MLB Player News

Erik Kratz, who was the third catcher, has been taken off the roster. King, 25, posted a rough 7.76 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 11 walks through 26 2/3 innings with the Yankees this season. He figures to pitch in a long relief capacity.

The veteran struck out six and walked nobody, while also throwing nearly 70 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting a 20 percent swinging strike rate. All of that is tremendous, and he got to two-strike counts on 78 percent of the hitters he saw. The issue is that he also gave up a home run and an average exit velocity of 96.7 mph on the contact he allowed. The Mariners have said they want Castillo to piggyback with Bryce Miller (oblique) when he comes off the IL, but Castillo also has a 6.57 ERA on the season, so there’s a chance that Miller could simply take the rotation spot if he pitches well. Castillo no longer needs to be held in 12-team redraft leagues.

Jung is now up to five home runs and 20 RBI with a .319/.372/.519 slash line. He’s finally healthy after nagging injuries over the last few years, and he has been the most consistent bat in the Rangers’ lineup this season. There may not be a true breakout here, but Jung is at least emerging as the hitter we expected him to be before the injuries kicked in.

After coming to Chicago with much fanfare in the off-season, the 32-year-old is hitting .233/.328/.333 with three home runs, 13 RBI, and a 31/22 K/BB ratio in 39 games. He’s making enough contact, and his hard-hit rate is actually in line with previous seasons,s but his bat speed is trending down, and he’s hitting more groundballs than he ever has. There’s still plenty of time for him to figure it out, but it hasn’t been the best start to the season.

He struck out six and walked three while giving up just three hits. Kelly entered Saturday’s outing with a 9.95 ERA through his first four starts, so this was easily his best outing of the season. The veteran right-hander gave up some hard contact early on, but he really found his comfort level as the night went on. Some fantasy managers will want to see more before starting Kelly with confidence, but given his track record, he could quickly find himself back in the circle of trust. It’s truly a tough call next time out against the Rockies in Colorado.

As you can imagine, Leiter’s command was not the best in this one, throwing just 55 percent of his pitches for strikes. However, he also induced 12 whiffs with a 12 percent swinging strike rate and was efficient in two-strike counts with a 57 percent PutAway Rate. It wasn’t a crisp outing, but Leiter made the pitches that he needed to in order to get out of trouble and showcased the ability of a strong fantasy starter. The command just really needs to be cleaned up. He’s a risky option next week against the Astros.

Holmes was once again solid while throwing a season-high 103 pitches, but a two-out rally from Arizona in the third inning (which consisted of three singles and a walk) was enough to do him in. He struck out six and walked a pair in the loss. Holmes is now 4-3 on the year despite a stingy 1.86 ERA. He hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his eight starts. He’ll look for more run support in the series opener against the Yankees on Friday.

It was a clean inning, but Mark Vientos just missed hitting a game-tying homer, as it died on the warning track in center field for the second out. Sewald struck out Carson Benge swinging to end it while notching his first save since April 17. The 35-year-old has four straight scoreless outings under his belt, and now holds a 3.29 ERA on the year. It was a big night for Merrill Kelly and an important win for the Diamondbacks, who had lost seven out of their last eight coming in.

This line is a weird one. Cabrera allowed five runs on seven hits, two of which were home runs. That’s all very much earned. However, he also struck out six and walked just one. He also had 13 whiffs, a 15 percent swinging strike rate, a 30 percent CSW, and threw 66 percent of his pitches for strikes. So, Cabrera threw tons of strikes, missed plenty of bats, put away hitters when he got into two-strike counts, but also seemed to give up hard contact whenever he did give up contact. One other thing to note here is that Cabrera’s sinker was 97 mph in the first inning and then down to 94.3 mph by the fifth inning. That’s a bit of a larger drop-off than we’re used to seeing. We’d still start him next week against the White Sox.

Vargas poked one through the left side to put the D-Backs ahead in the third inning. He’s hit safely in three straight since the 27-game streak came to an end on Wednesday. With a .350 batting average, the 34-year-old has been one of the best stories in baseball so far this season. He’s already knocked in 24 runs, which puts him seven shy of his career-high, which came with the Nationals in 2023. The hot streak might not last, but we’re guessing he’s going to blow that number out of the water.

Baty’s second-inning double brought in the only run of the game for New York. Much like a few members of the Mets’ lineup, the 26-year-old has been a massive disappointment at the plate this season with a weak .207/.274/.306 batting line through 36 games. He has just one homer on the season, and that was 22 games ago. He doesn’t belong in most fantasy lineups right now.