MLB Player News

The bottom of the A’s order did nearly all of the damage on a night they scored ten runs on the Padres in Sacramento. Urshela had a big day at the plate. He drove in two runs with a double in the first inning and scored on a base hit by Max Muncy. Urshela doubled once again in the third to plate one more run. He added a base hit in the fifth for his third hit of the day. The 33-year-old third baseman doubled his hit total on the year after coming into this one 3-for-29 at the plate.

No word yet on what the Phillies will receive in return, though it’ll probably just be cash after Clemens had been designated for assignment earlier in the week. The 28-year-old is a career .197/.244/.367 hitter with 14 homers and 48 RBI in 376 at-bats at the big league level.

This Reds lineup loved hitting in Coors Field. Led by Marte, they stacked up 13 hits off Kyle Freeland the Rockies’ bullpen on their way to a win. Marte has now totaled 11 hits over his last five games, but mind you most of those came last Sunday when the Reds put up 24 runs on the Orioles – aided by some position players pitching – and then some more here in Coors Field. Be sure to monitor how he hits when on an even playing field.

Working with a one run lead is always scary, especially in Colorado. Pagán worked a clean inning though and didn’t allow a moment of stress. He’s also begun to run away with the Reds’ closer job. He’s earned their last four saves and Reds’ manager Terry Francona has stuck with him despite a rough blown save in the middle of this run against the Mariners. It seems like this bullpen no longer has a closer by committee.

The 29-year-old has been out of work since he elected free agency from the White Sox back at the end of August. He’ll likely report to Triple-A Oklahoma City where he’ll serve as extra depth for the defending world champions.

Coors Field is not a fun place to pitch, especially for someone like Abbott who thrives on the vertical movement of his fastball. That fastball lost four inches of induced vertical break in this start compared to its season average and he seemed hesitant to throw it in the zone unless he was way behind in the count. He wound up just nibbling and struggled to grab strikes with any of his secondary pitches. This start was certainly a step in the wrong direction after two great starts. He’ll look to get back on track in his next scheduled start against the Cardinals at home.

Beck, out of the lead-off spot for the first time this season, got all of his two homers. They traveled a combined 841 feet and were true no-doubters off the bat. He is in the midst of a power surge right now with five home runs in his last three games (that have only spanned two days). He’s made his presence known since being recalled from the minors last week looks like he’ll be a regular in the Rockies’ outfield moving forward.

The Reds were simply all over Freeland in this one. Nearly half of the balls they put in play were hit hard and they put traffic on the bases in every inning. He threw the kitchen sink at them, mixing six pitches and it was still to no avail. Such is life for a Rockies pitcher in Coors Field. He’s scheduled to pitch the last game of Colorado’s homestand next week against the Braves.

Polanco got the Mariners back in the game with a three-run homer to turn a 6-1 deficit into a 6-4 game. The 31-year-old has looked so much more effective to begin 2025 than he ever looked in 2024, and he’s up to five homers, 16 RBI and an outstanding .982 OPS. It’s time to take this seriously, if you haven’t already.