5 days agoColorado Rockies outfielder
Nolan Jones (back) started his minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday and went 0-for-3 with an RBI and a strikeout for the Isotopes while playing five innings in left field. It was the 26-year-old's first game since going on the 10-day injured list in late April with a lower-back strain. If Jones doesn't suffer any setbacks in the minors, he should be ready to return to the big-league roster pretty soon, possibly as early as this weekend against the Giants in San Francisco. The former second-round pick of the Cleveland Guardians in 2016 hit nearly .300 in 2023 with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases, so his power/speed combination makes him intriguing in all fantasy formats, especially playing half his games at hitter-friendly Coors Field. His fantasy managers will be hoping he can turn around his slow start in 2024 when he's activated, as he's currently slashing .170/.243/.277 with a homer and seven RBI in 26 games.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
5 days agoNew York Yankees top prospect
Jasson Dominguez (elbow) will be optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and not rejoin the Yankees as a starting center fielder or bench player when he completes his rehab assignment in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Dominguez's 20-day rehab assignment will be up on June 4. The 21-year-old is rusty after having surgery last Sept. 20 and then rehabbing with no games for almost eight months, so he's understandably rusty, and the Yankees may choose not to bring him to the majors at all in 2024. At the very minimum, Dominguez needs a month of building up since he didn't play at all in spring training. As the DH for Low-A Tampa on Tuesday in his first rehab game, the young switch-hitter went 1-for-3 with a walk in four trips to the plate. He will DH for about two weeks and then start playing in center field. Despite this news, the guy they call the Martian still deserves to be stashed in most fantasy leagues.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: NJ Advance Media - Randy Miller
5 days agoMinnesota Twins outfielder
Byron Buxton (knee) will play another minor-league rehab game with Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday, and if all goes well, he'll be back from the injured list to rejoin the Twins on Saturday against the Cleveland Guardians. Buxton went 0-for-3 while playing seven innings in center field on Wednesday in his first rehab game with St. Paul and should be cleared to return to the big leagues if he gets through one more game with the Saints on Thursday. The 30-year-old oft-injured outfielder has already had surgery on the same knee twice and has been sidelined with right-knee inflammation since early May. Fantasy managers should expect the Twins to ease Buxton back into the fold when he returns, but if his knee cooperates, he'll eventually return to starting duties in center field.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Darren Wolfson
5 days agoSeattle Mariners starting pitcher
Bryan Woo picked up his first win of the season in Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Royals. The righty went five-and-a-third innings in his second start off the IL, allowing one earned run on three hits and one walk while striking out five. In his two starts, the 24-year-old has allowed just one earned run in nine-and-two-thirds IP with a 0.62 WHIP. After a solid debut in 2023 and a couple of strong spring starts, it was disappointing to see Woo head to the IL before the season began, but managers who held on to the pitcher are now being rewarded for their patience. He'll have a tough road test his next turn through the rotation, as Woo takes on the Yankees in New York on Tuesday.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
5 days agoLos Angeles Angels starting pitcher
Griffin Canning earned his second win of the year on Wednesday in a 7-2 victory over the Cardinals. Canning went six innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits and three walks while striking out five. The lone run came on a solo shot off the bat of
Paul Goldschmidt. After a rough start to the season, Canning has pitched well in his three May starts, posting a 1.53 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, a 6:13 BB:K, and limiting opponents to a .190 batting average. His May LOB% of 98.7% is not sustainable though, so he's probably due for some regression. We'll see if he can keep it up as the 28-year-old will take on Houston on the road in his next start.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
5 days agoSan Francisco Giants starting pitcher
Logan Webb picked up his fourth win of the season on Wednesday in a 4-1 victory over the Dodgers. Webb threw six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and three walks (also one HBP) while striking out five. The 27-year-old now has a 3.03 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and a 12.0% K-BB% on the year. While the low strikeout rate is a bit disappointing (18.7%) and his walks are up over last year (6.8% vs 3.6%), he's limited batters to just two home runs in 59 1/3 IP. The righty will take on a Pittsburgh team on the road his next time out. The Pirates have scored the fifth-fewest runs in the league to this point.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
5 days agoChicago Cubs outfielder
Mike Tauchman went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 7-1 win over the Braves. Tauchman's homer set the tone of the game early, as it came on the first pitch of the game off Braves starter
Charlie Morton. The 33-year-old had a solid start to the season, hitting .307 in April with three of his four home runs coming during the month, but so far is hitting just .208 in May. He's still making good contact (80.8% Contact%), walking a lot (16.0% BB%), and his 26 runs scored puts him just one behind the likes of
Freddie Freeman (27), so hopefully this is just a cold spell for him and Wednesday's homer gets him back on track.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
5 days agoTexas Rangers starting pitcher
Jon Gray improved to 2-1 on the season after throwing 6 1/3 shutout innings in Wednesday's 4-0 victory over the Guardians. The 32-year-old allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out three. The outing was his fourth straight quality start and lowered his ERA to 2.08. Removing the righty's first start of the season (five earned runs allowed) from the equation, Gray has a 1.30 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 0.19 HR/9, and boasts a 20.0% K-BB% over his last nine appearances (eight starts). He'll be put to the test in his next start, which is against one of the hottest teams in baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park next Tuesday.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
5 days agoTampa Bay Rays reliever
Kevin Kelly picked up his first save of the season on Wednesday, pitching a scoreless ninth to preserve the 4-3 victory over the Red Sox. Closer
Pete Fairbanks pitched the eighth inning, which included both
Rafael Devers and
Tyler O'Neill, while Kelly was tasked with disposing of the bottom of the order. Kelly has some good numbers on the season, with a 3.06 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a fantastic 1:17 BB:K, but don't expect the saves to come with regularity. If you are in desperate need of saves, Kelly can be picked up and could help your peripherals in the meantime, but he's likely competing with
Jason Adam (save on Monday) for Fairbanks' leftovers, while Fairbanks owners potentially lose out.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
5 days agoLos Angeles Dodgers outfield prospect
Josue De Paula hit his first home run of the season for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday. De Paula, 18, is a consensus Top-100 prospect and another potential big asset for the star-studded Dodgers. De Paula got off to a slow start this season, but has gotten going lately and has nine doubles and two triples to go along with 11 stolen bases over his first 25 games. Although he isn't going to help managers in 2024 or even 2025, the 6'3, right-handed offers good bat speed and his power should continue to grow as his body fills out. With the ability to help across the board, dynasty managers should consider De Paula, even though it may be a while until he is able to help at the big-league level.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
5 days agoThe Pittsburgh Pirates have called up pitching prospect
Carmen Mlodzinski from Triple-A Indianapolis. The right-hander made his debut last season out of the bullpen and registered an impressive 2.25 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 36 innings for the Bucco's. His 2024 campaign got off to a slow start as he was dealing elbow inflammation, but he has struggled with Triple-A Indianapolis in his recovery. For Indianapolis, Mlodzinski has allowed 10 runs in 14 innings. For now, managers in all formats can leave the right-hander on the waiver wire.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
5 days agoTampa Bay Rays shortstop prospect
Carson Williams continued his impressive season on Wednesday for Double-A Montgomery. Williams went 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and a solo home run. The home run would be the fifth of the season for the Rays No. 2 prospect. Williams has been having a very impressive season for Montgomery and is hitting a smooth .336 with five homers, 16 RBI, nine stolen bases and a .981 OPS. The 20-year-old has been doing it across the board, but he still struggles with plate discipline. If Williams can get his strikeouts down, he has all the tools to become a valuable asset to managers in a couple of years. For now, he remains best rostered in dynasty formats.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
5 days agoAfter getting demoted earlier in the week, Baltimore Orioles outfield prospect
Heston Kjerstad went back to what he was familiar with and hit a home run for Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday. After hitting 10 homers out of the gate for Norfolk, Kjerstad was promoted to the big-league club on April 23. Unfortunately for the 25-year-old, he only got 14 at-bats and had two hits in those at-bats. Kjerstad being sent back down has more to do with getting him everyday at-bats with that not happening at the big-league level. The Top-25 prospect has shown immense power on the farm, but it will likely take an injury or a trade for him to make an impact for managers in redraft leagues as there just is not enough for volume for him at the moment. Managers in dynasty leagues should continue to hold Kjerstad, even if it is not until 2025 that he makes a major impact.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
5 days agoAtlanta Braves pitcher prospect
Spencer Schwellenbach made his Double-A debut on Wednesday and was impressive in his first start. Schwellenbach began the season in High-A and registered a 2.53 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 32 innings. His strong showing was enough for the Braves to promote their No. 3 prospect. In his debut for Double-A Mississippi, Schwellenbach tossed six scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and struck out a career-high nine batters with one walk. The 23-year-old is very athletic and was a potential two-way player coming out of Nebraska in 2023. The right-hander has already recovered from Tommy John surgery and offers an impressive four-pitch arsenal that includes a fastball in the mid-90's. The right-hander has impressed early in his professional career and is a name for managers in dynasty leagues to keep an eye as he is likely a year or two away from making an impact at the big-league level.
--Daniel Burdeen - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
6 days agoBoston Red Sox third baseman
Rafael Devers cranked his fifth home run of the year in Wednesday's loss to the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays, but it wasn't enough to lift his team to victory. Devers lined one over the wall in center field for a 431-foot solo homer off Rays right-hander
Phil Maton in the sixth inning. The 27-year-old All-Star slugger is slashing a robust .281/.383/.488 with five round-trippers and 10 doubles through 32 outings (121 at-bats) as Boston's everyday third baseman this season, but he's not getting the job done for fantasy managers in the RBI department (15) after plating 100 for the BoSox a season ago. Each of Devers' five blasts have come against right-handed pitching in 2024, and he'll get righty
Zack Littell in Thursday's series finale against Tampa with a chance to deliver more counting stats.
--Joseph Barbati - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
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