MLB Player News

Vaquero, MLB Pipeline’s second-ranked international prospect in the signing class, received a franchise-record $4.925 million signing bonus last month. The dynamic 17-year-old switch-hitting Cuban outfielder is a phenomenal athlete and projects as a potential five-category impact fantasy contributor in a few years. He’s one of the most exciting prospects in the game, but it’s going to take awhile for him to reach the majors.

Caminero got things started with a bang for the Rays when he took former Ray Taj Bradley deep to center field for a 466-foot homer to give his team an early 1-0 lead. Caminero wasn’t done yet, however. The Rays slugger again got the best of Bradley in the seventh inning, sending a two-run shot into the stands to push the Rays’ lead to 6-1, and ending the night for Bradley. Caminero has been on a heater as of late, registering a hit in nine-straight games while homering six times over that stretch.

Rasmussen bounced back nicely from his rough outing against the Pirates in his previous start. The righty retired eight of the first nine batters he faced and didn’t allow a run until the fifth inning when Brooks Lee blasted a solo shot with one out to cut the Rays’ lead to 3-1. Friday marked the fifth start of the season for Rasmussen, who has allowed one earned run or fewer in four of his starts on the young campaign. He’ll look to close out the month of April with one more solid outing when he takes the mound on Wednesday against the Guardians.

Bradley gave up a solo homer to Junior Caminero with one out in the first inning to immediately fall behind 1-0. He gave up his second run of the game in the third inning on an RBI ground out by Chandler Simpson, and was taken deep by Jonathan Aranda in the fourth inning as the Rays pushed their lead to 3-0. Bradley would pitch his way into the seventh inning but would not survive the inning, as a two-run homer from Caminero officially knocked him from the game. It was the worst outing of the season for Bradley, who hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his previous five starts. He’ll look to bounce back in his next outing, which is scheduled for Wednesday against the Mariners.

Oof. It looked like Kingery was just going to get optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Friday to make room for Nicky Lopez, but with Caleb Thielbar hitting the injured list and the Cubs needing to create a spot on their 40-man roster for Vince Velasquez, Kingery will lose his spot there as well. There’s a chance that he could pique another team’s interest on waivers.

The 33-year-old hurler will get a shot to work out of the Cubs’ bullpen with Caleb Thielbar (hamstring) heading to the injured list on Friday. Velasquez hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since making eight appearances for the Pirates during the 2023 campaign.

The 39-year-old hurler suffered the injury during the ninth inning of Thursday’s outing against the Phillies. It’s an unfortunate break for Thielbar — and fantasy managers — as he had ascended to the closer’s role following the injury to Daniel Palencia. No word yet on how much time he’ll miss. Vince Velasquez was promoted from Triple-A Iowa to take his place in the Cubs’ bullpen.

That’s what it looked like when he pulled up at second base following a double in the opening inning on Friday night and now we have confirmation. What isn’t clear yet is the severity of the injury and how much time — if any — the 31-year-old outfielder stands to miss. The Jays should have an update on his status and a timeline for his return prior to Saturday’s contest.

He’s just dealing with a bit of inflammation, and the Rockies are hopeful that he’ll be able to return after a minimum stint on the injured list. You can never be too sure with elbow injuries, but it sounds like barring any setbacks he should be ready to rejoin the Rockies’ rotation at some point in May.

Lukes smacked a double into the right field corner in the home half of the first inning but pulled up lame at second base, prompting a visit from the training staff. After a very quick discussion, the decision was made to pull him from the game. It appeared to be some sort of issue with his right leg. Look for the Blue Jays to provide an update on his status as soon as more information becomes available.

Kingery had been functioning in a reserve role for the Cubs, being used almost exclusively as a pinch-runner and late-game defensive replacement. That was until he made a couple of errors during Thursday’s game that nearly cost the Cubs the game. Nicky Lopez was promoted from Triple-A to take his place on the active roster.