Francisco Álvarez hit his ninth homer Wednesday off the Braves' Charlie Morton
The Mets will give Omar Narváez more time than they did Tomas Nido, but Álvarez should remain the team's starting catcher until he gives them reason to make a change. After all, while Narváez might have been a smart signing for a team with bottomless pockets in need of a safe option behind the plate, he's been thoroughly average these last three years. Álvarez looks like something more than that.
Max Scherzer surrendered five runs and 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings Wednesday against the Braves.
Scherzer struck out 10 and walked none tonight, but he gave up some soft singles early on and then some harder hits as the night went along. It's just the seventh time in his career that Scherzer has given up 11 hits. He allowed more runs tonight than in his previous four starts combined.
With Raisel Iglesias getting the night off, A.J. Minter picked up his eighth save Wednesday against the Mets.
Minter worked a perfect ninth with a two-run lead. He had several bad outings while filling in for Iglesias early this season, but he's gone six straight appearances without allowing a run. For the season, he has a 6.04 ERA in spite of a sub-3.00 FIP.
Charlie Morton pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs Wednesday against the Mets.
Morton walked four and knocked Pete Alonso out of the game with a HBP on an uncharacteristically wild night for the 39-year-old. The Braves came back in this one, so Morton avoided taking what would have been a fourth straight loss. Still, even as sloppy as he's been of late, no one should think about dropping him right now. He's due for a road start against the Tigers and a home start versus the Rockies next week.
Connor Seabold allowed two runs with four strikeouts over six innings on Wednesday in a no-decision against the Giants.
Seabold had allowed only a walk and a hit batter to reach base as he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before LaMonte Wade Jr. knocked a single. Seabold went out to start the seventh, but surrendered a hit and a walk before he was replaced. Both inherited runners would come in to score. The 27-year-old right-hander will take a 5.10 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and 36 strikeouts across 47 2/3 innings into his next start against the Red Sox in Boston next week.
Logan Webb allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday in a no-decision against the Rockies.
Webb couldn't overcome the Rockies in Coors Field on Wednesday as he was tagged for four runs on eight hits. The loudest of those hits came off the bat of Nolan Jones as he crushed a solo homer to lead off the sixth inning. Webb's day would be done after one more batter at 99 pitches. The 26-year-old right-hander will look to bounce back as he takes an excellent 3.09 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 85 strikeouts across 84 1/3 innings into a matchup against the Cardinals in St. Louis next week.
Nolan Jones went 2-for-4 with a home run and a stolen base on Wednesday against the Giants.
Jones got on base with a single in the third inning and swiped second base before he was left stranded. He made sure to touch them all with a monstrous homer off Logan Webb in the sixth that traveled 483 feet. The 25-year-old outfielder is hitting .316/.333/.553 with two homers and two steals across 39 plate appearances.
Austin Slater went 2-for-2 with two RBI on Wednesday to help the Giants to a 5-4 win over the the Rockies.
Slater pinch-hit for Mike Yastrzemski with two runners on and no outs with left-hander Brent Suter out to pitch. He knocked a base hit to drive in the first run for the Giants and later came around to score. Slater hit another single in the eighth that brought in the game-tying run. The 30-year-old outfielder is hitting .378/.425/.514 with one homer and two steals across 40 plate appearances.
CJ Abrams went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Abrams is 10-for-62 with a 17/2 K/BB ratio in his last 17 games, dropping his OPS from .722 to .662, and he's still making too many mistakes on defense. He's probably the Nationals' best option at shortstop anyway, but at some point, it's going to make sense to send him down rather than let him continue to accrue service time while treading water in the majors. He's pretty much defined replacement level in 146 games the last two years.
Making his fifth straight start for the D-backs, Emmanuel Rivera went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI against the Nationals on Wednesday.
It still might not be a major issue in the long run, but the Royals would certainly be a better team right now if they hadn't traded Rivera for Luke Weaver last summer. Rivera is batting .362/.394/.479 in 99 plate appearances for Arizona. He's mostly played against lefties, but he's making a strong case to overtake Josh Rojas on a full-time basis at third base.
Zach Davies pitched two-run ball for 6 2/3 innings and struck out eight in a win over the Nationals on Wednesday.
It's the first victory for Davies in five starts this season and just his third in his last 42 starts dating back to Aug. 2021. Part of the issue there is that he very rarely works this deep into games. This was the first time he'd gotten 20 outs since last June 14.
Willy Adames went 2-for-5 with a solo homer on Wednesday against the Orioles.
Adames made his return to the Brewers lineup after landing on the 7-day concussion injured list last week. He took Dean Kremer deep in his first at-bat, giving the Brewers the early lead. He added a double in the third inning for his second extra-base hit. The 27-year-old shortstop is hitting .211/.295/.405 with ten homers and four steals across 219 plate appearances.
Jack Flaherty tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts on Wednesday in a no-decision against the Rangers.
Flaherty had some control issues early in this one, walking the bases loaded in the first inning. He was able to escape the jam and settled in, walking two more through five additional frames with three hits allowed. Eight strikeouts on the day helped keep the Rangers off the board. The 27-year-old right-hander will take a 4.15 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and 72 strikeouts across 69 1/3 innings into a matchup against the Giants in St. Louis on Tuesday.
Ryan Helsley tossed a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts on Wednesday to earn the save against the Rangers.
Helsley was summoned to close out the game with a one-run lead in the ninth. He struck out two in a clean frame to earn his seventh save of the season and his first in two weeks. The 28-year-old right-hander carries a 3.24 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 33 strikeouts across 25 innings.
Beau Briekse (elbow) tossed a scoreless inning on Wednesday for High-A West Michigan.
Brieske has been out all season after undergoing a procedure to alleviate a right elbow nerve entrapment and will likely need a couple weeks of rehab outings before he's an option for Detroit's pitching staff. It's a positive sign that he's healthy and working his way back.
Alec Burleson went 1-for-3 with a solo homer on Wednesday for the game-winning run in a 1-0 contest against the Rangers.
Burleson broke a scoreless game with a solo shot off Jon Gray in the eighth inning to put the Cardinals ahead. It was one of only four hits the Cardinals could manage against Gray and the Rangers, but it was all they would need. The 24-year-old outfielder is hitting .226/.278/.390 with five homers across 161 plate appearances.
Jake Fraley (wrist) scored as a pinch-runner on Wednesday against the Dodgers.
Fraley was scratched from Wednesday's game due to a right wrist contusion, but entered the contest as a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth inning and wound up coming around to score on ensuing batter Will Benson's walk-off homer.
Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports Matt Dermody is likely to make a spot start on Thursday against the Guardians.
Nothing official from the Red Sox yet, but Dermody is with the club in Cleveland and has a locker in Boston's clubhouse. The 32-year-old left signed a minor league contract back in January and has made 30 career relief appearances in the majors since 2016. He's not a recommended option for fantasy managers.
Dean Kremer six runs over five innings on Wednesday in a loss against the Brewers.
Kremer was tagged for a solo homer in the first inning by Willy Adames. He'd serve up another homer to Joey Wiemer in the third to put two more runs on the board for the Brewers. Five more hits would bring in three more runs before Kremer's day was done after five frames. The 27-year-old right-hander will take a 4.89 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and 59 strikeouts across 70 innings into his next start against Blue Jays at home next week.
Noah Syndergaard was torched for six runs over three innings on Wednesday in a no-decision against the Nationals.
It's difficult to envision a scenario in which Syndergaard makes another start for Los Angeles after struggling to a calamitous 7.16 ERA across 11 starts in his Dodgers debut. The 30-year-old righty gave up seven hits, including two-run homers to Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson, and wound up only lasting three innings. He's technically still lined up to face the White Sox on Tuesday, but the odds of him making that start seem extremely low.