MLB Player News

Is Story officially back? This was his first multi-home run game since May 19th, 2022 and gave him an .876 OPS on the season. The Red Sox steadily kept him hitting fifth for the first two weeks of the season, but have bumped him up to third and fourth in their last two games respectively. Story still struggles with his strikeout rate and will chase more than his share of pitches out of the strike zone. Yet, his power in this lineup and in that ballpark could produce some gaudy stats by year’s end.

The Angels showed Ramírez some respect early, intentionally walking him in the first inning with a runner in scoring position. Kyle Hendricks wanted no part of Ramírez with another intentional walk in the third. They should have walked him again in the fifth as Ramírez took Hendricks deep for a solo homer to lead off the inning. The 32-year-old third baseman is hitting .319/.378/.536 with ten homers, 35 runs scored, 28 RBI, and 14 steals across 233 plate appearances.

Kwan reached on a throwing error in the first inning and stole second before he was stranded on the bases. After a double in the third inning, he knocked a base hit in the fourth and took Kyle Hendricks deep for a solo homer in the sixth. The 27-year-old outfielder is slashing .315/.372/.441 with five homers, 29 runs scored, and eight steals across 243 plate appearances.

Ward slugged his 16th home run of the season with a solo blast off Slade Cecconi in the third inning. He later drew a walk in the game. The 31-year-old outfielder is hitting .221/.276/.502 with the 16 homers, 33 runs scored, and 38 RBI across 239 plate appearances.

Clase was given a two-run lead to work with in the ninth for the save chance. He needed ten pitches to close out the game with his 12th save of the season. After struggling to start the season, the 27-year-old right-hander allowed just one run across 10 2/3 innings in May.

Cecconi worked two scoreless innings before serving up back-to-back homers to Yoán Moncada and Taylor Ward in the third. Jo Adell added two runs on a homer in the fourth. Cecconi allowed a single and issued a walk with one out in the fifth. That would be it for the 25-year-old right-hander. One inherited runner would come in to score. Cecconi will take a 5.28 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, and a 17/5 K/BB ratio across 15 1/3 innings into a start against the Astros in Cleveland on Friday.

Hendricks stranded the bases loaded in the third to keep the Guardians off the board before Nolan Jones tripled in a run and scored on an error for a two-run little-league homer. José Ramírez added a run for Cleveland with a solo homer in the fifth. Steven Kwan then took Hendricks deep for a solo shot with two outs in the sixth, and that would be it. Hendricks struck out six. The 35-year-old right-hander will take a 5.34 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and a 39/18 K/BB ratio across 59 innings into a start against the Mariners in Anaheim on Friday.

Senga gave up a first-inning homer to Ezequiel Tovar and then retired 17 in a row until the seventh, when he walked two and allowed an RBI single. That meant his ERA climbed today, increasing from 1.46 to 1.60, so consider that a rare positive accomplishment for the Rockies offense on the road. Senga will face the team again, this time in Coors, next weekend.

10 losses on May 31. 10 losses before his team has even won 10 games. Senzatela is definitely struggling, but so is everyone in the rotation, and between the Coors Field factor and the lack of any competence around them, it’s tough to say just how bad these Rockies starters are right now. Senzatela figures to remain in the rotation in spite of his 7.14 ERA, and he’ll probably make his next start at home against the Mets.

The homer off Antonio Senzatela was Soto’s first in three weeks. It’s not much, especially coming against Colorado pitching, but he has collected three hits the last two days. His batted-ball numbers still say there’s nothing at all wrong here, but Mets fans and fantasy leaguers have to be tired of hearing that by now.

Now that the Rockies have stopped giving Nick Martini at-bats, we can move on to complaining about how they continue to play Farmer so much. The 34-year-old hit .362/.404/.532 in his first 15 games with the team. Since then, he’s come in at .178/.210/.287 in 32 appearances. He has zero upside, and he’s not even a particularly good defender. Especially following the nearly-as-pointless Orlando Arcia signing, there’s just no reason for Farmer to be on the roster.