MLB Player News

Wetherholt was the seventh pick of the 2024 MLB draft and hasn’t played above Low-A yet. Still, the 22-year-old shortstop was invited to spring training and impressed with an opposite field three-run home run in his first taste of game action. Wetherholt is almost certainly headed back to the minor leagues, but the Cardinals have been aggressive promoting young players in the past so it might not be too long until he’s deemed major league ready.

The 32-year-old right-hander opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees. He had been stationed at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre where he had posted a 3.94 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 32/15 K/BB ratio across 29 2/3 innings. He’s now free to peddle his wares on the open market.

The 28-year-old hurler elected free agency from the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon and it didn’t take him long to land on his feet elsewhere. Pop had registered a 13.50 ERA, 2.25 WHIP and a 3/2 K/BB ratio across 5 1/3 innings in the big leagues with the M’s this season. Expect the move to be made official on Friday.

The good news is that the MRI exam that he underwent on Thursday didn’t reveal any structural damage and Muncy has plenty of time to return to action and get himself ready for the postseason. Miguel Rojas will handle the hot corner in his absence on Thursday against the White Sox and it seems like he, Hyeseong Kim and Enrique Hernández will share the workload at the position while Muncy is shelved.

The Giants needed to free up a spot on their 40-man roster for Sergio Alcántara on Thursday and unfortunately Porter was the odd man out this time around. It seems likely that the 29-year-old backstop will pass through waivers unclaimed and continue to function as extra depth for the Giants at the Triple-A level.

The Giants were hurting for depth on the infield after Casey Schmitt landed on the injured list so they made the decision to swap out an outfielder and bring up Sergio Alcántara. Johnson has hit just .172/.226/.345 with one homer, one RBI and one stolen base in 31 plate appearances for the Giants this season.

It’s the first trip to the big leagues for the 28-year-old infielder since the 2022 season. Alcántara was hitting just .206/.319/.252 with zero homers, 14 RBI and two stolen bases in 256 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He’s there to provide depth at third base while Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt are sidelined and he can be ignored for fantasy purposes.

The 27-year-old right-hander posted a 15.43 ERA, 2.57 WHIP and a 4/2 K/BB ratio over 4 2/3 innings out of the Rays’ bullpen before he was designated for assignment last weekend. He’ll continue to refine his craft at the minor league level for the time being.

He’ll take the place of the injured Max Muncy (knee) on the Dodgers’ active roster. The 26-year-old speedster has hit a blistering .295/.395/.456 with eight homers, 38 RBI and 39 stolen bases (in 45 attempts) at the Triple-A level this season.

Muncy went for an MRI on his injured left knee on Thursday, the results of which are still not yet known. We do know that he’ll miss a couple of weeks at a minimum though. Esteury Ruiz was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday to take his place on the active roster. Look for the Dodgers to provide more information as it becomes available.

Estrada hardly crushed the homer — at 96 mph off the bat, it wasn’t even be considered a barrel — but it tied the game at 2-2 in the first. Estrada later knocked in runs with a groundout in the third and a single in the seventh, giving him the fifth four-RBI game of his career. He’s hitting a nice .317/.339/.436 through 25 games, though his exit-velocity numbers don’t really back it up. The bigger concern from a fantasy standpoint is that he was caught stealing (after being picked off) today for the third time in four attempts this season; he needs the steals to be worth using in mixed leagues, but he just hasn’t been able to contribute there since 2023.