MLB Player News

The Mets acquired Soto from the Orioles on Friday in exchange for pitching prospects Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

The veteran left-hander is on the move at the trade deadline for a second consecutive year after being dealt from Philadelphia to Baltimore in 2024. Soto has served as a setup man for the Orioles this season with one save and 18 holds, and he has a 3.96 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 44:18 K:BB over 36.1 innings. He should fill a similar role in Queens in front of closer Edwin Diaz.

Wentz is slated to start Friday's game against the Rangers in Arlington.

Wentz will pick up a second straight start after he struck out two over four scoreless innings in his first turn through the rotation out of the All-Star break this past Saturday against the Yankees. After having mostly served as a reliever this season across stops with Pittsburgh, Minnesota and now Atlanta, Wentz is still in the process of getting stretched out, so he could be limited to around five innings or 70 pitches Friday.

Helsley struck out two and allowed a hit in a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save Thursday against the Padres.

The right-hander picked up his first save since July 13 and has converted seven straight chances, giving up just one earned run across his past 10 appearances. In 2025, Helsley has rarely looked like the closer that led the league with 49 saves last season, but he's still expected to garner significant interest on the trade market with a 3.09 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 39:14 K:BB over 35 innings this year.

Assad (oblique) tossed three scoreless innings for the Cubs' Arizona Complex League affiliate Thursday. He allowed one hit and struck out six.

It was the first game action for Assad since April and the righty looked sharp, albeit against lesser competition. The team will progress slowly with the 27-year-old, who has yet to pitch in the majors this season. The next steps for Assad will be to increase his workload and face more seasoned hitters, possibly at Triple-A Iowa. Once he's able to come off the IL, Assad could slot back into a rotation that lost Justin Steele (elbow) for the season and is also currently without Jameson Taillon (calf).

The Mariners traded Garcia and Ashton Izzi to the Diamondbacks on Thursday in exchange for Josh Naylor, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

The Diamondbacks are expected to prioritize pitching while they sell their pieces at the deadline, and they'll bolster their bullpen depth by picking up Garcia. The 25-year-old southpaw made his MLB debut Monday against the Brewers and has given up one run in two innings since then. He was optioned back to Triple-A by Seattle shortly before being traded, though it's unclear if he'll return to the bigs upon joining his new organization. Garcia had been a starter prior to this season, and he has a couple plus pitches in his fastball and slider, so it's possible Arizona will look to stretch him back out at some point.

Leahy has generated "intrigue" as a potential option for the Cardinals' rotation, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

All 76 of Leahy's appearances in the majors have come from the bullpen, and he has been used almost exclusively as a reliever since 2023. However, he has lots of past experiences as a starter in the minors, and many of his relief appearances have spanned multiple frames, including his last time out Tuesday in Colorado when he struck out seven while yielding one run over 3.2 innings. It does not sound like a move to the Cardinals' rotation is imminent for Leahy, but it could be considered if they trade other members of the rotation at the deadline. Leahy has posted a 2.95 ERA and 48:19 K:BB over 55 frames in 2025.

Hjelle allowed three earned runs on four hits while striking out one over one inning in Wednesday's 9-3 victory over Atlanta.

Hjelle gave up three singles and a ground-rule double in his second appearance since being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento. The 28-year-old threw 15 of his 20 pitches for strikes before escaping the inning. The right-hander has struggled in the majors this season, posting a 7.71 ERA, 1.93 WHIP and an 11:8 K:BB while surrendering two home runs across 14 innings in 11 appearances (one start).

The Rockies are expected to call up Anderson from Triple-A Albuquerque, Chase Ford of MiLBCentral reports.

Anderson has spent all of the 2025 season at the Triple-A level between the Cardinals and Rockies organizations, collecting a 5.79 ERA and 35:15 K:BB over 32.2 innings. The veteran right-hander is likely to operate in a middle-relief role.

Lucchesi threw a scoreless inning in Wednesday's 9-3 win over Atlanta, allowing no hits while striking out one.

Lucchesi threw eight of his 10 pitches for strikes, recording his 10th consecutive scoreless outing. During that span, the left-hander has allowed six hits and two walks while striking out 16 over 12 innings. Since joining the major-league roster from Triple-A Sacramento on June 15, the 32-year-old has posted a 1.93 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and a 17:2 K:BB across 14 innings in 13 appearances.

Kriske tossed two scoreless innings of relief in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to the Royals. He allowed a hit and two walks while striking out one.

Kriske has now logged three scoreless appearances to begin his tenure with the Cubs, spanning five innings. The 31-year-old righty has bounced between the minors and majors during his career, and he's probably nothing more than organizational depth at this point. However, Kriske has pitched well, so it's possible he sticks around in Chicago and sees more meaningful relief work down the road.