MLB Player News

Culver was a highly-criticized first round pick back in 2010, and has struggled to justify his lofty draft status, hitting just .238/.319/.325 for his professional career. He is hitting .237/.298/.311 with 11 doubles, one triple, and one home run for the season. He has 63 strikeouts in 243 plate appearances, and has struck out in 22.1% of his plate appearances for his career.

With Carmen Mlodsinski being named the fifth starter and both Jose Urquidy and Hunter Barco making the Opening Day roster, it seems like Clevinger may be the Pirates’ seventh or eighth starter right now. This spring, he allowed right runs on 10 hits in 14 1/3 innings while striking out 15 and walking 10. He has pitched only 21 2/3 MLB innings since 2023.

Barco, MLB’s 95th-ranked prospect, made his MLB debut last season with just three innings out of the bullpen. He will presumably start this season in the bullpen as well, with Carmen Mlodzinski already named the team’s fifth starter. That means Barco will be the presumed sixth starter and long reliever and should get a chance to start if Mlodzinski falters. Barco looked good this spring, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits in 9 1/3 innings while striking out 12 and walking six. He might not be worth adding right now in his current role, but fantasy managers should watch Mlodzinski’s early starts closely to see if Barco will get a shot.

The financial details are not public at the moment, but Schneider was heading into the final year of his contract, so he will now be under contract with the Blue Jays through the 2028 season. After taking the Blue Jays to the World Series last season and finishing second in the AL Manager of the Year race, it’s certainly a deserved deal for Schneider.

Katie Woo of The Athletic reported earlier Sunday that Sheehan might not a start the first time through, but it’s now confirmed that he will. Justin Wrobleski, who was the alternative to Sheehan, will piggyback off of one of the starters. Based on spring performance, Sasaki, who will start the final game of the opening series against the D-backs, would seem to be the most likely choice. Sheehan and Ohtani will get the Guardians next Monday and Tuesday.

Miranda hit .304/.373/.522 this spring, but his fate was sealed when the Padres committed to Ty France as a bench guy. Sears probably would have had a rotation spot with a strong spring, but he turned in an 8.44 ERA in his three starts. If the Padres had it to do over again, they probably would have non-tendered him in November instead of retaining him for $2.75 million.

A 10-run third inning decided this one quickly. Glasnow got whiffs on exactly half of the 36 swings against him. His spring ends with a 3.45 ERA and an outstanding 26/3 K/BB in 15 2/3 innings. He’s pretty obviously not going to contribute for six months this year, but it looks like he might be especially good early on.

With an 11/1 K/BB and just one run given up, Scott was having an excellent spring until tonight. He still seems on track to bounce back and turn into a fine setup man in front of Edwin Díaz this year. Fortunately, fantasy leaguers won’t have to worry so much about his ups and downs as when he was supposed to be closing last year.

There’s a case for Klassen in the rotation over either Ryan Johnson or Jack Kochanowicz, but he didn’t make the Angels regret their choice to send him down with his performance tonight. Klassen will probably open up in Triple-A Salt Lake’s rotation, even though the Angels typically try to limit their top pitching prospects’ exposure to such a tough environment. It seems likely that he’ll get a look at some point during the first half.

Soler is batting .361/.452/.750 in 43 plate appearances, and it looks like he’ll open the season in the cleanup spot ahead of Yoán Moncada, who seemed in line to bat fourth at the beginning of the spring. He could be helpful in shallow leagues initially, particularly for teams looking for power over batting average.

No cheapies for Moreno: his homers off Walker Buehler were projected 459 and 445 feet. Moreno quietly hit .285/.353/.433 in his 83 games while healthy last season, and he’s still adding power at age 26. Plus, he’s probably going to occupy the cleanup spot in Arizona’s lineup initially. He should be a top-10 fantasy catcher if he can stay healthy.