MLB Player News

Seven of the runs came on two homers from Pavin Smith, but he wasn’t the only problem tonight. Verlander got zero swings and misses the 34 times he threw secondary pitches, and the 10 fastballs he had put in play were hit an average of 96 mph. His velocity tonight was better than in his previous two starts, and he had his usual movement on his pitches. He was simply crushed anyway, which seems like a particularly bad sign. Still, it probably should be factored in that the Diamondbacks have made a bunch of quality pitchers look pretty bad these last couple of months. Verlander will bring a 3-6 record and a 5.30 ERA into his start next weekend against the angels.

La Sorsa is up to be a multi-inning reliever for Cincinnati with Chase Burns (flexor) placed on the 15-day injured list in the corresponding transaction.

Ortega, who has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors, has been hurt for much of this year, though he did recently rejoin Triple-A Syracuse and go 3-for-16 with six RBI in five games. The 34-year-old is a lifetime .245/.322/.349 hitter in 1,301 plate appearances as a major leaguer.

The move makes room for Bob Seymour on the roster. Peters was sent down on Monday, only to be recalled the next day with Taylor Walls going on the injured list. He’s gone 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts in four major league games.

It was his second straight two-homer game. We were hoping Campusano would get thrown into one of the Padres’ deadline deals, but it didn’t happen. Since his defense just hasn’t come along and he’s already arbitration eligible, he’s not all that attractive as trade bait at the moment. However, he has hit .321/.431/.617 with 21 homers and a 63/53 K/BB in 348 plate appearances in Triple-A this season.

Lawlar had been out since the end of June with a strained hamstring. He played third base last night and figures to mostly stay there as the D-backs groom him as Eugenio Suárez’s replacement. The current plan is probably for something like a Sept. 1 promotion, but maybe he could speed that up by getting off to a hot start.

Stephenson averaged just 93.8 mph with his fastball last night, down from 98.5 mph in his one major league appearance this season and 96.9 mph pre-Tommy John surgery in 2023. The Angels will probably want to give him a couple of more appearances to build up before activating him.

Kopech averaged 97.4 mph with his fastball, but he didn’t much seem to know where it was going. Fortunately, he has some time to get it together in his return from knee surgery; he’s not eligible to come off the 60-day IL until Aug. 27.

He previously went 4-for-5 on Tuesday. Caglianone, coming back from a hamstring strain, has started in right field both games in his rehab assignment. One imagines the Royals will move Mike Yastrzemski to left and bench or send down John Rave when Caglianone is activated.

All three hits ranged from 101-108 mph off the bat. Williams started in center field last night after playing shortstop in his first two games for Syracuse. He was also playing some second base in Double-A. Obviously, he’s going to have a much easier time breaking in with the Mets at one of his alternative positions than he will at short. He’s probably not going to be a factor this year unless maybe Cedric Mullins gets hurt.