MLB Player News

The Rays optioned Mead to Triple-A Durham on Monday, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Mead has been given plenty of chances by the Rays this season, but his bat never got going, as he slashed just .218/.269/.276 with one home run and a 23:4 K:BB over 94 plate appearances. The 23-year-old will look to get on track at Durham with the hopes of earning another opportunity later this season.

The Rays activated Lowe (hamstring) from the 10-day injured list Monday, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Lowe originally went on the IL prior to Opening Day with an oblique strain and more recently dealt with a hamstring issue during his minor-league rehab assignment. He's healthy now after resuming his rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham this past Thursday and is finally ready for his 2024 Rays debut following a nearly six-week absence. The 26-year-old had a breakout 2023 campaign with Tampa Bay, hitting 20 home runs and stealing 32 bases.

The Guardians selected Manzardo's contract from Triple-A Columbus on Monday. He'll serve as the Guardians' designated hitter and hit seventh in Monday's series opener versus the Tigers.

With Steven Kwan (hamstring) landing on the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move, Manzardo should get the chance to play on an everyday basis in his first taste of the big leagues. If he performs well enough, Manzardo should have a strong case for sticking around with Cleveland even after Kwan returns, as the 23-year-old is viewed as one of the organization's top hitting prospects and isn't in need of further development time in the minors. In his first full season with the Cleveland organization after coming over from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline last July, Manzardo slashed .303/.375/.642 with nine home runs, 20 RBI and 25 runs across 128 plate appearances for Columbus. Though he'll be deployed at DH on Monday, Manzardo picked up 24 starts at first base with Columbus and could be an option at the position when Josh Naylor needs a day off.

The Twins promoted Matthews from High-A Cedar Rapids to Double-A Wichita on Monday.

After Matthews finished the 2023 season at Cedar Rapids and produced a 4.59 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 59:10 K:BB in 66.2 innings with the affiliate, the Twins opted to have him return to the Midwest League to begin the 2024 campaign. He quickly proved to be worthy of a promotion, as he submitted a 1.59 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 28:3 K:BB in 22.2 innings over his first four starts of the season with Cedar Rapids.

Rooker went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs in a loss to the Marlins on Sunday.

A day after slugging two home runs in the same inning, Rooker laced the only extra-base hit of the afternoon for the Athletics. Rooker's multi-hit effort was his second straight and third in the last eight games, pushing his slash line over the entirety of that span to a spectacular .407/.500/.852 across 32 plate appearances.

Munoz (2-2) got the win against the Astros on Sunday, firing 1.1 perfect innings during which he recorded a strikeout.

Munoz continued what is turning into his best stretch of pitching this season, locating eight of his 11 pitches for strikes on his way to his ninth scoreless effort in the last 10 appearances, including his fifth straight. The right-hander has whittled his ERA and WHIP to 2.03 and 1.13, respectively, and he'd also recorded saves in three consecutive appearances before Sunday's victory.

Urias went 1-for-3 with two RBI from a bases-loaded walk and a run-scoring single in a win over the Astros on Sunday.

Both of Urias' RBI were particularly noteworthy, as he displayed some timely plate discipline with the bases jammed in the second inning and then drove in the game-tying run with an eighth-inning single that plated Dylan Moore. Urias' .738 OPS belies some of his struggles at the plate, as he's still carrying a .167 average and .286 on-base percentage; however, he's also contributed 10 RBI in 20 games, the byproduct of a .444 average in 14 plate appearances with men in scoring position.

Leasure allowed one hit and struck out one across a scoreless inning in Sunday's win over the Cardinals.

Leasure is consistently working in high-leverage roles, with each of his last four appearances coming in the eighth inning or later. He's turned in three scoreless performances in that span, though he did blow a lead April 28 by allowing two earned runs to the Twins. Leasure also hasn't been particularly dominant overall, maintaining a 9:6 K:BB in 14 innings of work for the season. Still, he has one of the White Sox's five total saves and could be the choice to close games out when Michael Kopech is used in high-leverage situations rather than being reserved for save situations.

Raleigh went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in a win over the Astros on Sunday.

The 27-year-old cleared the fences for the second straight game, launching a tie-breaking homer in the ninth inning that would turn out to be the difference in the contest. Raleigh has now reached safely in four the last five games, but he's still carrying a lackluster .210 average and .288 on-base percentage across 118 plate appearances.

Singleton went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run Sunday against the Mariners.

Singleton has started six straight games since Jose Abreu was optioned to the minors and has tallied all three of his home runs for the season in that span. He's gone 6-for-20 overall across those six contests while striking out at just an 8.7 percent clip. With Abreu out of the picture and Joey Loperfido getting his playing time in the outfield, Singleton appears to have the first base job to himself for the foreseeable future.