MLB Player News

The Angels have gotten nothing at all out of left field this year, so the 29-year-old Buss is getting his chance now. He’s not going to turn into a 2017 option for the club, but he should have some AL-only value while receiving significant playing time now.

It was actually kind of concerning to see Hancock’s velocity drop tonight. He averaged a much-improved 94.9 mph with his four-seamer last year and was up to 95.4 mph this spring, but he was down to 93.5 mph tonight. Nevertheless, the Guardians simply couldn’t touch him. Their one hard-hit ball turned into a double play. The remaining seven balls in play against him were five other groundouts and two popups. Between the velocity drop and the most 24% CSW, it’s hard to be too excited about the showing tonight. Still, he’ll always be a streaming option whenever he’s starting at home. Unfortunately, he’ll be on the road against the Angels next weekend, and he might be in line for only a couple of more starts before Bryce Miller returns.

Criswell entered in the seventh with a no-hitter intact, but let’s face it, if the Mariners really wanted a no-hitter tonight, they would have gone to someone else. Instead, Criswell did exactly what the team was hoping for after coming into a 6-0 game, saving the rest of the pen by finishing the game with zero stress. He could be interesting in deep leagues in arguably the game’s best situation for pitchers; this probably won’t be his last three-inning save, and he’s going to vulture some wins as well.

Cecconi worked out a jam in the first and kept the Mariners scoreless until the fourth, when he gave up a three-run homer to Brendan Donovan as part of a four-run inning. He probably should have been done at that point, but with the Guardians playing seven times in seven days to start the year, he was brought back out to give up two runs in the fifth. Cecconi had a really nice spring, posting a 1.62 ERA in five starts, and it’ll take more than a couple of poor outings to get him bumped from the rotation. Still, it’s quite possible he’d prove more useful in relief. He’ll face the Cubs on Saturday.

Donovan’s career high for homers is 14, but he already has two this year. Even more fascinating is that he’s already tried two steals, converting one of them. While Donovan was a very good regular for St. Louis, the lack of homers and steals always left him with little fantasy value. Last year, he had 10 homers and three steals in 2025. In his best season in 2024, he had 14 homers and five steals. We wouldn’t necessarily expect him to best that homer total this year, but if he’s more aggressive on the basepaths, it’d be great for his fantasy value. It just might not be too good for the Mariners, since he’s been caught on 13 of his 29 career steal attempts.

Kayfus, a natural first baseman, is fairly familiar with right field, but he was playing left tonight and, on an ugly sliding attempt at a fly down the line, should have been charged with an error on a fly that hit him on the cup he probably wasn’t wearing. He also made a weak attempt to throw home on an RBI single in the eighth that others might have turned into an out. Kayfus is a reasonable enough bet offensively at age 24, but he’s probably not such a good one that he should be playing in the outfield. There’s just really no excuse for the Guardians not doing more to invest in their offense over the offseason (for at least the fifth year in a row).

The Marlins needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster for Sunday’s acquisition of Leo Jiménez from the Blue Jays and it looks like Acton drew the short straw this time around. There’s a chance that that 27-year-old hurler could pass through waivers unclaimed and continue to function as extra bullpen depth for the Marlins.

The Marlins designated Garrett Acton for assignment in a corresponding move to clear a spot on the team’s active roster. Jiménez, 24, is out of minor league options so he’ll get an immediate opportunity to show what he can do in a reserve role at the big league level for the Fish.

The 26-year-old hurler posted a 6.75 ERA, 2.25 WHIP and a 2/2 K/BB ratio over 1 1/3 innings in his two appearances with the Astros. This wasn’t necessarily due to Roa’s ineffectiveness, it’s just that the Astros’ bullpen was completely overworked throughout the weekend and they had to make a move to get a resh arm in there for Monday. Expect a corresponding move to be announced then.

The Nationals needed to clear a spot on the active roster for Curtis Mead, who was acquired from the White Sox on Sunday, and Chaparro wound up being the odd man out. He’ll return to an everyday role at the Triple-A level until injury or ineffectiveness strike at the big league level.

Rodriguez, 25, was designated for assignment on Wednesday. He has enough power that he would be intriguing for fantasy purposes if he ever found himself in an everyday role, though he has failed to make consistent enough contact thus far to earn that opportunity.