MLB Player News

Imai (arm) was charged with five runs on six hits and three walks over two innings in his first rehab start with Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday.

It's not the bottom-line result the Astros were looking for from Imai, who threw 59 pitches over his two innings of work. The Japanese right-hander will require at least one more rehab outing as he continues to ramp back up. Imai has been sidelined for more than two weeks with fatigue in his pitching arm.

De La Cruz went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, four RBI and two stolen bases in Tuesday's 7-2 win over the Rockies.

The superstar shortstop launched his 10th homer of the season in the eighth inning, a two-run shot off Tanner Gordon, and the two steals give De La Cruz eight on the year. Elly is locked in right now, hitting safely in nine of the last 10 games while slashing .333/.391/.667 with two doubles, four long balls, three stolen bases, 11 runs and 13 RBI.

Dingler went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to Atlanta.

The two-hit night snapped a 1-for-21 skid at the plate for Dingler, as he rapped his fifth double of the season in the eighth inning. The 27-year-old is slashing .253/.337/.483 with five home runs, 19 RBI, 11 runs scored and a 7:16 BB:K across 100 plate appearances. His peripheral numbers suggest he should be experiencing even more success at the plate, as Dingler is in the 92nd percentile or better in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, barrel rate and hard-hit percentage. He's also been one of the best defensive catchers this season.

Burns (3-1) picked up the win Tuesday, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk over six innings in a 7-2 victory over the Rockies. He struck out nine.

The nine Ks tied Burns' season high, and he racked up an eye-popping 22 swinging strikes among his 97 pitches (64 total strikes) en route to his third quality start in six trips to the mound. The young righty will take a 2.65 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 39:12 K:BB through 34 innings into his next outing, which is set to come on the road this weekend in Pittsburgh.

Julien went 3-for-4 with a walk, a home run and two RBI in Tuesday's 7-2 loss to the Reds.

The former Twin accounted for all of the Rockies' offense in the loss, launching a solo shot in the second inning off Chase Burns before an RBI single in the fifth. Julien has hit safely in seven straight games while being used in a strict strong-side platoon role, batting a blistering .448 (13-for-29) over that stretch to boost his slash line on the season to .308/.393/.449 through 89 plate appearances with two homers, two steals, 12 RBI and 13 runs.

Albies went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Tigers.

With Austin Riley struggling mightily at the plate, Albies has moved into the cleanup spot for Atlanta the last four games and swatted his sixth homer of the season in the bottom of the eighth to extend the lead to five runs. After hitting just .240 last season, Albies is off to a great start in 2026, slashing .316/.359/.513 with the six long balls, 18 RBI, 20 runs scored and an 8:16 BB:K across 128 trips to the plate.

Freeland (1-2) took the loss Tuesday as the Rockies were downed 7-2 by the Reds, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out four.

Making his return from a three-week absence due to shoulder trouble, Freeland got ambushed for three runs in the first inning before settling down, including a two-run shot by Spencer Steer. The veteran southpaw sports a still-respectable 3.48 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 17:5 K:BB through 20.2 innings, and he'll look to rebound in his next start, which is scheduled to come at home this weekend against Atlanta.

Lauer is slated to start Wednesday's game against the Red Sox in Toronto, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Lauer had been banished to the bullpen last week after logging a 6.75 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 22.2 innings over his first five appearances (four starts) on the season, but he'll get another look in the rotation after the Blue Jays lost Max Scherzer (forearm/ankle) to the injured list Monday. The southpaw's upcoming run in the rotation could be brief, as Jose Berrios (elbow) has already made three rehab starts and may be ready to return from the IL the next time Toronto requires a fifth starter.

Acuna went 2-for-4 with two doubles, one RBI and a run scored in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Tigers.

Acuna led off the bottom of the first with a double and then doubled home a run in the third inning, getting the best of Casey Mize both times before the right-hander was lifted with groin tightness. Acuna has posted back-to-back two-hit games, as his bat is starting to heat up after an extremely slow start to the season. He's slashing .248/.360/.381 with just two homers, nine RBI, 15 runs scored, six stolen bases and an 18:26 BB:K across 136 plate appearances.

Helsley worked a perfect ninth inning Tuesday without striking anyone out to record his seventh save of the season in a 5-3 win over the Astros.

Two flyouts and a failed bunt attempt by Jose Altuve got the job done for Helsley, who's a perfect 7-for-7 in converting save chances to begin the year. The right-hander appears to have put last season's troubles with the Mets mostly behind him, and through 10.2 innings for the Orioles he's delivered a 2.53 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 15:7 K:BB.