MLB Player News

Hassell has picked up right where he left off after an impressive spring, hitting .357 (5-for-14) with one steal through three games. The 23-year-old former top prospect is putting himself back on fantasy manager’s radar screens with his recent performance, but it’ll be challenging for his patience and speed profile to succeed at the highest level.

Bazzana came into the day hitting .132/.230/.264 in his previous 14 games, so hitting a go-ahead homer in the seventh surely felt very good. He’s still at .250/.353/.419 overall. He was picked off today for his third caught stealing in 14 attempts.

When Messick averaged 94.8 mph with his fastball last week against the Yankees, that represented a new high for him as a major leaguer. Today, though, he blew that away, coming in at 95.9 mph with his 28 heaters. His slider was also up 2.7 mph from his season norm and his changeup was 1.9 mph better. Of course, that he was getting to pitch on seven days’ rest might have had a little something to do with it. Messick is already plenty good as is, but if this velocity boost sticks around, we might be looking at a Cy Young contender. He’ll take a 7-3 record and a 2.70 ERA into his start Tuesday against the White Sox.

Smith entered with two on in the eighth and walked Willson Contreras before striking out Christian Yelich to end the threat. He then retired three of four batters in the ninth. Smith has five more saves than anyone else in the majors. This could be the fourth time in five years that a Guardians reliever has led the AL in saves, as Emmanuel Clase topped the circuit each season from 2022-24.

Drohan’s fastball velocity had been holding up quite well as a starter, but his first fastball was down about one mph today and his slider was down by about two mph. Fortunately, he still mostly produced soft contact, with David Fry’s 380-foot homer being the obvious exception. Drohan departed with a one-run lead, but that failed to last long. He’s 1-1 with a 4.43 ERA and a 19/6 K/BB over 20 1/3 innings in four starts since being added to the rotation at the beginning of the month. He’ll probably keep the spot following Brandon Woodruff’s return and face the Reds next week.

Even though Fry has an .841 OPS in his 40 at-bats against righties this year, the Guardians had Daniel Schneeman bat for him in the seventh today. But Schneeman did provide a defensive upgrade, too, what with Fry starting in right field today. With the Guardians so banged up, Fry has now started five straight games, including two against righties. Prior to this, he’d started three of 16 games and hadn’t started against a righty since May 24.

The 28-year-old infielder had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. He passed through waivers unclaimed and will continue to serve as extra depth for the Mets at the Triple-A level once again.

The 28-year-old southpaw opted out of his minor league deal with the Guardians earlier in the week. Allard pitched well in eight appearances (five starts) at Triple-A Columbus, posting a 4.11 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and a 28/9 K/BB ratio over 30 2/3 innings. He’ll add rotation depth for the Phillies at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The superstar shortstop has been sidelined since late April due to a calf strain. He’ll likely remain on the rehab assignment through the weekend, then if all goes well, he could be cleared to return to the Mets’ lineup early next week. Lindor has hit just .226/.314/.355 with two homers, five RBI and a pair of stolen bases in 105 plate appearances over 24 games with the Mets this season.

As of now, the Royals are taking things day-to-day with Garcia, who was pulled from Tuesday’s game due to left hand soreness. There’s a chance that he winds up spending time on the injured list for this though. Nick Loftin will once again start in his place at the hot corner and will bat seventh for the Royals against Cardinals’ left-hander Matthew Liberatore.

With left-hander Noah Cameron toeing the slab for the Royals, Nootbaar will get a breather. Fellow left-handed hitters Jimmy Crooks and Nathan Church are also out of the Cardinals’ lineup on Thursday. Nelson Velazquez will start in Nootbaar’s place in left field and will bat cleanup for the Cardinals on Thursday night in Kansas City.