MLB Player News

  • Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Hits first Triple-A homer

    Guerrero went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and two RBI for Triple-A Buffalo in its 6-1 win over Gwinnett on Wednesday.

    The home run was Guerrero's first with Buffalo, but his .682 slugging percentage at Triple-A is actually 11 points better than his mark at Double-A New Hampshire. As anticipated, the move to the International League hasn't presented much of a challenge for Guerrero, who has continued to torch opposing pitchers since returning from the patellar tendon injury that sidelined him for most of June. He sports an impressive 8:2 K:BB through 31 plate appearances at Triple-A and is doing his best to make a case for a promotion to the big leagues before the 2018 campaign comes to a close.

  • Jose Abreu 1B | HOU

    White Sox's Jose Abreu: Climbs out of hitting funk

    Abreu went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 7-3 loss to the Yankees.

    Abreu's average had dipped to a season-low .250 on July 21, but he's rebounded since, going 25-for-67 (.373) with seven home runs and 15 RBI over the last 17 games. He may be headed for his least-productive season since coming stateside five years ago, but that Abreu can continue get results in middle of a lineup that offers little support reinforces the notion that he's a gifted hitter and middle-of-the-order threat.

  • Kole Calhoun 1B | CLE

    Angels' Kole Calhoun: Swats 15th homer

    Calhoun went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and an additional run scored in Wednesday's 6-0 win over the Tigers.

    Calhoun opened the game with a bang, taking Blaine Hardy deep on just the second pitch he saw to give the Angels an early lead that they wouldn't relinquish. The 30-year-old has picked it up after a disappointing first half of the season, hitting .314 with six homers and 18 RBI across 18 games since the All-Star break.

  • Nate Lowe DH | CIN

    Rays' Nathaniel Lowe: Moves up to Triple-A

    Lowe was promoted to Triple-A Durham on Wednesday.

    A 13th-round pick in 2016, Lowe had certainly been productive in the lower levels of the minors in 2016 and 2017, but this year has unquestionably been his coming out party. He earned the promotion to the highest level of the minors after going 13-for-28 (.464) with a pair of home runs, nine walks and three strikeouts over his last eight games for Double-A Montgomery. He has logged a 190 wRC+ at High-A, a 191 wRC+ at Double-A and 23 home runs over 101 games across the two levels. His batting averages on balls in play at those two levels were high, but not so high that we should write off the production. He also has a 63:60 K:BB this season, and had more walks (35) than strikeouts (30) at Double-A. Another promising element of Lowe's production is his spray chart -- he hit exactly the same amount (34.2 percent) of balls to the pull side as to the opposite field at Double-A, which suggests MLB teams won't be able to neutralize him via the shift. The big knocks on Lowe are his age (23), position (first base) and lack of pedigree. If he carries over this dominance against Triple-A pitching, we will likely find out how his tools play at the highest level sometime next summer.

  • C.J. Cron 1B | BOS

    Rays' C.J. Cron: Out of lineup Wednesday

    Cron is not starting Wednesday against the Orioles.

    Cron has been splitting time with Ji-Man Choi as the Rays' designated hitter, with the pair now alternating starts for eight straight games. Choi will get the call Wednesday.

  • Alex Kirilloff LF | MIN

    Twins' Alex Kirilloff: Raking at High-A

    Kirilloff is hitting .368/.394/.540 with three home runs and two steals in 40 games (175 plate appearances) since his promotion to High-A Fort Myers.

    His .419 BABIP at High-A is unsustainable, but even if we regress his batting average 50 or 60 points, he's still off to a very impressive start in the Florida State League. The main thing any Kirilloff detractor would point to is his 4.0 percent walk rate, but it's hard to expect a player who's sporting a 165 wRC+ while striking out just 15.4 percent of the time to be more patient. He has a chance to enter this offseason as a top-20 prospect for dynasty leagues and should open his age-21 season at Double-A.

  • Jose Abreu 1B | HOU

    White Sox's Jose Abreu: Homers, drives in three

    Abreu went 1-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Tuesday's extra-innings loss to the Yankees.

    Abreu recorded a sacrifice fly in the third inning and later hit a game-tying two-run homer -- his 20th of the year -- in the 10th inning off Zach Britton. This marks five consecutive years that Abreu has hit at least 20 home runs, but he's got some work to do still to reach the 100-RBI threshold as he has for four straight seasons.

  • Ryan O'Hearn 1B | PIT

    Royals' Ryan O'Hearn: Out again Tuesday

    O'Hearn is on the bench for the second straight day Tuesday against the Cubs, Maria Torres of The Kansas City Star reports.

    O'Hearn started four straight after getting called up on deadline day, but he's gone just 2-for-16 and has now sat for three of the last four. Hunter Dozier will be the Royals' designated hitter Tuesday, with Drew Butera playing first base.

  • Ryan O'Hearn 1B | PIT

    Royals' Ryan O'Hearn: Heads to bench Monday

    O'Hearn is not in the lineup Monday against the Cubs, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

    O'Hearn has started five of six games since earning a promotion at the end of July, going 2-for-16 (.125) with a homer and three walks over that stretch. He'll head to the bench for Monday's series opener with a lefty in Cole Hamels toeing the rubber for the opposition, while Jorge Bonifacio takes over as DH in his stead.

  • Matt Olson 1B | ATL

    Athletics' Matt Olson: Crushes two-run blast

    Olson went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs scored in the 6-0 win over the Tigers on Sunday.

    Olson was held without a long ball since his multi-homer effort July 22. He's up to 22 home runs on the year as he's still chasing last year's total of 24 despite having more than double the at-bats in 2018.

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