MLB Player News

Simpson isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees, Ryan Bass of FanDuel Sports Network Sun reports.

Simpson will step out of the starting nine Saturday with left-hander Ryan Yarbrough set to take the mound for New York. Christopher Morel, Kameron Misner and Jose Caballero will start across the Rays' outfield.

Aranda isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees, Ryan Bass of FanDuel Sports Network Sun reports.

The Yankees will send lefty Ryan Yarbrough to the mound to begin Saturday's contest, so Aranda will grab a seat on the bench while Curtis Mead starts at first base and bats fifth.

Williams earned a hold against Tampa Bay on Friday with a perfect inning of relief during which he struck out one batter.

Williams' effort Friday was another positive step forward after a brutal start to the campaign. Williams threw seven of his eight pitches for strikes against the Rays and extended his scoreless and hitless streak to three games since he was demoted from the closer role April 27. His outing Friday was in a relatively high-leverage situation -- the Yankees led by three in the eighth inning when he entered -- and was followed by a clean inning by Luke Weaver, who picked up his third save. Weaver has been dominant all season, so there's likely no urgency for Williams to reclaim New York's closer role, but the latter is at least looking like himself again after posting a 11.25 ERA through his first 10 appearances prior to his demotion.

Little (1-0) picked up the win Friday against the Guardians, giving up one hit over 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. He struck out one.

Entering the game in the seventh inning with the score tied 3-3, Little was still the pitcher of record when the Blue Jays put together a game-winning rally in the bottom of the eighth. The 28-year-old southpaw has been effective for Toronto to begin the season, posting a 2.45 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 22:6 K:BB through 14.2 innings while collecting six holds in 17 appearances.

Wong went 1-for-4 with a run scored in Friday's 6-1 win over Minnesota.

Wong spent nearly a month on the 10-day injured list with finger injury. While catcher is his primary position, Wong made six starts at first base in 2024 and could be an option there after Triston Casas left Friday's contest with a significant knee injury.

Hamilton started at second base and went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, two steals and two runs scored in Friday's 6-1 win over the Twins.

Hamilton filled in at second base for Kristian Campbell (ribs) for a second straight day and was productive again. Hamilton has gone 4-for-7 with three stolen bases in the two games, but Boston manager Alex Cora believes Campbell will be ready to play Sunday, per MLB.com. Hamilton has five steals over 39 plate appearances this season.

Campbell (ribs) is expected to rejoin the starting lineup Saturday against the Twins, MLB.com reports.

Campbell sat out the last two games due to discomfort in his ribs. David Hamilton has filled in for the rookie.

Gonzalez entered for an injured Triston Casas (knee) and went 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in Friday's 6-1 win over Minnesota.

Casas sustained what Red Sox manager Alex Cora described as a "significant knee injury," per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The Red Sox have limited organizational depth at first base, so it looks like Gonzalez, who was a platoon partner at the position with Casas, will be the immediate replacement. The situation will be worth monitoring over the next few days to determine how Cora and the organization plan to address this positional need. Gonzalez is batting .279/.340/.419 with six doubles, two steals, five RBI and nine runs scored over 43 at-bats.

Yarbrough will start Saturday's game against the Rays.

Yarbrough will be filling in for Clarke Schmidt, who was scratched from his scheduled start due to left side soreness. The 33-year-old Yarbrough most recently pitched 3.2 shutout innings against the Orioles on Monday, so he'll be pitching on plenty of rest.

Schmidt was scratched from his scheduled start Saturday against the Rays due to left side soreness, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.

According to Kirschner, manager Aaron Boone said the right-hander underwent an MRI on Friday that came back clean, so the Yankees don't believe the side issue is anything serious. That said, the injury was enough for the Yankees to err on the side of caution and skip Schmidt's turn in the rotation. Ryan Yarbrough will open Saturday's game in what should end up being an impromptu bullpen day for the Yankees. Schmidt, meanwhile, will look to make his next start Tuesday against San Diego.