Nathan Eovaldi took a tough loss after allowing three runs in seven innings Thursday versus the Angels.
It says a lot that this rates as one of Eovaldi's worst efforts of the year. He struck out nine in his first loss since Apr. 12, and he dropped to 9-3 with a 2.59 ERA.
Mickey Moniak went 3-for-4 and hit his sixth homer against the Rangers on Thursday.
It's hardly his fault, but Moniak has been playing less lately now that Taylor Ward is hitting again. Moniak is still hitting a robust .319/.347/.681 in 75 plate appearances. He deserves to remain in the lineup against righties, even if it's at the expense of Ward or Hunter Renfroe.
Ryan Weathers got just five outs and gave up six runs to the Guardians on Thursday.
Weathers was left in after a five-run first, but he was pulled after giving up a single and an RBI double in the second. He also lasted just 1 2/3 innings in a start 12 days ago against the Cubs. He's probably not long for the Padres rotation.
David Fry went 2-for-4 and hit his first major league homer Thursday against the Padres.
Fry, who was called up by the Guardians on May 1, was making his first start at catcher and his first start of any kind since May 28. He's batting .227/.261/.409 in 23 plate appearances in his month and a half with the club. There's an argument for giving him more time behind the plate, but if the Guardians wanted to do things differently there, it'd make more sense just to turn to Bo Naylor.
Emmanuel Clase recorded four outs for his 21st save Thursday versus the Padres.
It's Clase's first save of more than three outs this season. He was brought in during the eighth with a man on second and two outs, and he struck out Manny Machado to end the inning. He then retired three out of four batters in the ninth. He threw a total of 24 pitches, so he should still be available to close on Friday.
After entering a scoreless game in the ninth, Ryan Pressly gave up a run in his inning Thursday against the Nationals.
The run came on a homer from Kelbert Ruiz to open the ninth. Pressly avoided the loss after the Astros scored in the bottom of the ninth. However, this is the fifth straight appearance in which he's allowed a run. He could start losing some save chances to Hector Neris or Bryan Abreu if he doesn't turn things around.
Carl Edwards Jr. notched his second save Thursday for throwing a perfect 10th against the Astros.
Edwards had some margin for error tonight after the Nationals scored three runs in the top of the 10th, but he didn't even allow the automatic runner to score. The Nationals had primary closer Kyle Finnegan throw a scoreless eighth in a tie game tonight. Hunter Harvey got the call after the Nationals scored a run in the top of the ninth to take a lead, but he couldn't hold it. That helps Edwards' stock a bit, but Finnegan remains the one Nationals reliever worth using in shallow leagues at the moment.
Keibert Ruiz homered in the ninth and singled in a run in the 10th as the Nationals topped the Astros 4-1 on Thursday.
Ruiz's homer off Ryan Pressly to lead off the top of the ninth was the first run of the game tonight. The Nationals couldn't make it stand up in the bottom of the ninth, as Hunter Harvey blew the save then, but the offense came through with three runs in the 10th, with Ruiz singling in another run then. Ruiz's homer was his eighth in 55 games this year. He finished with seven in 112 games last season.
Pinch-hitting for designated hitter Corey Julks, Yainer Diaz singled in the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth Thursday against the Nationals.
It was the Astros only run in the 10-inning loss. Diaz really should have been in the lineup in the first place tonight, and if that had happened, perhaps the Astros would have won. Instead, Diaz got just the one plate appearance, and Houston lost in 10 innings.
Johan Oviedo was knocked out in the fifth inning against the Cubs on Thursday, allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings in a loss.
He did strike out eight. A Nico Hoerner stolen base was cashed in by Ian Happ in the fourth inning, and Oviedo was pulled after allowing three of the first four hitters to reach in the fifth inning. The bullpen immediately allowed both inherited runners he left with to score. Despite a pedestrian 4.16 ERA on the season, Oviedo has a 2.79 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 38 2/3 IP over his last seven starts. Oviedo's scheduled to have a rematch with the Cubs next Tuesday.
Marcus Stroman pitched six innings against the Pirates in a win, allowing two earned runs and striking out five.
After three straight singles to lead off the third inning, Stroman gave up a couple of runs, but rebounded strong afterwards by retiring nine of his last 10 batters. Stroman has certainly pitched like an ace this year, allowing a 2.45 ERA and 1.04 WHIP while striking out 78 in 91 2/3 IP. His underlying numbers don't support this big of a drop in his ERA and he will likely regress at some point, but Stroman will draw another matchup with the Pirates next Tuesday if things go according to plan.
Jason Delay went 2-for-3 with a run scored in Pittsburgh's loss to the Cubs on Thursday.
He was the only Pirate with two hits against the Cubs. An infrequent starter behind Austin Hedges, it's not hard to tell the two catches apart because Delay has actually hit this year. He's at .308/.375/.423 on the season, but the minor league numbers -- a .625 career OPS -- don't support this streak. The 28-year-old is not a fantasy name to know.
Christopher Morel went 3-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI in a 7-2 win over the Pirates on Thursday.
He singled in Chicago's five-run fifth to knock in a run, and tripled in the fourth but was stranded. Morel had cooled down a bit, hitting .200/.288/.378 over his last 15 games. It's a testament to how hot his start was that he's still at .330/.425/.730 on the season. Morel's expected slugging percentage is "only" .557, so we wouldn't go bailing on him yet in fantasy leagues despite a .250 batting average looking more likely going forward.
Ian Happ went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI in Chicago's 7-2 win over the Pirates on Thursday.
He doubled, tripled, and singled. Happ's carrying a .268/.390/.406 line on the season, walking much more than he did in 2022, but hitting for less power. He has five homers and five steals. Happ's OBP-heavy approach is great for his real-life value, but it's not helping him much in fantasy baseball.
Anthony Rendon is dealing with a left wrist contusion.
Rendon went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts after being hit by a pitch on the left hand in the early stages of Thursday's game against the Rangers. He stayed in the game and was either unable or unwilling to swing the bat for the remainder of the contest. Unfortunately, he couldn't come out of the game since Gio Urshela had already left with an injury, Brandon Drury was serving a suspension and Zach Neto landed on the injured list prior to the game. It's not what you want.
Gio Urshela was removed from Thursday's game against the Rangers with a hip injury.
The positive news is that Urshela isn't dealing with a back-related issue, but he's likely to wind up missing some time. He was on crutches after the contest and will presumably head for some additional testing. There should be an update on his status on Friday.
Marcus Semien was ejected from Thursday's game against the Angels.
Semien was 0-for-3 with a walk before being tossed between the seventh and eighth inning of Thursday's contest against the division-rival Angels. He struck out on a questionable check swing call in the seventh inning, so we're going to assume his ejection had something to do with that incident. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy and pitching coach Mike Maddux were also tossed by first base umpire Ramon De Jesus.
Javier Báez went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI in Detroit's 8-4 win over the Twins.
His fifth-inning triple off Jovani Moran tied the game, and he would later score on a ground-out to give the Tigers the lead. Baez has hit .313/.303/.500 (yes, lower OBP, not a typo) over the past seven games to raise his season line to .231/.269/.329. He'll need to start hitting more to be relevant in shallow leagues again, even though he's stealing more efficiently than he did in 2022.
Kyle Freeland pitched 4 1/3 innings against the Braves, giving up seven runs and taking the loss.
He surrendered nine hits and three walks in the process. The Braves found only three extra-base hits against Freeland, but two of them drove in multiple runs. Matt Carasiti relieved Freeland with a man on third and immediately allowed the run to score on a long fly-out to center. This was always going to be a rough ask against a good Atlanta lineup, and Freeland's ERA balloons to 4.48. The next scheduled start for Freeland looks like it'll come against the Reds on Tuesday.
Michael Tonkin earned his first save of the season by throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out six against the Rockies on Thursday.
Atlanta's long-man has pitched two innings or more in each of his last six appearances. He actually started this one out with six balls in his first seven pitches, but obviously rebounded. No need for those invested in Raisel Iglesias to get alarmed, this was just a long man closing a blowout win. Tonkin has a 3.21 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP in 33 2/3 IP this season.