MLB 2024 | Arozarena tallies 11th homer; The third save for Chapman; Blanco's 17th steal; Yariel starts against the Astros today; Daybel demoted again
- Ray Otero-Alonso
- Jul 1, 2024
- 3 min read
Cuban Players News for the 2024 Major League Baseball season. A compilation of several sources
Randy Arozarena went 2-for-4 with a solo home run on Sunday against the Nationals.
Arozarena went deep in the seventh inning to record his 11th homer of the season and third of June. The performance wrapped up a solid month, as he hit .291 with nine RBI, 10 runs scored and three stolen bases in 25 games. Arozarena is still hitting just .196 for the season, though there should be optimism his performance will improve across the second half of the campaign. He has a hit in 12 of his last 14 games and on Sunday became the fifth player this season to hit four balls at least 105 MPH in the same game joining Yordan Alvarez, Juan Soto, Ketel Marte, and Gunnar Henderson. The prolonged cold spell to start his season was scary, but it looks like Arozarena has finally found his way out of it.
Aroldis Chapman allowed a run but still picked up a save Sunday against Atlanta.
Chapman gave up a run on two hits in the ninth inning but still managed to pick up his third save Sunday against Atlanta. Chapman came in with a three-run lead in the ninth and worked in and out of trouble to grab his second save in his last four appearances. He gave up a sacrifice fly to Orlando Arcia, but it still left Atlanta down 4-2. It didn’t change the outcome of the game, but it did hurt his ERA, which climbed to 3.90. The veteran has taken over the Pirates' ninth-inning role since losing closer David Bednar to an oblique injury June 19th. There is still no timetable for Bednar's return, so Chapman is likely looking at a few more save opportunities in the meantime. The veteran Chapman has no wins, a 3.90 ERA, a 1.60 WHIP, and 49 strikeouts in 30 innings.
Dairon Blanco swipes bag in win.
Blanco went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 6-2 win over the Guardians. Blanco started for the first time since June 23, playing in place of MJ Melendez in left field against lefty Logan Allen. While he's not getting many at-bats, Blanco's speed remains top notch -- he logged six steals while going 4-for-23 over 14 contests in June. The outfielder has a .237/.289/.316 slash line with 17 thefts, one home run, four RBI, 20 runs scored and three doubles across 84 plate appearances in a reserve role this year.
Yandy Díaz with a hit in Sunday's win.
As Yandy' streak of consecutive hitting games ended last Saturday, he returned on Sunday with a 4-1 performance, in Rays' 4-0 victory over the Nationals. Yandy's only hit was a double off Patrick Corbin, his sixteenth of the season. After a rough start to the season, Yandy appears to be recovering and looking forward to a better second half. His slash line now stands at .271/.327/.387 with 7 HRs and 40 RBIs.
Jorge Soler and Andy Pagés both recorded hits on Sunday, while Miguel Vargas remained hitless.
Soler went 2-for-4 in the Giants' 10-4 victory over the Dodgers. He contributed with an RBI, scored two runs, drew a walk, and had a strikeout. The powerful hitter is showing significant offensive improvement after a shaky start in 2024, boasting a slash line of .273/.339/.527 with 2 HRs and 13 RBIs in his last 15 games. In the same matchup, Pagés went 1-for-4 with a strikeout for the Dodgers, while Miguel Vargas came in as a substitute but went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.
Yariel Rodríguez starting today.
Yariel Rodríguez is scheduled to start today's game against the Astros in Toronto, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reported. After returning from the 15-day injured list June 21 and giving up five runs (four earned) over 1.1 innings in a loss to Cleveland that day, Yariel made his next turn through the rotation this past Wednesday in Boston. However, with that game getting paused in the top of the second inning due to severe weather and later postponed, Rodríguez won't get credited with statistics for that game until the contest is resumed Aug. 26 as part of a split doubleheader. As a result, Monday's start against the Astros will officially be Yariel's second since he returned from the IL.
Braves optioned RHP Daysbel Hernández to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Hernandez was called up June 17, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings while striking out nine batters over six appearances out of Atlanta's bullpen. The right-hander will now head back to Gwinnett, but he'll likely get another shot with the big-league club down the road this season. This likely makes room for A.J. Minter to return Tuesday. Hernández loses his spot despite having allowed just one unearned run in 8 2/3 innings this season.
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