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. We’re assuming the 28-year-old fantasy ace underwent X-rays since the Royals announced that he left with a contusion. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status once he attempts to throw a bullpen session in a couple days. He’s obviously in jeopardy of missing his next start 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.

The box score doesn’t begin to tell the story, as once again, a vintage Alcantara outing. The 30-year-old wasn’t able to complete his second-consecutive shutout as he gave up a double and walk in the ninth, and two runs scored on a sac fly and a wild pitch in that frame after he exited. He struck out six, walked two, and wasn’t hit hard for the overwhelming majority of the game against a solid Cincinnati lineup. Alcantara will look to keep up this good run — good run seems like such an understatement — against the Tigers on Sunday. Fantasy managers who took a chance on Alcantara have to be thrilled.

Skenes took a no-hitter into the sixth, when Fernando Tatis Jr. singled with one out. Jake Cronenworth had already walked to lead off the inning, so the Padres had a threat going in a 2-0 game. Jackson Merrill, though, grounded into a double play to end it. Skenes lost the shutout when Xander Bogaerts homered with one out in the seventh and was removed immediately afterwards. Skenes has allowed precisely one run in both of his starts since his Oneil Cruz-fueled Opening Day disaster against the Mets. He’ll likely make his next start Monday versus the Nationals.