MLB Player News

Perkins went 2-for-6 with two home runs and three RBI in Friday's 16-9 win over the Nationals.

The switch hitter launched both blasts from the right side of the plate, taking Mitchell Parker deep in the second and fifth innings. The homers were the first of the season for Perkins, who is batting .281 (9-for-32) over 12 games since the All-Star break with five extra-base hits (two doubles, a triple, two home runs), two steals, six RBI and eight runs. With Jackson Chourio (hamstring) set to miss more than the 10-day minimum after being placed on the injured list Friday, Perkins should be in line for an everyday role over the next few weeks.

Quintana (8-4) picked up the win Friday, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks over five innings in a 16-9 victory over the Nationals. He struck out four.

The veteran southpaw tossed 58 of 94 pitches for strikes in an inefficient outing, but the Brewers backed him with a season-high 25 hits. Quintana continues to provide Milwaukee with reliable innings, posting a 3.69 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 24:14 K:BB over 39 innings across his last seven starts, winning four of them. He could get plenty of run support again in his next trip to the mound, which lines up to come on the road next week in Atlanta.

Santana (3-3) was the pitcher of record in Friday's 17-16 loss to the Rockies after he retired just one batter and allowed five earned runs on four hits and one walk.

Called upon to protect a four-run lead in the ninth inning, Santana struck out the first batter he faced but then allowed the next five runners to reach while serving up two home runs in the process. Despite the disastrous outing, Santana has been excellent this season, as Friday's outing marked the first time he's allowed multiple earned runs in his last 20 appearances. He should still be projected to earn the majority of save chances after the departure of David Bednar ahead of Thursday's trade deadline, but his effectiveness in the role will be worth monitoring.

Greene (groin) is scheduled to make the third start of his rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A Louisville, MLB.com reports.

Greene breezed through his first rehab start in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League on July 23 with four strikeouts over two scoreless frames, but he wasn't nearly as sharp while moving up to Louisville for his second outing Tuesday. He struck out six but allowed four earned runs on five hits and no walks before leaving after 2.1 innings due to a sore leg. Greene has quickly moved past that issue and will remain on schedule with his rehab assignment, but it's not clear if he'll be ready to return from the 15-day injured list following Sunday's start. Since he was lifted after 50 pitches in Tuesday's outing, Greene may need to push his pitch count into the 65-to-80 range Sunday for the Reds to feel comfortable adding him back to the big-league rotation next week.

Littell is listed as the Reds' probable starting pitcher for Tuesday's game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

After making his final start for the Rays this past Wednesday before being dealt to the Reds later that evening, Littell will be taking the hill on five days' rest for his Cincinnati debut. Right-hander Hunter Greene (groin) has already completed two rehab starts and could be activated from the injured list in the next week or two, but his return is unlikely to dislodge Littell from the rotation, given how well he had been pitching for the Rays this season. Over his 22 starts with Tampa Bay, Littell spun a 3.58 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 133.1 innings, though he had served up a MLB-high 26 home runs.

Soroka is slated to start Monday's game against the Reds at Wrigley Field.

After coming over from Washington in a deadline deal, Soroka will claim a spot in the back end of the Cubs rotation in place of right-hander Ben Brown, who appears to have been moved to the bullpen. Over his 16 starts with the Nationals this season, Soroka sported a 4.87 ERA, but his 1.13 WHIP, career-best 18.4 K-BB% and 4.05 xFIP all suggest that he pitched better than his ERA indicated.

Kelly went 2-for-3 with a run scored in Friday's 1-0 win over the Orioles.

Kelly had half of Chicago's hits and scored the team's lone run in the low-scoring affair. The veteran catcher had a productive July, slashing .290/.370/.581 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 18 games, and he's off to a good start in August. Kelly is locked in as the Cubs' top backstop, though the eventual return of Miguel Amaya (oblique) could cut into his playing time a little bit.

Kittredge tossed a scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts to earn a hold in Friday's 1-0 win over the Orioles.

Kittredge was traded from the Orioles to the Cubs on Wednesday, and he was sharp in his Chicago debut facing his former team. The righty now has eight holds this season to go along with a strong 3.34 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 34 strikeouts across 32.1 innings. Kittredge won't be closing games for the Cubs, as Daniel Palencia has emerged in that role, but the former will slot in as a valuable setup man along with Caleb Thielbar, Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz and Taylor Rogers in a revamped Chicago bullpen.

Whisenhunt is slated to start Sunday's game against the Mets at Citi Field.

Whisenhunt will remain in the rotation for at least one more turn after he had a so-so showing in his MLB debut against the Pirates on Monday, when he took a no-decision after giving up four earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three over five innings. Landen Roupp (elbow) could be on track to return from the injured list by the end of next week, but the Giants will still have one rotation spot left over for either Whisenhunt or right-hander Kai-Wei Teng, who will be making his first MLB start Saturday. How Whisenhunt and Teng both fare this weekend may be a deciding factor in which of the two sticks around in the big-league rotation on a longer-term basis.

Giants manager Bob Melvin said that Teng will start Saturday's game against the Mets at Citi Field, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Teng made four appearances out of the San Francisco bullpen in the opening month of the 2024 season, but he had pitched exclusively in the minors ever since then before the Giants called him up from Triple-A Sacramento on Friday. The right-hander had been limited to 1.2 innings in his most recent outing with Sacramento on July 25, but that was largely because the Giants wanted to keep him fresh for a potential start with the big club last week that ended up falling to Carson Whisenhunt. The Giants still had another opening in the rotation with Landen Roupp (elbow) recently landing on the injured list, so Teng will be needed for at least one start. Over 25 appearances (four starts) with Sacramento on the season, the 26-year-old righty owns a 3.67 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 86:21 K:BB in 54 innings.