional walk before a two-run double broke open the game. Erceg escaped from there after one more intentional walk, but the damage was done. He’s now issued three intentional walks in two days after never being asked to issue one previously this season. The Marlins are just that intimidating.

Kopech underwent surgery last week to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, and was placed on the 60-day injured list. The right-hander will be eligible to return in August, and could be a high-leverage option for the Dodgers’ bullpen by the end of 2025.

He was also hit by a pitch. The oft-DFA’d Heineman has been a revelation this season, hitting .341/.396/.518 in 98 plate appearances while playing behind All-Star Alejandro Kirk. His three homers are two more than he had in 287 career plate appearances coming into the year.