MLB Player News

Massey is swinging at everything right now, and it’s mostly just resulting in weak contact in the air. That was the case in the ninth inning as the tying run against Devin Williams tonight. He actually took the first pitch after Salvador Perez walked and was rewarded with a ball on an offering that appeared to be a strike. He then fouled off the next pitch and popped up the third. The Royals might need to sit Massey down for a couple of days or maybe even call up Nick Loftin (releasing Cavan Biggio in the process) to give him a look at second base.

Spencer Steer is up to second. That seems like something of an odd choice, given that his improvement has been more about power than an OBP that’s hovered around .300 in recent months. Noelvi Marte seems like a better choice there, with Steer staying in the middle of the lineup, but it doesn’t matter a whole lot. McLain has sat out two of the last five games against right-handers and might log more bench time if he can’t put something together soon. His OPS has been stuck right around .650 since late June.

Dollander gave up 11 earned runs and walked eight over 11 1/3 innings in his three starts for Albuquerque, but the Rockies must think they have no one else worth a look. And they’re probably right. Dollander will start against the Cardinals tonight.

Since Braxton Fulford was called up as a third catcher option last Monday, he’d started four games, including two at DH, to Nola’s none, making it easy to see where things were heading. Nola was just 7-for-38 with one extra-base hit and one RBI over 41 plate appearances in his six weeks with the club.

Will there be a fourth? Yesavage had a 4.50 ERA and a 46/11 K/BB in 30 innings over eight outings for Double-A New Hampshire. He has a 3.01 ERA and a 134/30 K/BB over 80 2/3 innings overall this year. The Blue Jays don’t seem likely to need him as a starter while already possessing five reliable options and having Shane Bieber set to debut later this month. Still, injuries could strike, or the Jays could decide to see what Yesavage could offer out of the pen in September.

Buxton missed 15 days with rib-cage inflammation. It’s best to activate him immediately in fantasy leagues, but he probably will get more off days than usual down the stretch, what with the Twins simply playing out the string. Carson McCusker was demoted, and Austin Martin and Alan Roden could see less playing time with Buxton back. It’s also possible one of those two could head back to Triple-A once Matt Wallner returns from the paternity list.

McCusker went 1-for-3 as a DH in his only appearance during his two days with the Twins.

Nick Burdi is being DFA’d to open up a spot on the 40-man. It’s unclear who is getting taken off the active roster, but Isaiah Campbell might be the choice after throwing 23 pitches on Sunday.

Tidwell followed Landen Roupp (elbow), who threw only three innings in his rehab start. Tidwell then delivered a strong performance that saw him post a superb 43 percent whiff rate and 36 percent CSW. His sinker was just 91.8 mph in this one, which is down three mph from what we’ve seen this season, but you have to wonder if that could be some statcast misreadings given how well he pitched. His slider and sweeper combined for 17 whiffs on 16 swings, and the Giants really have to think about having his next performance come at the big league level.

The home run was an impressive at-bat in which Eldridge was initially called out on strikes after an 0-2 changeup. However, he challenged the pitch, which was revealed to be a ball, then walked the count full before hitting a 374-foot shot for his 12th home run at Triple-A. He has some swing-and-miss concerns, but he’s knocking on the door of MLB at-bats as the Giants’ offense continues to falter.

He also walked four and struck out five while throwing 47 of his 83 pitches for strikes. Abel seemed to break out a sweeper in this start that was three mph slower than his regular slider and with 10 inches more horizontal movement. He threw only seven of them, and one for a strike, so the Twins are clearly still tweaking some things with his pitch mix, but he posted a solid 23 percent whiff rate and 27 percent CSW on the day.