MLB Player News

The Phillies didn’t see Hays as a starter and weren’t going to pay him $6 million-plus to serve on the short side of a platoon. The 29-year-old will probably land a starting gig elsewhere. He’s a career .261/.313/.432 hitter, and he plays quality defense in left field.

Julien took Tarik Skubal deep in the third inning because baseball is weird. It’s just the third homer for Julien, and it lifts his slugging percentage all the way up to .328. Julien looked like a pretty intriguing fantasy option not that long ago, but even with a game like Wednesday, he doesn’t appear to be much more than a depth piece.

Ober blanked the Twins over the first three innings, but he gave up a two-run homer to Riley Greene and was charged for another run in the sixth. He struck out for, and the 6-foot-9 right-hander didn’t issue a walk. Coulda been worse. Ober will take an ugly/deserved 5.15 ERA into a scheduled start Wednesday versus the Athletics.

Skubal did not have his usual swing-and-miss ability, as he struck out only three and initiated only 11 swings and misses among his 99 pitches. He was also excellent minus the third inning, as he gave up all three runs in that frame. Even in an effort where Skubal wasn’t close to his best, he’s still able to provide seven innings and allow only three runs. He’ll be back on the bump against the Astros on Tuesday.

Greene smashed his 28th homer of the season in the fourth inning off Bailey Ober. The 24-year-old also drew a walk and is now slashing .269/.317/.512. There was a power lull earlier this summer, but it’s tough to complain about the overall production for Greene in 2025.

All three hits were singles, but that just makes it easier to swipe bases. Ramírez is up to 35 steals, already the second highest total of his career and just six off his high of 41 from last season.

With Bibee’s stuff having declined this year, he really needs to be much sharper in terms of limiting walks. However, he issued four for a second straight outing against a non-powerhouse offense tonight (it was the White Sox last time out). Bibee had a 26.3% strikeout rate and a 6.2% walk rate last year. He’s at 21.4% and 7.6%, respectively, right now. He’s due to face the Diamondbacks next.

Saves don’t get much cheaper than this, but Smith will take it. Nic Enright pitched a scoreless eighth before loading the bases with two outs in the ninth, creating the save opp. Smith then got a soft liner from Liam Hicks to end the game.

Cabrera had excellent velocity tonight and generated 17 missed swings with a 38% CSW, but when the Guardians made contact, they made contact; 11 of their 17 balls in play were hit hard, with five of those checking in at least 104.9 mph. Cabrera also walked three, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. He’s been so good lately that it’s fine to give him a pass for one bad start. Historically, though, this right here is the real Cabrera, not the one with the 2.27 ERA and 34/5 K/BB ratio in his previous six outings.

In his 39th start of the season, Hedges finally got himself a multihit game. His last came nearly a year ago on Aug. 26, 2024 against the Royals. He deserved it, too, hitting balls 100.6, 106.3 and 108.6 mph tonight. He actually nearly had a third hit on the sac fly, though only because the center field tripped going after it before recovering. Hedges, hitting .143 this season, hasn’t had a three-game since he miraculously collected four hits on Aug. 18, 2019, his 27th birthday.

Lindor’s 22nd homer of the season came off Bryce Elder in the third inning. His 19th steal came in the sixth, and he came around to score on a sac fly from Brandon Nimmo. After an awful July, Lindor has been better — but not elite — in August with a slash of .238/.373/.381 with two homers and a pair of steals.