1 min agoLos Angeles Angels left-hander
Reid Detmers put forth another strong effort on Wednesday in a road start against the Tampa Bay Rays. Detmers worked 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and while he yielded seven hits, he also walked just one against four punchouts on the night. With the outing, the 24-year-old improved to a tidy 1.19 ERA and a massive 26.7% K-BB% across his first four starts of the season. Additionally, Detmers has grown his ground-ball rate to 43.8% on the season, a mark well above his 36.6% career mark, aiding him in not allowing a home run through his first 22 2/3 innings in the 2024 campaign.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
13 mins agoDetroit Tigers outfielder
Parker Meadows slugged his first homer of the season on Wednesday in a 5-4 loss to the visiting Texas Rangers. It was a welcomed swing for the 24-year-old who has struggled mightily to begin the season. Following a big spring training, Meadows is now hitting just .077 (3-for-39) with a triple, a homer, and eight walks with a hefty 17 strikeouts across 47 trips to the plate. His excellent defense in center field has kept him in the lineup fairly regularly to begin the season but it's tough to see him sticking around in the big leagues if the bat can't turn around. He hit .232 with three homers and eight steals across 37 games in his MLB debut last season.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
32 mins agoNew York Mets pitching prospect
Calvin Ziegler (elbow) will undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2024 season and likely a good chunk of the 2025 campaign as well. A 2021 second-round pick, Ziegler made just one appearance in the 2023 season due to injury and has pitched all of 53 2/3 innings since making his professional debut in the 2022 season. The 21-year-old owns a 3.96 ERA with 86 strikeouts and 37 walks across those 53 2/3 frames, but injury woes have decimated his young professional career.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: Anthony DiComo
2 hours agoThe Boston Red Sox on Thursday placed outfielder
Tyler O'Neill (head) on the seven-day injured list (retroactive to April 16) and reinstated outfielder
Rob Refsnyder (toe) from the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move. O'Neill had cleared the league's concussion protocol after colliding with third baseman
Rafael Devers in the outfield on Monday, but he hadn't played since and required eight stitches to close up a cut on his forehead. It's a bummer for O'Neill's fantasy managers that he wasn't able to return this weekend, but based on the fact that he had cleared concussion protocols this week, his stay on the seven-day IL should be a short one. Keep him stashed everywhere after his hot start to the year. Refsnyder isn't on the fantasy radar in mixed leagues and will serve as outfield depth behind
Jarren Duran,
Ceddanne Rafaela and
Wilyer Abreu.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MassLive.com - Chris Cotillo
2 hours agoThe Pittsburgh Pirates currently have a hole in their starting rotation with lefty
Marco Gonzales (forearm) on the injured list, but MLB Pipeline's No. 3 prospect, right-hander
Paul Skenes, isn't getting called up because he needs to continue to build up for his first full professional season. Skenes has yet to allow a run with Triple-A Indianapolis through his first three outings, striking out 19 with just six baserunners allowed over 9 1/3 innings. However, he was capped at just three innings in his first two outings and has had his pitch count purposefully limited early on. "We don't want to go from zero to 100 right away. Paul's so important to us long term, so we want to be really thoughtful about that," general manager Ben Cherington said. The 21-year-old will almost certainly be with Pittsburgh this year, but fantasy managers in all formats are going to need to be patient.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Alex Stumpf
2 hours agoCincinnati Reds first baseman
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (illness) was scratched from the team's lineup on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners due to an illness. He was the second Reds starter in as many days to be held out of the lineup with an illness, as
Jeimer Candelario was scratched on Tuesday with flu-like symptoms. Candelario was also out on Wednesday, so it appears there's a bug going around Cincy's clubhouse right now. The good news is that the Reds are off on Thursday, so hopefully Candelario, Encarnacion-Strand and anyone else not feeling well will be feeling good enough on Friday to play against the visiting Los Angeles Angels. CES has two home runs and 12 RBI so far this year, but he's off to a slow start, hitting .192 (14-for-73) in his first 17 games played.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
2 hours agoTexas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said that there isn't a firm number of rehab at-bats that first baseman
Nathaniel Lowe (hamstring) needs, but said it could be "about 30, could be more." As of right now, Lowe has only had 16 at-bats on his minor-league rehab assignment for Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock, so the 28-year-old left-handed slugger may not necessarily be ready to return from the 10-day injured list to make his 2024 debut with the Rangers this weekend. Barring a setback, though, Lowe should be able to make his season debut with Texas at some point next week. When he returns, Lowe will be the team's regular first baseman, pushing
Jared Walsh to a bench role. If he isn't already, Lowe should be rostered in all fantasy formats.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Dallas Morning News - Shawn McFarland
2 hours agoBoston Red Sox infielder
Romy Gonzalez's (wrist) MRI exam came back clean, according to manager Alex Cora. The Red Sox sent Gonzalez for testing after he felt pain in his left wrist when swinging the bat on Wednesday, but the 27-year-old has dodged a bullet in terms of structural damage in his wrist. He's still on the 10-day injured list, though, and probably isn't going to be ready to return to the big-league club when he's eligible to return. Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout in his two games played with the BoSox this year before getting hurt. When healthy, he'll serve as middle-infield depth (mainly at second base) and isn't much of a fantasy asset.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Boston Herald - Gabrielle Starr
2 hours agoBoston Red Sox right-hander
Nick Pivetta (elbow) is throwing at 120 feet on Thursday and Friday and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday. Pivetta is on the 15-day injured list due to a right-elbow sprain, and while he's making progress in his throwing program, he still has a ways to go and will eventually need to go on a minor-league rehab assignment before returning to Boston's starting rotation. Fantasy managers definitely shouldn't expect the 31-year-old to make it back before the calendar flips to May, but Pivetta should be stashed after looking excellent in his first two starts of 2024. He allowed just one earned run on eight hits (one home run) while walking one and striking out 13 in 11 innings pitched for a 0.82 ERA.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Athletic - Jen McCaffrey
3 hours agoBoston Red Sox outfielder
Tyler O'Neill (head) remains out of the lineup on Thursday in the series finale against the Cleveland Guardians. O'Neill has passed the league's concussion protocols after colliding with third baseman
Rafael Devers in the outfield on Monday but needed stitches for a cut on his head and hasn't played since. The 28-year-old should be able to avoid going on the seven-day concussion list and he could even return to the lineup as early as Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Jarren Duran is starting in left field again and batting leadoff, while
Wilyer Abreu is in right and hitting third against Guardians right-hander
Carlos Carrasco. Fantasy managers are hoping O'Neill can return as soon as possible, as so far he's hitting .313 (15-for-48) with seven home runs, eight RBI and one stolen base.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Ian Browne
3 hours agoLos Angeles Angels catcher
Logan O'Hoppe and outfielder
Aaron Hicks will both start on the bench for Thursday's series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays. It's not surprise that O'Hoppe is out for the day game following a night game.
Matt Thaiss is doing the catching and batting fifth, while
Mickey Moniak is in right field and batting sixth against Rays right-hander
Ryan Pepiot. Neither Thaiss nor Moniak have faced Pepiot in their careers. O'Hoppe has been very hot to start the year, going 18-for-53 (.340) with two home runs and seven RBI in his first 16 games, while Hicks has been the opposite, going 7-for-44 (.159) with a homer and four RBI in his first 13 games with the Halos. Hicks has started just one of the team's last four games and is losing fantasy value quickly in AL-only leagues.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Orange County Register - Jeff Fletcher
3 hours agoTampa Bay Rays outfielder
Randy Arozarena is not in the team's starting lineup on Thursday for the series finale against the visiting Los Angeles Angels. With Arozarena starting on the bench,
Harold Ramirez will start in left field for the Rays and will hit cleanup against Angels right-hander
Griffin Canning. Arozarena could use a day off, as he's hitting just .174 (12-for-69) with two homers, six RBI, four steals and 19 strikeouts in his first 18 games, and he's currently in a 2-for-23 slump. Hopefully, the day off helps the 29-year-old get right heading into this weekend. Ramirez has gone 18-for-71 (.254) in the early going with a homer, eight RBI and a stolen base. He has never faced Canning in his career but could be a nice producer at a low cost in DFS on Thursday out of the cleanup spot for Tampa.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
3 hours agoBoston Red Sox third baseman
Rafael Devers will undergo an MRI on his left knee after he felt discomfort. Devers was pulled from the game on Tuesday but gave it a go as designated hitter on Wednesday. Manager Alex Cora states that the MRI is precautionary in nature to make sure the knee is structurally sound. Devers is not in the lineup Thursday, so we'll await to see the results of the MRI to get a better understanding of the injury and whether or not he'll be able to play this weekend. The 2x All-Star is off to a slow start at the plate, hitting just .188 with two home runs, five RBI, and five runs scored through 13 games. On the bright side he's got a 9:10 BB:K, with three of those strikeouts coming on Wednesday alone.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: The Springfield Republican - Christopher Smith
3 hours agoNew York Yankees closer
Clay Holmes notched his seventh save of the season in Wednesday's 6-4 win over the Blue Jays, tying him for the league lead in all of baseball. Holmes allowed one hit but did not allow a run, a feat he's managed in all of his appearances so far this season, resulting in a perfect 0.00 ERA. The 31-year-old also has a 1.11 WHIP, although he isn't striking out many batters at just 15.4%. As long as he's locking down saves though, fantasy managers won't mind. After two straight 20+ save campaigns with New York, Holmes appears well on his way to 20+ again and is a top option at closer.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
4 hours agoTampa Bay Rays closer
Pete Fairbanks blew the save in Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Angels. Fairbanks came on in the ninth with a 4-3 lead and recorded an out to the first batter he faced, then the wheels came off. The 30-year-old proceeded to allow three singles and two walks (one was an IBB to
Mike Trout) which resulted in two runs coming across the plate and a blown save. It was only his first blown save of the season, but he's been up and down so far to start the year. Over eight appearances (seven IP) the righty has allowed seven earned runs on eight hits with a BB:K of 8:10. Fairbanks does have three saves to his name thus far and his job doesn't seem to be in jeopardy, but a couple more outings like this and fantasy managers might consider picking up
Jason Adam as insurance.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
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