MLB Player News

Castellanos is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mariners.

Castellanos will head to the bnech for the third time in 11 games. He had been out of the lineup just twice this season prior to that, once due to disciplinary reasons and once due to a minor injury. The Phillies will go with Brandon Marsh, Harrison Bader and Max Kepler in the outfield Wednesday.

The Nationals assigned Willits to Single-A Fredericksburg, and he could make his professional debut as soon as Thursday, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.

Willits was assigned to the rookie-level Florida Complex League after being taken with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft, but he didn't play in any games before the FCL season concluded. He's just 17 years old, so Willits could face a learning curve as he gets his feet wet in pro ball.

Peterson (8-5) picked up the win Tuesday against Washington, allowing one run on four hits and one walk across eight innings. He struck out 10.

Peterson rebounded from his worst start of the season, as he allowed six runs and issued five walks in 3.1 innings against Atlanta in his previous outing. The 29-year-old left-hander set a season high in strikeouts and completed eight innings for the second time all year. Peterson owns a 3.18 ERA and 127:51 K:BB across 144.1 innings this season, and he's tentatively scheduled to close out a two-start week Sunday against Atlanta.

Irvin (8-8) took the loss Tuesday against the Mets, allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks across six innings. He struck out three.

Irvin was hit hard by the Mets, yielding four extra-base hits, including a two-run home run to Mark Vientos and a solo home run to Brett Baty. Irvin has now surrendered a total of seven long balls in his last five starts. He has performed especially poorly in his last four outings, tallying a 9.31 ERA and 2.07 WHIP across 19.1 innings. His next start is tentatively scheduled for Sunday in Philadelphia.

Soto went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored during Tuesday's 8-1 win over the Nationals.

Soto went yard for the sixth time in 11 games, this time tagging Konnor Pilkington for a solo shot in the seventh inning. The right fielder has recorded a hit in 10 of those 11 contests, going 11-for-40 (.275) with three stolen bases and a 10:11 BB:K during that stretch. Soto is the only player in baseball with at least 30 home runs and 20 stolen bases this season.

McNeil went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a two-RBI double and an additional run scored during Tuesday's 8-1 win over Washington.

McNeil delivered his third multi-hit performance in his last four games. His two-RBI double came off Nationals starter Jake Irvin while his ninth-inning homer was against Jackson Rutledge. McNeil has had an excellent August, slashing .302/.353/.429 with a 5:8 K:BB over 16 games.

Vientos went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run during Tuesday's 8-1 win over the Nationals.

Vientos has now gone yard in back-to-back starts after tagging Jake Irvin for a two-run shot as part of a five-run third inning. In his last 18 games, Vientos is 18-for-65 (.277) with three home runs, four doubles and 14 RBI. He's logged at least one hit in 15 of those 18 contests.

Harris went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's win over the White Sox.

The center fielder got Atlanta's offense going early in a wild 11-10 victory, as he took Shane Smith deep in the first inning. Harris has hit safely in 12 straight games, as the swing adjustments he's been working on this season finally begin to pay dividends, and over that stretch he's batting a stunning .471 (24-for-51) with four doubles, six homers, two steals, 11 runs and 17 RBI.

Smith went 3-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored and a walk in Tuesday's win over the Rockies.

Smith added insurance runs with his RBI singles in the seventh and ninth innings. He snapped out of a small slump with his first multi-hit performance since Aug. 11; he was 1-for-his-last-14 entering play Tuesday. Smith has just one extra-base hit over his last 12 games. Still, he owns a terrific .308/.415/.511 slash line with 56 RBI and 59 runs scored through 98 games.

Acuna went 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base in Tuesday's win over the White Sox.

It was Acuna's fifth steal of the season in his 60th game, and his first in five contests since returning from a calf strain over the weekend. Given his recent spate of lower-body injuries, including the torn ACL that ended his 2024 campaign prematurely, speed isn't expected to be a big part of his fantasy arsenal any longer, but Acuna's 28.0 feet/second sprint speed (66th percentile) this season is right in line with the average speed he posted during his incredible 2023, when he swiped 73 bags in 87 attempts. His bat remains as potent as ever -- the 27-year-old is slashing .301/.424/.551 this year between IL stints with 14 homers, 28 RBI and 52 runs.