MLB Player News

The 29-year-old right-hander spent most of the 2016 season at Triple-A Charlotte where he posted a 3.53 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 75/24 K/BB ratio over 71 1/3 innings. With a strong showing in the spring, he could compete for a spot in the club’s Opening Day bullpen.

Pauley appears to be fine since he was spotted taking ground balls during pregame warmups following an early exit from Friday’s game against the Brewers with left oblique discomfort. It’ll be Javier Sanoja taking over at third base in his absence.

Slaten has resumed throwing after hitting the shelf earlier this month with a right oblique strain. Cora added that he’ll likely require a minor league rehab assignment instead of jumping right back into Boston’s bullpen later this month.

Simpson finds himself atop Tampa Bay’s lineup for the sixth time in his last seven games since April 10. He’ll have the challenge of facing Pirates ace Paul Skenes in this one. The 25-year-old speedster has put together a phenomenal start to the year, batting .342/.368/.397 with four RBI and seven steals in 19 games. There’s some slight regression coming based on an unsustainably high .368 BABIP, but he still projects as an elite fantasy contributor in the batting average and stolen base departments. He won’t provide much else, but he should still return strong value for a player typically drafted after pick 150 earlier this spring.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay decided to shake up his lineup card on Thursday by moving McNeil to the top of the order with Nick Kurtz hitting third behind red-hot Shea Langeliers. The 34-year-old veteran has gone 2-for-7 with a pair of doubles during that span and is probably going to continue leading off against right-handed starters with Lawrence Butler going to the bottom of the order.

Antonacci makes his third consecutive start in left field after spending his big-league debut at second base earlier this week. The contact-oriented 23-year-old rookie has gone 1-for-10 with a pair of walks in three games since being called up. Amazingly, he hasn’t struck out during that span. He’ll likely face an adjustment period, like most top prospects, as he gets used to everyday life in the big leagues. However, his extensive minor league track record suggests he’s going to start hitting and be an impactful fantasy contributor in deeper mixed leagues this season.

Barnett returns to the majors after posting a pedestrian 6.85 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 18/11 K/BB ratio across 22 1/3 innings over five starts last year for the Athletics. The 25-year-old figures to pitch in long relief spots.

The bullpen shuffle continues in West Sacramento with Elvis leaving the building after being torched for four runs over two innings by the White Sox on Friday night. The 27-year-old served up a gargantuan 431-foot grand slam to White Sox rookie slugger Munetaka Murakai that left his bat like a rocket taking off.

Mendoza added that they haven’t assessed whether Senga will make his next start, but he’s still getting the dreaded vote of confidence after being lit up for seven runs over 3 1/3 innings during Friday’s meltdown against the Cubs. The 33-year-old was tagged for six hits, including a pair of homers, in the abbreviated outing. It’s easy to write off one wind-fueled poor outing as an aberration, but Senga has coughed up seven runs in back-to-back outings. It would most likely be veteran lefty Sean Manaea, or someone like top pitching prospect Jonah Tong, moving into the rotation if New York decides to make a change. His stuff would certainly play up in shorter bursts out of the bullpen. It’s been a disastrous season for the Mets overall, but they’re sticking with Senga for now.

Benge will take his second consecutive turn as New York’s top-of-the-order table-setter after going 1-for-4 out of the leadoff spot during Friday’s series opener. The 23-year-old former top prospect has been ice-cold at the dish this season, hitting .158 (9-for-57) with one homer and five steals in 17 games. He’s shown some signs of life at the dish recently, but it’s going to take a couple positive weeks for his full-season numbers to climb back to respectability. There are zero long-term concerns here, but Benge is clearly going through some growing pains as he adjusts to everyday life in the majors.

Buttó made the revelation on his Instagram page, adding that it was an extremely rare surgery for an athlete to address a blood clot in his armpit that was limiting his mobility and causing pain while he pitched. There should be an official timeline from the Giants organization at some point soon, but he’s likely facing an extended absence. The positive news is that Buttó is in recovery.