News
Will Smith (wrist) returned to the Dodgers’ starting lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Pirates.
The 30-year-old backstop sat out Wednesday’s game with left wrist soreness, but it appears as though he’s doing significantly better after a couple of days off. He’ll do the catching and bat sixth against Pirates’ ace Paul Skenes on Friday night.
670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reports the Cubs are calling up top prospect Moises Ballesteros on Tuesday.
Levine adds that Ian Happ, who has missed three straight games with an oblique injury, is headed to the injured list as the corresponding move. The 21-year-old backstop has put up impressive numbers this season for Triple-A Iowa, batting .368/.420/.522 with four homers and three steals as one of the youngest hitters in the Pacific Coast League. He could make an impact for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues, especially if he’s playing regularly at DH, which makes him worthy of a speculative pickup. The biggest development for fantasy purposes here is that emerging star Pete Crow-Armstrong will continue leading off for at least a couple extra games until Happ returns.
Jhony Brito underwent UCL surgery with an internal brace procedure last month.
Brito will miss the remainder of the season and most likely a significant portion of next season as well. The 27-year-old righty made a career-high 26 relief appearances last year for San Diego.
Jonathan India picked up two RBI on three hits in a win Monday over the Astros.
Bobby Witt Jr. tripled and drove in two runs while helping the Royals to a 7-5 win over the Astros on Wednesday.
Carlos Estévez worked a scoreless ninth to procure a save against the Astros on Monday.
Michael Wacha allowed eight hits, but gave up just two runs over 6 1/3 innings in a win over the Astros on Monday.