MLB 2023 | Oviedo with quality start, Adolis homers again, Cano allows first run vs the Blue Jays

Major League Baseball (MLB) and other Cuban Players News for the 2023 season. A compendium from several sources

May 20

Yasmani Grandal (hamstring) remains out of the White Sox' lineup for Saturday's game against the Royals.

No surprise here as Grandal has been dealing with right hamstring tightness for a couple weeks at this point. It's clear that the White Sox don't want to lose his bat for an extended period, so he'll likely avoid a trip to the injured list, but it'll be Seby Zavala handling the catching duties for at least a couple more days.

May 19

Johan Oviedo tossed six innings of one-run ball Friday versus the Diamondbacks.

Oviedo (3-3) earned the win Friday, allowing one run on two hits and three walks over six innings in a 13-3 victory over Arizona. He struck out seven. The Diamondbacks' offense was no match for the 25-year-old on Friday. The righty generated seven swinging strikes over 96 pitches with a 30 percent CSW. Oviedo has allowed just one run in each of his past two starts (11 innings) after surrendering 17 across his previous three outings. Friday's performance was the right-hander's fourth quality start of the year, and his seven strikeouts were his most since posting a season-high 10 against the Cardinals on April 14. While Oviedo has been able to limit damage recently, he is still struggling with his control and has issued multiple free passes in all but two of his nine starts this season. He'll carry a 4.69 ERA terrifying home matchup on Wednesday against the Rangers.

Raisel Iglesias worked a scoreless ninth with a four-run lead against the Mariners on Friday.

Fortunately, that two-mph velocity dip on Sunday has proved to be an aberration, as he's been right back at 95 mph on average with his fastball in two appearances since. He pitched a clean inning tonight, striking out Eugenio Suárez to end the game.

Rangers' Adolis García: Binging on homers. García went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Friday's 7-2 win over Colorado. García's fourth-inning blast off Karl Kauffmann gave the Rangers a lead they never relinquished. The slugging outfielder is on a tear with five home runs (11 RBI) over the last five games, giving him 14 for the season, which ranks third in MLB behind Pete Alonso and Max Muncy.

Yennier Cano finally gave up his first run Friday against the Blue Jays.

A Kevin Kiermaier single, a George Springer double and a Bo Bichette grounder accounted for the first run allowed by Cano in 22 2/3 innings this season. Fortunately, it didn't hurt much in a 6-2 win for Baltimore. Cano had given up just four hits and posted a 25/0 K/BB ratio coming into this one. Cano is through 22.2 IP, bringing his ERA up to 0.40 and his WHIP up to 0.27.

Reds' José Barrero: Got start in center field. Barrero started in center field and batted ninth for the Reds on Friday against the Yankees. It was the first start in center field this month for Barrero, who has ceded his shortstop job to Matt McLain. It did not get better at bat for Barrero, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against the Yankees. Barrero sports just a .634 OPS on the season, although he did reach base four times in his previous start.

Luis Robert Jr. went 0-for-4 in Friday night's victory over the Royals, but he did manage to reach on a fielder's choice and swipe his second base of the season.

Robert went 0-for-4 with a stolen base in Friday's 2-0 win over the Royals. The 25-year-old superstar struck out twice against Zack Greinke early in the ballgame, so he definitely wanted to make something happen after reaching on a fielder's choice in the sixth inning. He swiped second base and advanced to third on a fly ball, but the White Sox were unable to cash him in. On the season, he's now slashing .266/.322/.550 with 12 home runs, two steals, 28 RBI, 31 runs scored and 12 doubles through 45 games this season.

Rays' Yandy Díaz: Out of lineup again. Díaz (groin) remained out of the Rays' lineup for Friday's game versus the Brewers. It was the fourth straight game Díaz has missed due to a left groin injury. Tampa Bay has been reluctant to place him on the injured list, but he'll need to show improvement soon to avoid it.