MLB Player News

Barlow made 63 appearances for the Guardians this year, and he registered a 4.25 ERA with 68 strikeouts in 55 innings. Not horrible numbers, but not what a small market (cheap) organization is looking for from someone who was making $6.7 million. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if a team made a waiver claim on Barlow, and he’ll likely decline an outright if he isn’t.

Duran got the scoring started in the ballgame as he roped a two-out RBI double into right field off of Aaron Civale in the third inning. The versatile 26-year-old also drew a walk in the sixth inning and doubled with two outs in the eighth, but the Rangers were unable to cash him in either time. He has struggled in his limited action overall with the Rangers this season, going 6-for-40 (.150) with zero homers, two RBI and a 13/1 K/BB ratio.

Semien drove in a run with a sacrifice fly off of Aaron Civale in the fifth inning that would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. He also doubled with two outs in the seventh inning but was left stranded there. He has picked up the pace offensively in recent weeks, but is still slashing a miserable .224/.305/.336 overall on the season with seven homers, 30 RBI and six stolen bases.

The 33-year-old right-hander wasn’t messing around in this one, getting Ryan Noda on a bouncer to first base, Brooks Baldwin on a swinging third strike and Josh Rojas on a fly ball to center to end it. Jackson has fallen in the pecking order for saves in the Rangers’ bullpen, but he has still made good on nine of his first 11 chances on the season and has proven to be a capable option there.

The 25-year-old right-hander racked up six strikeouts on the afternoon. Rocker was pressed into emergency action on Sunday with Tyler Mahle (shoulder) hitting the injured list, and he made a statement that he’s here to say this time around. All four of the hits that he allowed in the contest were singles and only once did the White Sox have a baserunner reach third base against him. Rocker got eight swings and misses on 82 pitches on the afternoon, posting a CSW of 28 percent. He’ll look to further improve upon his 7.31 ERA and 1.69 WHIP (28 1/3 innings) when he squares off against the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Vargas finally got the White Sox on the board in the sixth inning as he crushed a first-pitch fastball from Jacob Webb for a 380-foot (99.9 mph EV) solo shot. That would be the extent of their offense in the ballgame. The 25-year-old infielder finished the afternoon 1-for-4 with a strikeout and is now hitting .242/.322/.440 with 10 long balls and 31 RBI on the season.

Civale struck out four batters on the afternoon, though he also issued four free passes. The Rangers scratched out a run against him in the second inning on an RBI double by Ezequiel Duran and then tacked on another with a sacrifice fly from Marcus Semien in the fifth. Civale got 11 swings and misses on 104 pitches on the afternoon, registering a solid CSW of 28 percent. He’ll bring an underwhelming 4.67 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and a 23/11 K/BB ratio (27 innings) into Saturday’s matchup against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Dubón’s shot to the wall in left-center could have been caught by Willi Castro, but it went off his glove as he attempted a jumping catch. It went as a single, but it would have been a double and Dubón’s first extra-base hit in nearly three weeks under normal circumstances. Dubón is 2-for-26 as a part-timer this month, though he’s started three straight games with Isaac Paredes hurt.

Walter seemed legit while facing the Rays in his Astros debut last month, but the team sent him back down afterwards anyway. Getting another chance, he’s turned in back-to-back quality starts this month. Overall, he has a 1.53 ERA and a 19/1 K/BB in 17 2/3 innings. We’d consider taking a chance on him in mixed leagues, but it does hurt that the Astros are a week away from entering a tough stretch in the schedule; his next outing against the Angels isn’t bad, but after that, he’d face either the Phillies or Cubs and then probably get a start at Coors Field or in L.A. against the Dodgers.

A nice rebound for Woods Richardson, who gave up six earned runs to the Rangers in his return to the majors Tuesday. He allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out four while lowering his ERA to 5.13 today. The Twins will have him face the Brewers at home next weekend.

The Astros scratched out a run against Duran with a leadoff walk, a steal, a soft infield single and a sac fly. Even the walk was suspect, as both ball three and four could have been called strikes. Duran, who also gave up a run and took a loss Saturday, didn’t do much wrong in this one.