MLB Player News

Merrill went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 11-3 win over the Rockies.

Merrill has three homers among eight hits over his last seven games, though he's also struck out nine times in that span. Nonetheless, the outfielder appears to have regained some power that was largely absent for much of the of the campaign. He's now at 12 homers, 57 RBI, 48 runs scored, one stolen base and a .257/.313/.432 slash line through 103 games this season.

Ballesteros went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, an additional run and a walk in Saturday's loss to the Rays.

Ballesteros achieved a big personal milestone in the second inning when he clubbed a solo homer for his first big-league long ball. This was just the second game for the rookie catcher since getting called up from Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday. Ballesteros has gotten limited opportunities in the majors so far, but he's been productive when called upon, slashing .280/.357/.520 with eight RBI and three extra-base hits over 28 plate appearances.

Machado went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk, three total RBI and two runs scored in Saturday's 11-3 win over the Rockies.

This was Machado's fourth homer in the last 10 games, though he has gone just 7-for-39 (.179) in that span. The third baseman is also up to 25 long balls on the year, a mark he has reached in each of the last 10 full-length seasons. Machado would need an impressive run of power to get back to 30 homers after missing that threshold last year. He's added a .277/.338/.464 slash line with 88 RBI, 85 runs scored, 33 doubles and 13 stolen bases over 149 contests in 2025.

Tatis went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, a walk and a second run scored in Saturday's 11-3 win over the Rockies.

Tatis hadn't taken advantage of Colorado's pitching over the first two games of this weekend series, but he broke through with a second-inning homer Saturday. The outfielder is hitting a mild .227 (10-for-44) in September, but he has supplied four homers and eight RBI over 12 games this month. He's up to 22 long balls, 65 RBI, 99 runs scored, 29 stolen bases and a .261/.364/.435 slash line through 145 contests this year.

Cease (8-11) allowed one run on five hits and a walk while striking out six over six innings to earn the win over the Rockies on Saturday.

Cease had to work for the quality start, throwing 109 pitches (70 strikes) in this outing. He's gotten himself back on track with a pair of wins over the Rockies in his last two starts, allowing just two runs over 11 innings in those games. For the season, he's at a 4.59 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 201:66 K:BB across 157 innings over 30 starts. He's topped the 200-strikeout mark in five consecutive seasons, though he is likely to fall short of the 224 he had last year.

Thomas went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer during Arizona's 5-2 extra-inning win over Minnesota on Saturday.

Thomas hadn't hit a home run since Aug. 4, but he gave the Diamondbacks the early lead with a two-run shot in the fourth. The 25-year-old outfielder has nine home runs this season, which ties his career high from the 2023 campaign. Thomas has struggled at the plate over his last 15 games, having gone 5-for-33 (.152) over that span.

Arraez was removed from Saturday's game against Colorado after getting hit by a ball in the head area while jogging onto the field in the ninth inning, Andres Soto of MLB.com reports.

Arraez spent some time on the ground after getting hit by the errant warmup throw, and he was subsequently replaced in the field by Jose Iglesias. The Padres were up 11-3 at the time, so it wouldn't have made much sense for Arraez to remain in the game even if he avoided injury. Manager Mike Shildt may have more to share about Arraez's status following the contest. Prior to exiting, Arraez went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

Alexander went 2-for-5 with a two-run double during the Diamondbacks' 5-2 extra-inning win over the Twins on Saturday.

Alexander gave Arizona a three-run cushion in the 10th inning on a double to right field that brought Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno home. It was a nice bounce-back performance for Alexander after he went 0-for-5 with a strikeout in Friday's series opener. He has logged at least one hit in five of his last six games and has gone 10-for-41 (.244) with seven RBI in 11 games since the start of September.

Moreno went 2-for-5 with an RBI single and a run scored during the Diamondbacks' 5-2 extra-inning win over the Twins on Saturday.

Moreno broke the 2-2 tie in the 10th inning with an infield RBI single before coming home to score two batters later on a Blaze Alexander two-run double. Moreno has logged exactly two hits in each of his last five games, going 10-for-20 (.500) with one steal, two homers and six RBI over that span. He has a 1.011 OPS in 70 plate appearances since returning from the 10-day injured list in late August.

Nelson did not factor into the decision in Saturday's extra-inning win over the Twins. He allowed four hits and three walks while striking out four across six scoreless innings.

Nelson got off to a slow start by allowing four hits to the first six batters he faced, but he got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and kept the Twins off the board. He generated 11 whiffs on 90 pitches (56 strikes) and was in line for his eighth win of the season, but he had to settle for the no-decision after the Twins tied the game at 2-2 in the eighth. Nelson has logged a quality start in each of his last five outings (though he has just one win to show for it), and the 27-year-old right-hander has 2.92 ERA and 1.04 WHIP across 64.2 innings in 11 starts since the All-Star break. His next start is tentatively slated for next weekend at home against the Phillies.