The five-game ban, which was reduced from seven originally, goes into effect immediately. The 32-year-old righty won’t be eligible to start again until next week’s series against the Marlins after being involved in a wild on-field brawl with former teammate Jorge Soler where the two traded punches before being separated during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game in Los Angeles.

It sounds like the Marlins are going to give Stowers a look at first base during his upcoming minor league rehab assignment. It’s an interesting solution to Miami’s outfield glut since they have a hole at the cold corner with Christopher Morel (oblique) on the shelf for a couple weeks. Stowers has been out since the late stages of spring training recovering from a right hamstring strain. The 28-year-old put together a breakout campaign in his full-season Miami debut last year, slashing 288/.386/.544 with 25 homers in 117 games.

Ragans didn’t look right after taking a comebacker from José Ramírez off his pitching hand during the first inning of Wednesday’s start at Progressive Field. He was lifted after throwing just 18 pitches and facing five batters. The 28-year-old fantasy ace presumably underwent X-rays since the Royals announced that he left the contest with a contusion. There should be much-needed clarity on his status once he attempts to throw a bullpen session in a couple of days, though he told reporters afterward that he expects to make his next start. Despite that optimism, Ragans remains in clear jeopardy of missing his scheduled outing against the Tigers on Tuesday.

It’s a massive concern for Houston’s rotation, which lost ace Hunter Brown to a shoulder issue earlier this week. Javier left the contest with a trainer after attempting to warm up for his second inning of work after allowing one run on three hits in the opening frame. The 29-year-old righty will head for further evaluation and imaging to determine the severity of the issue. He’s in serious jeopardy of missing his next start, a rematch against the Rockies at home, on Tuesday. It would likely be AJ Blubaugh moving into the rotation in his absence with Spencer Arrighetti expected to come up and replace Brown already.

Both are appealing, which means that Soler remains in the Angels lineup until after the hearing takes place. The two traded punches in front of the mound during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game in Los Angeles after López threw up-and-in on Soler, who was hit by a pitch in his previous at-bat following a first-inning homer. The two were previously teammates in Atlanta back in 2024.

Not initially, though. Even though Ragans, who struck out both batters he faced before taking a José Ramírez liner off both his glove and pitching hands, missed badly on his warmup pitches after the injury, he convinced the Royals to leave him in. He then walked David Fry on four pitches and gave up a long two-run double to Chase DeLauter before exiting. He’ll probably be fine for his next start, but whether he had a bruise or just some numbness, he clearly had to be lifted today.

This deal was rumored before Griffin was even promoted, but it is now official. Part of that is likely because a prospect cannot sign a multi-year extension before debuting if they want to be eligible for Prospect Promotion Incentives, which could get the team a draft pick based on end-of-season award voting. This contract is the largest in Pirates history, beating out Bryan Reynolds’ $106.75 million deal in 2023, and is also right in line with the contract last year’s number one prospect, Roman Anthony, signed at eight years, $134 million with the Red Sox. Griffin is 3-for-17 with three RBI and a 4/2 K/BB ratio in his first five MLB games, so there may be a small learning curve early in his MLB career, but a bright future lies ahead of him.

Soler and López traded punches during a chaotic donnybrook that erupted during the fifth inning at Angel Stadium after a high-and-inside pitch. Soler clobbered a two-run homer off López back in the opening frame before being drilled hit by a pitch his next time up. Amazingly, it was Braves manager Walt Weiss who delivered a textbook tackle to bring Soler to the ground and help break up the brawl while Mike Trout managed to corral López, who somehow held onto the baseball throughout the entire incident. There will undoubtedly be suspensions handed out by the league after one of the wildest on-field melees in recent years.

It’s a massive relief for the Rangers, and fantasy managers, after deGrom experienced right knee discomfort while warming up for Monday’s start against the Mariners where he struck out six and allowed one run over five innings. The 37-year-old fantasy ace will make his next start on Sunday against the Dodgers.

Schlittler brought the heat on a frigid evening at Yankee Stadium, where temperatures hovered in the low 40s throughout the night, averaging 96.6 and topping out at 98.8 mph on his fastball. The 25-year-old rising star retired six straight before giving up back-to-back hits in the third inning before serving up a two-run double to Nick Kurtz, which snapped a streak of 14 consecutive scoreless innings to open the year. He also gave up a ground-rule double to Tyler Soderstrom that brought home an additional run in the frame. He’s been leaning more on is cutter and sinker this season and the results have been phenomenal with a microscopic 1.62 ERA, 0.48 WHIP and 22/3 K/BB ratio across 16 2/3 innings. Simply put, he’s pitching like a fantasy ace right now. He’ll face the Rays on Sunday at Tropicana Field to close out a two-start week.