MLB Player News

Vodnik (1-2) picked up the win in Friday's 9-7 extra-innings victory over the Phillies, walking one and striking out two over two scoreless, no-hit innings.

Entering a tie game in the ninth inning, Vodnik shut down the heart of the Phillies' order and got rewarded for his efforts when his offense put two runs on the board in the top of the 11th. The right-hander is the clear top option in the Colorado bullpen, converting four of his six save chances so far in 2026, but pitching his home games at Coors Field has left its mark on his ratios in the early going. Vodnik has a 3.60 ERA in 10 road innings but a brutal 11.12 ERA in 5.2 frames at home.

Dollander didn't factor into the decision in Friday's 9-7 extra-innings win over the Phillies, allowing two runs on three hits and five walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out five.

The right-hander didn't give up a hit until the fourth inning and took a shutout into the sixth, but Dollander's control eventually cost him his second quality start of the season. He tossed just 48 of 89 pitches for strikes before getting lifted, with the five walks being a season high. Dollander has worked at least five innings in five straight appearances either as a traditional starter or a bulk reliever, posting a 2.76 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 33:13 K:BB through 29.1 innings over that stretch. He'll look to tighten things up in his next trip to the mound, which is scheduled to come on the road next week in Pittsburgh.

Lodolo (0-1) took the loss Friday, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk over 5.1 innings as the Reds were routed 10-0 by the Astros. He struck out two.

Making his first start of the season after a blister issue cost him the first six weeks, Lodolo tossed 53 of 78 pitches for strikes but served up a pair of two-run homers, one by Zach Dezenzo in the second inning and the other by Yordan Alvarez in the sixth. Lodolo didn't shy away from using all his pitches, and his fingers appeared to emerge from the outing unscathed, but his velocity did decline in his final inning of work. The southpaw will look to build up his stamina and sharpen his command in his next trip to the mound, which is set to come at home next week against the Nationals.

Assad (3-1) tossed 3.2 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win in Friday's 7-1 victory over the Rangers. He allowed a hit and a walk while striking out one.

Ben Brown started for the Cubs and gave them four strong innings before turning things over to the bullpen. Assad stepped up with some important length and earned his third win of the year and second in relief. The righty has a subpar 6.00 ERA across 24 innings so far, but that figure is inflated by the nine runs he allowed on April 13 and the six runs he gave up on April 25. Outside of those two bad outings, Assad has a sharp 0.52 ERA.

Sasaki is no longer lined up to make a start during this weekend's series versus Atlanta and is now on track to make his next turn through the rotation Monday versus the Giants at Dodger Stadium, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Blake Snell's (shoulder) impending return from the 15-day injured list had been expected to put Sasaki at risk of being bumped from the Dodgers' six-man rotation, but the latter will end up keeping his spot at least temporarily after Los Angeles placed Tyler Glasnow (back) on the IL on Friday. However, with Snell set to be activated Saturday for his 2026 team debut and with Justin Wrobleski in line to start Sunday, Sasaki will end up being pushed back in the pitching schedule to Monday, when he'll be taking the hill on eight days' rest. Sasaki took a step forward in covering a season-high six innings in his last start May 2 against the Cardinals but has still been the clear weak link in the Los Angeles rotation with a 5.97 ERA and 1.67 WHIP over 28.2 frames on the campaign.

Happ went 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 7-1 win over the Rangers.

Happ extended his on-base streak to 29 games, which dates back to April 5. While the veteran's .243 batting average doesn't jump off the page, his .376 on-base percentage would be a new career high. Happ is buoying that on-base percentage with a nearly 17 percent walk rate, which would also be a new career best. As long as Happ keeps getting on base frequently, he should be able to score plenty of runs for the Cubs.

Waldschmidt entered Friday's game as a pinch hitter and singled in his lone at-bat in a 3-1 extra-inning loss to the Mets.

Waldschmidt drove the second pitch he saw into left field for a single in his first MLB plate appearance. The prospect was called up earlier in the day amid the Diamondbacks' offensive funk. It's unlikely Waldschmidt alone can fix Arizona's third-highest chase rate in MLB, but selectivity is one of his strengths.

Arenado went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 3-1 extra-inning loss to the Mets.

Arenado collected his first RBI in eight contests when he left the yard in the second inning. It was his sixth homer through 35 games, halfway to the 12 he belted over 107 games in 2025. He's enjoying a nice bounce-back season in the desert with a .769 OPS, the third baseman's highest mark since 2023.

Harris went 4-for-4 in Friday's 3-1 loss to the Dodgers.

Harris had gone 0-for-9 with two strikeouts over three games during Atlanta's series in Seattle earlier in the week after returning from a quadriceps injury . This was his first multi-hit effort since April 25 versus the Phillies. The outfielder's recent cooldown was somewhat expected, but he's still hitting .319 with an .878 OPS, seven home runs, 22 RBI, 14 runs scored, four doubles and two stolen bases over 36 contests.

Sale (6-2) allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and struck out seven without walking a batter over seven innings, taking the loss versus the Dodgers on Friday.

Sale's four-start winning streak came to an end in this battle between early leaders in the National League this season. This was also just the second time in eight starts Sale has given up more than one run, with both of those instances coming in Southern California. Sale has a dominant 2.20 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 56:12 K:BB across 49 innings over eight starts this season. The southpaw will look to bounce back in his next start, which is projected to be at home versus the Cubs.