MLB Player News

No word yet on the financial terms. Sulser, who made 10 relief appearances last year between the Rays and Mets, was arbitration-eligible this offseason for the first time in his career. The 34-year-old has made 139 appearances in the big leagues dating back to 2019.

The 32-year-old hurler got into just two games during his time with the Astros, posting a 6.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP with a 0/0 K/BB ratio over his three innings of work. It seems likely that he’ll either get claimed on waivers or elect free agency and find another opportunity that fits his liking.

Bader ended this game on the first pitch of the ninth inning after jumping all over a first-pitch fastball from Kevin Kelly. He did the same to open the scoring in the fourth, also with a solo home run against a first pitch sinker from Zack Littell. Once again an everyday player – mostly due to his great defense – Bader is now up to 10 home runs and seven stolen bases on the season as a steady albeit boring contributor.

Paddack was cruising right along through the first few innings of this one. He retired the first 11 batters he faced before the Rays started a mini rally in the fifth inning, but couldn’t get a run home. Then, they hit a single and double to begin the sixth which knocked Paddack from this game. Danny Coulombe allowed his inherited runner to score which closed the book on Paddack. The stuff isn’t great, but Paddack can be effective when his command was on like it was for the first few innings here. He’s scheduled for a dangerous matchup with the Cubs next.

In a bit of a revenge game for Caminero having been traded from the Twins to the Rays as a young prospect, he continued to be a tough out. He had two hard-hit balls and a run-scoring single in the sixth inning that gave his Rays the lead before their bullpen coughed it up. He has a .937 OPS over his last 30 games and seems to be ascending near star status before our eyes.

Littell pitched well enough to win this game and he was in position to do so until his bullpen promptly blew their lead. Alas, a solo home run by Harrison Bader was the only blemish on his line as he kept his fastballs high and splitters low in what was another quality start. That gave Littell 12 quality starts this season, which is just two off the league lead. Regularly pitching deep into games and holding on to a great 3.50 ERA has made him a reliable yet boring option in all leagues this season.

Can anyone or anything stop Raleigh right now? His first home run of this game was a 433 foot no-doubter that he scalded at 115.2 mph off the bat. He hit another off Pirates’ starter Bailey Falter a few innings later, and those were just two of the three total hits Falter allowed overall. That’s now 13 home runs since the start of June for Raleigh who is three clear of Aaron Judge for the league lead. The MVP race between those two figures to be one of the best stories this summer.

Woo just goes out there every fifth day and dominates. He had to work through a few long innings that drove his pitch count up and he struggled to get strike one on too many hitters, but this was another tremendous start. Despite falling behind a bit more often than usual, he had the confidence to go to both his slider and sweeper more often than usual. Those two pitches forced seven of his 12 total swings-and-misses and the slider was especially strong against left-handed batters. He’s scheduled for a fun start at Yankee Stadium next week before what’s hopefully his first All-Star game appearance soon thereafter.

Apart from Gonzales, the Pirates’ offense was absent against Bryan Woo in this one. He had three of their five total hits and their only one that went for extra bases in a shutout loss. Quietly, Gonzales has been a highly productive hitter since returning from his fractured ankle with a .308 batting average and .835 OPS over more than 100 at-bats. He’s also regularly hit fourth in the Pirates’ order over the past two weeks.

To start with the good news, Falter only allowed three hits in this game. Now the bad news, all three were home runs. Cal Raleigh hit two – the first coming after an error by first baseman Spencer Horwitz which added an unearned run to Falter’s line – and Randy Arozarena hit another. Falter has a surprisingly low 3.69 ERA on the season and has a nice matchup with the Royals coming up next.

The 33-year-old right-hander elected free agency earlier in the week after refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno from the Diamondbacks. Scott had posted a 9.00 ERA, 1.89 WHIP and a 7/4 K/BB ratio over nine innings in six appearances out of the D’Backs’ bullpen. He’ll add extra depth for the Astros at the Triple-A level.