MLB Player News

Ramírez fired a pair of scoreless frames on Sunday afternoon against the Diamondbacks in his first big-league appearance since September, 2019. The 27-year-old righty will head back to the minors and continue to function as organizational relief depth. There’s a strong possibility he’s back in the Dodgers’ bullpen very soon.

Wheeler finished with one strikeout while allowing four hits, including a home run, and issuing a pair of walks. The results are less concerning than his fastball velocity, which averaged just 92.7 mph after sitting in the 96 mph range last year. The 35-year-old threw 49 pitches (26 strikes) in his second rehab outing as he continues to build up towards a potential late-April or early-May return to Philadelphia’s rotation coming off last year’s thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.

Strider remains without a firm timeline to begin a minor league rehab assignment, which is likely to last several weeks. He’ll need to progress to facing hitters before he’s ready for rehab starts. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace has been on the shelf since the end of spring training recovering from an oblique strain. It’s starting to look like some point in May might be an optimistic goal at this juncture.

Suzuki played five innings in right field during his first rehab contest and got three plate appearances under his belt. Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters earlier this week that the 31-year-old right fielder will remain in the minors for three-to-seven days, which puts his season debut at some point within next week.

Keith finds himself atop Detroit’s lineup for the third time in the last four games after getting a break during Friday’s series opener. The 24-year-old has been a certifiable on-base machine this season, reaching safely in six straight games to boast a robust .417 on-base percentage. It’s an extremely small sample, but Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has been complimentary of his at-bats recently and appears poised to stick with him atop the lineup over Kerry Carpenter, who is hitting .160 (4-for-25) with 13 strikeouts in seven games. Star rookie Kevin McGonigle is back at shortstop and will bat second for the third time in the last four games.

No surprise here after Winn left Friday’s series opener in Detroit with hip tightness. The 24-year-old shortstop attributed the issue to overdoing it with his swing in an effort to break out of season-opening slump earlier this week prior to Wednesday evening’s car accident. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern but fantasy managers should keep a close eye on the situation this weekend. It’ll be rookie sensation JJ Wetherholt leading off with Thomas Saggese taking over at shortstop in his absence.

Jackson languished on the open market throughout the entire offseason, and spring training, after struggling to an inflated 4.06 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 38/28 K/BB ratio across 51 innings between the Mariners, Tigers and Rangers last year. Perhaps switching leagues will do the trick. The well-traveled 34-year-old veteran figures to arrive in New York’s bullpen as a middle relief option at some point this summer.

Rocker had his first start pushed back earlier this week after a minor neck issue with ace Jacob deGrom forced Texas the reshuffle their rotation. The 26-year-old former first-rounder won the final spot in the club’s season-opening rotation out of spring training and will get the ball opposite Reds pitching prospect Rhett Lowder on Saturday afternoon at Globe Life Field. He’s been extremely unpredictable from a results standpoint, so a wait-and-see approach is advisable for fantasy managers in shallow formats.

Fuentes delivered a dominant performance in his return to the minors, piling up 12 swinging strikes while averaging 97.1 mph on his four-seamer. The 20-year-old, who built up his pitch count to 72 (40 strikes) is one of the more intriguing young arms in the league as Atlanta continues to stretch him out before bringing him back to the majors as a starter. It feels like only a matter of weeks before he’s ready for a real shot at the highest level, which makes him a worthwhile stash candidate in extremely deep mixed leagues.

There are professional debuts, and then there’s whatever Hernandez just did. The 19-year-old prodigy was selected sixth overall in last year’s MLB Draft as the consensus top prep pitching arm in the class and has certainly lived up to the hype. He topped out at 99.3 mph and generated an eye-popping 18 swinging strikes on 39 pitches (30 strikes) in the abbreviated outing. He’s still a hyperspace jump or two, to borrow a Star Wars metaphor, from reaching the big leagues, but he’s clearly one of the top pitching prospects in the fantasy landscape already. He’ll be one of the biggest risers in dynasty rankings over the next few months.

Anderson’s professional debut went swimmingly as he scattered five hits and one walk, navigating traffic on the basepaths in all four frames, while generating 12 swinging strikes on 59 pitches (43 strikes). The third-overall pick in last year’s MLB Draft is one of the top pitching prospects in the fantasy landscape based on his immense strikeout upside. The 21-year-old southpaw looked extremely impressive in spring training and has a realistic chance to arrive in Seattle later this summer.