MLB Player News

The Angels seem to be scooping up all the veterans early on this offseason as they’ve traded for Jorge Soler in addition to signing Travis d’Arnaud and now Newman. The 31-year-old infielder batted .278 in 288 at-bats last year with three home runs, 28 RBI and eight steals. However, the veteran’s real value will come with his elite defense across the infield, which has led him to be a positive-WAR player over his career. He will likely fill a utility role off the bench for the Angels. Matt Thais was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

Bregman added that he’s skipping next week’s Midsummer Classic in an effort to be ready to play in games for the Red Sox. The 31-year-old added that he’s hoping to return later this week before the All-Star break, but plans to be ready right afterwards if that doesn’t happen. It’s a significant development for the suddenly red-hot Red Sox, who have won seven of their last nine games following Monday’s slugfest victory over the Rockies at Fenway Park.

Martin hit the injured list back on June 20 with a forearm strain. The 28-year-old righty should be ready to rejoin Chicago’s rotation following next week’s All-Star break.

Loperfido’s .278/.354/.422 line in Triple-A was pretty uninspiring, but he did seem to be heating up just before the promotion Sunday, and now he’s 3-for-7 with a homer for the Jays after going deep just six times in 315 plate appearances for Buffalo. He’ll probably play regularly through the All-Star break, but he could be replaced by Daulton Varsho afterwards. The Jays also hope to have Anthony Santander back at some point.

Berríos excelled even though his velocity was down about 1.5 mph tonight. Between that and the early hook after 72 pitches, we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he was under the weather or something. It’s the sixth time in eight starts that Berríos has allowed one or no runs. Unfortunately, he did give up six in the other two, but even so, his ERA has declined from 4.22 to 3.53 during the stretch. He’ll face the A’s in his final start of the first half.

Burke had his best velocity of the season in his previous two outings, but pitching on four days’ rest tonight for the first time since May 11, his stuff wasn’t as good, and he induced just three missed swings in the 85-pitch outing. It’s the first time this season that he’s given up three homers, and he dropped to 4-8 with a 4.40 ERA. The White Sox have no off days this week, so barring a change, Burke is due to pitch again Saturday against the Guardians.

Martín Pérez, Josh Rojas and Tauchman were the White Sox’s three biggest offseason signings, added to provide some leadership for a young team but mostly in the hopes of returning a prospect at the deadline. That dream is dead in the case of Pérez and on life support when it comes to Rojas, but Tauchman should get the team something; he’s hit .299/.382/.458 in 165 plate appearances while healthy.

The Cardinals are altering their rotation plans this week to get Gray an extra start before the All-Star break instead of giving Andre Pallante the ball for Sunday’s first-half finale against Atlanta. It’s a nice break for fantasy managers as Gray ends up with a two-start week instead of just one outing prior to the Midsummer Classic.

Witt has hit in 11 straight games after slumping during the middle of June. He’s back up to .296/.346/.503 for the season now. He also scored twice tonight, making this just the third time all year that he’s had multiple runs and multiple RBI in the same game for a cruddy Royals offense. He had 11 such games last year.

The Royals had lost Cameron’s previous six starts, though that says a lot more about their offense than his pitching; he threw scoreless ball in three of those games. Cameron got to face a Royals-like offense tonight, as the Pirates had Ke’Bryan Hayes batting fifth and Jared Triolo starting at first base. Cameron wound up striking out seven and walking one while completing seven innings for the first time. He’s 3-4 with a 2.56 ERA, and he’s set to get the Mets on the final day before the break.

Heaney’s velocity has been down all year, but at least he’s been consistent; he’d averaged in between 89.8 and 90.5 mph with his fastball every start until tonight, when he was down to 89.5 mph despite not pitching very deep into the game. His slider was actually down 1.8 mph from his season average. It seems like bad news for a pitcher the Pirates are certainly planning to trade later this month. Heaney dropped to 4-8 with a 4.41 ERA. He’ll likely face the Twins on Sunday.