MLB Player News

We wonder if any of the future moderately priced veteran free agents the Pirates like to sign will take notice about just how the team handled Tellez and Michael A. Taylor, cutting them for no real reason with six days to go. Tellez got off to a horrible start this year, but he’d hit .277/.330/.478 with 12 homers and 48 RBI in 279 plate appearances since the beginning of June. Connor Joe and Billy Cook will likely finish up as the Pirates’ first basemen.

Vasquez issued four free passes, and that’s one of the main culprits for why he was only able to pitch into — and not complete — the fifth frame. He also allowed just one hit and struck out one, so he was once again fortunate to only allow those pair of runs. He’ll likely be the fifth starter for the Padres after the All-Star break.

Machado swatted his 16th homer of the season with a solo blast off Eduardo Rodriguez. He also doubled and singled and is now up to 2,004 hits in his impressive career. Machado remains one of the best third baseman in the sport, and should be able to remain at that level for the foreseeable future.

Tatis Jr. gave the Padres an early 2-1 lead in the third with a solo homer off Eduardo Rodriguez. The 26-year-old star also singled, and the three-reach game improves his slash to .262/.358/.450. It’s not the superstar level he was playing at to begin the year, but it’s far from unusable.

Suarez is now up to 27 saves on the season, a large number considering we haven’t quite reached the All-Star break. His 3.63 ERA is far from elite, but it’s based mostly on just a couple of horrific outings. For the overwhelming majority of the year, Suarez has been one of the upper-echelon closers in baseball.

After giving up 12 hits and nine runs against the Royals on Friday, Rodriguez was better, but to say that’s faint praise is an understatement. He allowed eight hits with two of those homers, and he walked a pair with three strikeouts. Rodriguez now has an unsightly 5.94 ERA on the season, and the 32-year-old offers more fantasy risk than upside at this stage of the campaign.

Ward hit a solo homer off Patrick Corbin in the fifth inning, but he needed it to be an eight-run homer for it to matter as it came with the Angels trailing 9-1. The 31-year-old now has 21 roundtrippers, 64 RBI and a .785 OPS on the season.

Neto also singled and came around to score another run. The 24-year-old’s homer came in the ninth inning with the Angels trailing 11-3, but still counts just the same. Neto has been very solid in 2025 with a slash of .273/.318/.485, and 14 homers along with 16 stolen bases aren’t too shabby either.

All four hits were singles for Semien. The 34-year-old singled up the middle in the third to make it 9-0, and improve his RBI total to 47. Semien is now slashing .239/.318/.366, and his previous success — emphasis on success — suggests he’ll be considerably better than that over the break. That’s the hope, anyway.

García ripped a two-run homer in the eighth inning to cement a blowout victory by making it an 11-3 game. The 32-year-old also singled in a run to bump his RBI total to 53 on the season. García is the subject of trade rumors, and while he hasn’t been a great option the last year and a half, there’s no question the talent is there for him to provide fantasy fireworks.

Kochanowicz was awful before exiting, and if we’re being honest, he was due for an outing like this. He allowed eight hits and three free passes, and he was in consistent trouble before mercifully being pulled. Kochanowicz will take a 6.03 ERA and 3-9 record into the second half, and it seems plausible that the Angels — who are surprisingly still in the American League Wild Card conversation — may need to look at a replacement. It’s worth noting that Carson Fulmer pitched 5 1/3 innings after Kochanowicz exited, and the team has turned to Fulmer as a starter before. Just saying.