MLB Player News

Crochet (shoulder) threw a 20-pitch bullpen session Wednesday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Crochet pitched off a mound for the first time since hitting the injured list last month with shoulder inflammation. Next up for the left-hander is an expected two-inning bullpen session this weekend in Atlanta. If Crochet feels good coming out of that longer session, then he could face hitters by the middle of next week, putting him on schedule for a potential return during the last week of May. The Red Sox could follow a similar path as the one laid out for Sonny Gray when he dealt with a hamstring injury earlier this season, which could enable Crochet to return to the rotation without going on a rehab assignment beforehand.

Varsho went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 5-3 win over Tampa Bay.

After the Rays scored twice to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the 10th inning, Varsho came up with the bases loaded with one out in the bottom half of the frame and launched an opposite-field grand slam off a two-strike pitch from Aaron Brooks, sending Toronto home with a win. It's the fifth homer of the year for Varsho, who's gone 7-for-21 (.333) with an .840 OPS in his last five games. Overall, he's slashing .250/.321/.403 with 13 RBI, 19 runs scored and three steals across 159 plate appearances this season.

Story went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Phillies.

Story opened the scoring in the second inning with a 424-foot blast off Andrew Painter, his third homer this year and first since April 15. Coming into Wednesday, Story had gone just 6-for-32 (.188) with a lone extra-base hit in his prior eight games. Overall, he's slashing .211/.250/.311 with 19 RBI, 16 runs scored and four steals across 172 plate appearances this season.

Freeman went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Giants.

The steal was Freeman's first of the season. He logged six steals on eight attempts over 147 regular-season contests in 2025, but ankle issues from 2024 have largely taken the speed element out of the 36-year-old's game. He's batting .326 (14-for-43) in May and is up to .277 on the year while adding a .784 OPS, four home runs, 20 RBI, 15 runs scored, 11 doubles and one triple over 41 contests.

Espinal went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Giants.

Espinal has filled a limited role this season, most often getting into the lineup against left-handed pitchers. His third-inning solo shot was his first homer of the campaign. The utility man is batting .200 with a .543 OPS, three RBI, four runs scored, two doubles and no stolen bases over 37 plate appearances. Unless he hits consistently, he'll likely remain in a short-side platoon role at best.

Betts went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Giants.

Betts has gone 2-for-13 with one strikeout over three games since he returned from a right oblique strain. The shortstop wasn't hitting all that well prior to the injury, so he may need to shake off some rust over the next few games. Betts is up to three homers, eight RBI, eight runs scored and no stolen bases over 45 plate appearances this season while batting .171 with a .659 OPS.

Ohtani (3-2) allowed four hits and two walks while striking out eight over seven shutout innings to earn the win over the Giants on Wednesday.

Ohtani's Cy Young-caliber season continues after a 105-pitch effort (71 strikes). It's his third scoreless outing of the season and the fourth time he's logged at least eight strikeouts. Through seven starts, he has a superb 0.82 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 50:11 K:BB across 44 innings. Ohtani is expected to get a full day off Thursday for the series finale versus San Francisco, but he should be back in the lineup as a hitter Friday as the Dodgers face his former team, the Angels, for a three-game series over the weekend. The 31-year-old has yet to get his bat going in May with a .150/.261/.250 slash line through 10 games as a hitter this month.

Ray (3-5) allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out two over 4.2 innings to take the loss Wednesday versus the Dodgers.

Ray was tagged for back-to-back solo home runs by Santiago Espinal and Mookie Betts in the third inning. The Giants' offense didn't get much of anything going against Shohei Ohtani, leaving Ray to fend for himself in this loss, which was his shortest start of the season. He's still yet to allow more than three earned runs in any outing. Ray has a 3.04 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 49:20 K:BB through 50.1 innings over nine starts. He's projected for a road start in Arizona his next time out.

Burleson went 3-for-5 with a double in Wednesday's 6-2 loss to the Athletics.

Burleson continues to hit well, going 20-for-62 (.323) with five multi-hit efforts over his last 15 games. The 27-year-old has gone 8-for-26 over the first six games of the Cardinals' current road trip, which ends Thursday. For the season, the first baseman is batting .274 with a .795 OPS, six home runs, 30 RBI, 21 runs scored, 11 doubles and two stolen bases across 41 contests.

Liberatore (2-2) allowed four runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out five over five innings to take the loss Wednesday versus the Athletics.

Liberatore got through four innings just fine despite putting some traffic on the bases. Nick Kurtz was able to cash in for the Athletics in the fifth with a grand slam, and that was the decisive hit in the game, sending Liberatore to his first loss since April 13 versus the Guardians. Very few of Liberatore's starts have been in the middle of the road -- he's allowed two runs or fewer five times, but he's given up four or more runs in his other four outings. He's at a 4.40 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 34:18 K:BB through 47 innings this season. The southpaw is projected to make his next start at home versus the Pirates, but his fantasy appeal is fairly low due to his poor strikeout (6.5 K/9) and walk (3.5 BB/9) rates.