April 8, 2026
Kansas City Royals left-hander
Cole Ragans (thumb) "should be good" going forward after suffering a left-thumb contusion in his start on Wednesday versus the Cleveland Guardians, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com. It sounds as though the Royals avoided the worst with Ragans after he was hit by a comebacker off the bat of
Jose Ramirez in the first inning. He initially stayed in the game, but his thumb proved to be too stiff for him to continue, so the Royals pulled him as a precaution. The 28-year-old southpaw was charged with three earned runs while walking one and striking out two in just two-thirds of an inning on Wednesday. It's great news for Ragans, who made only 13 starts in 2025 due to injuries after his All-Star campaign in 2024. Ragans struck out 223 hitters in 32 starts for the Royals in 2024, and he's a prime bounce-back candidate this year if he can manage to stay healthy. His next scheduled start will come against the division-rival Detroit Tigers next Tuesday on the road.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com - Anne Rogers
April 8, 2026
Atlanta Braves right-hander
Reynaldo Lopez has been suspended for seven games for his role in a brawl with Los Angeles Angels designated hitter
Jorge Soler during Tuesday night's game, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. After Lopez threw a pitch up and in during the fifth inning, Soler charged the mound, with both players throwing haymakers as the benches cleared at Angels Stadium. Both Soler and Lopez will appeal their suspensions, which means they'll be eligible to play until the league hears their suspensions. Lopez will likely end up missing one turn through Atlanta's rotation. Lopez, who only made one start in 2025 due to a shoulder injury, has been great in his three starts this year, allowing four runs (two earned) while walking five and striking out 13 in 15 2/3 frames. The 32-year-old veteran's next scheduled start will come on Monday against the Miami Marlins, so fantasy managers will be hoping his suspension doesn't kick in before that start.
--Keith HernandezSource: ESPN.com - Jeff Passan
April 8, 2026
Los Angeles Angels designated hitter
Jorge Soler has been suspended for seven games for brawling with Atlanta Braves right-hander
Reynaldo Lopez on Tuesday night, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Soler took exception to a pitch up and in from Lopez in the fifth inning and charged the mound before throwing punches in a benches-clearing brawl. Until Soler's appeal is heard by the league, he'll be eligible to play for the Angels, including in Wednesday's contest against Atlanta at Angels Stadium. The 32-year-old veteran right-handed power hitter is slated to start in right field and bat cleanup for the Halos in Wednesday's series finale against Braves right-hander
Grant Holmes. To begin his second season in Anaheim, Soler heads into Wednesday's action sporting a .220 average (9-for-41) with two home runs, 10 RBI, and seven runs scored in 12 games played. Keep Soler in your starting lineups for now until his suspension kicks in.
--Keith HernandezSource: ESPN.com - Jeff Passan
April 8, 2026
Houston Astros right-hander
Cristian Javier (shoulder) was removed from his start early on Wednesday at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies with "right-shoulder tightness," according to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. In his one inning of work before hitting the showers early, Javier allowed an earned run on three hits while walking none and striking out one.
AJ Blubaugh, who took over for Javier in this contest, will be a top candidate to enter Houston's starting rotation if Javier's injury is serious enough to send him to the 15-day injured list. The 29-year-old Dominican is off to a rough start to the 2026 season, as he has allowed 12 earned runs on 10 hits (two homers) while walking nine and striking out only three in 8 1/3 innings in his two starts before Wednesday's outing in Denver. Javier made only eight starts for the 'Stros in 2025 in his return from Tommy John surgery in 2024, so injuries have been an issue.
--Keith HernandezSource: Houston Chronicle - Matt Kawahara
April 8, 2026
Houston Astros outfielder
Jake Meyers (side) was removed from Wednesday's game early against the Colorado Rockies with "lower-back tightness," according to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. Meyers suffered the injury in the second inning and was pulled in favor of
Brice Matthews. For now, fantasy managers should consider Meyers to be day-to-day until we know more. If his injury is significant, Matthews and
Joey Loperfido would both be candidates to see more playing time in center field for Houston. Meyers hit a career-best .292 in 104 games in 2025 for the Astros, but he's mostly a defense-first player in center field. In 11 games to open the year going into Wednesday's contest at Coors Field, Meyers had gone 9-for-37 (.243) with a homer, four RBI, five runs scored, and one stolen base.
--Keith HernandezSource: Houston Chronicle - Matt Kawahara
April 8, 2026
Updating a previous report, Kansas City Royals left-hander
Cole Ragans (thumb) was diagnosed with a left-thumb contusion after leaving his start early on Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians after he was hit in the throwing hand by a comebacker off the bat of third baseman
Jose Ramirez in the first inning, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The 28-year-old southpaw appears to have avoided a serious injury, but he could still have his next turn in the starting rotation skipped as a precaution. Before leaving, Ragans was unfortunately charged with three earned runs on two hits while walking one and striking out two in two-thirds of an inning pitched. If the Royals clear Ragans to make his next start, he's scheduled to face the division-rival Detroit Tigers next week. If he can avoid further injuries, Ragans has a good chance to bounce back in 2026 for fantasy managers.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com - Anne Rogers
April 8, 2026
Colorado Rockies first baseman
TJ Rumfield stayed hot at the plate on Tuesday, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in the 5-1 win over the Astros. He's got back-to-back multi-hit efforts and has hit safely in eight of the 10 games he's started. The 6-foot-5 slugger is now batting .389 with two home runs, seven RBI, and six runs scored, along with better-than-average strikeout (17.5 percent) and walk rates (10.0 percent), good for a .478 wOBA and 191 wRC+. The left-handed slugger hit for average (.285) and power (16 home runs) last year at Triple-A in the Yankees' organization, with similar strikeout and walk rates, so this isn't totally out of nowhere for the Virginia Tech product. However, with a high BABIP of .444, along with an xBA of .287 and xwOBA of .369, there could be some regression coming. Still, with the skills he's shown and playing half of his games at Coors Field, there are plenty of reasons for the 25-year-old to be rostered in deeper leagues; he's available in 95 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
--Jarod RuppSource: ESPN
April 8, 2026
Los Angeles Angels right-handed reliever
Robert Stephenson (elbow) underwent elbow surgery and is expected to be out for the entire 2026 season, manager Kurt Suzuki told Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Stephenson has dealt with elbow issues with the Angels and pitched only 10 innings during his three-year deal with the organization. More right-elbow issues surfaced for the 33-year-old veteran during spring training, and he landed on the 60-day injured list before the start of the regular season. Stephenson specifically had ligament and flexor-repair surgery, so he was able to avoid another UCL reconstruction, but it doesn't change the fact that he'll miss the entire season. The Angels have a $2.5 million team option on Stephenson for the 2027 season, but after all of his right-elbow issues, it wouldn't be a surprise if they let him reach the open market next winter. Right-hander
Jordan Romano has looked good as the Angels' closer early on this year, with Stephenson (elbow),
Ben Joyce (shoulder), and
Kirby Yates (knee) all sidelined.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com - Rhett Bollinger
April 8, 2026
Cincinnati Reds second baseman
Matt McLain smacked a pair of doubles in a 2-for-5 effort in Tuesday's 6-3 extra-innings win over the Marlins, driving in two runs, scoring once, and stealing a base. Perhaps the former first-rounder is rounding into form with three multi-hit efforts in his last five games, raising his batting average from .190 to .238 on the season. The 28-year-old scorched the ball this spring, batting .509 with seven home runs, which inflated his ADP in fantasy drafts, so managers who invested in a bounce-back campaign should be encouraged by his recent play. The right-handed hitter will go up against the Marlins'
Eury Perez on Wednesday, and although he's seen Perez only twice, McLain does have a home run off of him.
--Jarod RuppSource: ESPN
April 8, 2026
Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar
Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-3 in Tuesday's 4-1 win over the Blue Jays, with an RBI and a pair of walks. After collecting just three hits in his first six games of the season, the four-time MVP is now riding a five-game hit streak, during which time he's gone 9-for-24 (.375) with three home runs, eight RBI, and five runs scored. He's yet to steal his first base of the season, but a .448 xwOBA and 156 wRC+ point to yet another productive campaign in the making. The five-time All-Star will also make his second start of the season on the mound on Wednesday afternoon in Toronto and will bat leadoff. The right-hander allowed one hit and three walks while striking out six batters in six innings of shutout ball his last time out against the Guardians.
--Jarod RuppSource: ESPN
April 8, 2026
Athletics relief pitcher
Mark Leiter Jr. came on in the eighth inning to help secure a win for his club on Tuesday, but allowed four runs on four hits instead, including a go-ahead three-run home run to
Amed Rosario, resulting in a 5-3 loss to the Yankees. It was the second blown save of the season for the right-hander, who has now allowed at least one hit in all five of his appearances this season, with 10 hits and a walk in his 4 1/3 innings pitched thus far (2.54 WHIP). Although the 35-year-old owns the only save of the season of any A's reliever, he may be hard to trust with the next opportunity to close down a game. Fantasy managers should keep an eye on who that next opportunity goes to, as another bullpen option could emerge as the favorite for saves if they can prove capable of shutting the door on the opponent.
--Jarod RuppSource: ESPN
April 8, 2026
New York Mets manager
Carlos Mendoza said he's happy with where his top five starters are at early in the 2026 season, so left-hander
Sean Manaea will remain in the bullpen for now, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The Mets will not move to a six-man starting rotation this week, as they had previously indicated they might. Manaea has looked good in his two appearances out of the Mets' bullpen early on this year, but his fantasy value is basically shot unless he can get back into New York's rotation at some point in 2026. The veteran left-hander has allowed just one earned run on five hits (one homer) while walking four and striking out four in five innings pitched. He had a late-career resurgence in 2024 in his first year in Queens with a 3.47 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 184:63 K:BB in 32 starts (181 2/3 innings), but the injury bug bit him in 2025, and he made just 12 starts. Manaea's velocity was noticeably down in spring training, and it remains to be seen if he can ever regain his 2024 form.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com - Anthony DiComo
April 8, 2026
Minnesota Twins relief pitcher
Justin Topa picked up his first save of the season in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Tigers. The right-hander came on with one out in the ninth and coaxed a pair of groundouts to end the game, but did walk a batter in between the two outs, so it wasn't exactly a clean save. Nevertheless, it should put him on the fantasy radar for managers desperate for saves. The 35-year-old was saddled with the loss his last time out after allowing three runs (two earned) in an extra-innings loss to Tampa Bay, but including Tuesday's effort, he hasn't allowed a run in five of his last six appearances and didn't allow a single hit in four of them. Still, with just five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings pitched this season and a career K/9 of 7.78, he doesn't profile as the prototypical closer and may not get many more save chances this season. The 6-foot-4 hurler recorded four holds, four saves, and blew four saves for Minnesota in 2025 in 60 innings of relief (54 appearances).
--Jarod RuppSource: ESPN
April 8, 2026
Texas Rangers third baseman
Josh Jung remains sidelined for Wednesday's contest against the division-rival Seattle Mariners, per MLB.com.
Ezequiel Duran will start at third base and is batting ninth for the Rangers against Mariners right-hander
Bryan Woo. It's the third time in the last four games that Jung will start on the bench, with manager Skip Schumaker saying on Tuesday that Jung is "a little banged up." The 28-year-old has been banged up for much of his young career in the big leagues, although he still offers plenty of power upside from the right side of the plate when he's on the diamond. The former eighth overall pick in 2019 out of Texas Tech has not looked great offensively to begin his fifth year in the majors, going 6-for-32 (.188) with no homers, an RBI, one walk, and nine strikeouts in nine contests. Jung is still Texas' primary option at third, but his slow start and more injury issues should have fantasy managers a little worried.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
April 8, 2026
Houston Astros third baseman
Carlos Correa (illness) has been sick since Tuesday, which is why he's absent from the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic.
Isaac Paredes will start at the hot corner and will bat cleanup against Rockies right-hander
Michael Lorenzen. Correa is back at the ballpark and did a light pre-game workout, but it's unclear if he'll be available off the bench. The Astros have a day off on Thursday, so hopefully Correa will be feeling good enough to return to the starting nine for Friday's series opener against the division-rival Seattle Mariners. Paredes won't be a bad DFS play on Wednesday at hitter-friendly Coors Field in the cleanup spot. In five career at-bats against Lorenzen, Paredes is hitting .200 with a solo home run. In his first 11 games this year, Correa has gone 11-for-42 (.262) with a homer, nine RBI, nine runs scored, and a stolen base.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Athletic - Chandler Rome
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