MLB Player News

Noll has appeared in 15 games for the Nationals since the 2019 season. The 28-year-old first baseman spent all of last year at Triple-A Rochester, hitting .256/.307/.415 with 10 homers and six steals in 423 plate appearances over 103 games.

Of course they did. The Rockies were up 2-1 through five before erupting for seven runs in the sixth. They then piled on with five runs off catcher Tyler Heineman in the final two innings. Tovar is used to mostly batting first and second for the Rockies, but he’s opened the season in the cleanup spot, which really makes more sense given his total absence of plate discipline. His three hits all left his bat in excess of 101 mph, and his double off Heineman in the eighth would have been a homer in nine ballparks.

Sugano was pulled with a 2-1 lead in the fifth before the Rockies were able to blow this one open in the sixth. He allowed just two hits, walked two and struck out four. Sugano’s velocity is up a tad from last year, which might give him a chance of being something close to an average starting pitcher. But since he signed with the Rockies, that really doesn’t matter for fantasy purposes.

It was either a win or a save, since he finished the game after entering with a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Tomoyuki Sugano allowed only one run in 4 2/3 innings as the starter, but they left him ineligible for the win, of course. In this case, though, MLB’s archaic policy backfired. The league likes seeing these kinds of wins go to relievers, since starters get paid for victories in arbitration and relievers just don’t. Dollander, though, won’t be a reliever once he’s eligible for arbitration. Still, this wasn’t exactly an encouraging outing for the 24-year-old. Andrés Giménez, Davis Schneider and Kazuma Okamoto all took him deep, and he’s up to 21 homers allowed in just 102 innings as a major leaguer.

Little had a 3.03 ERA in 79 appearances last season, and it looked like he might be even better this year during the spring, when he struck out 11 in six scoreless innings with his velocity up by about two mph from last year. Instead, he’s already given up seven earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. He’ll probably turn things around, but one more disaster outing might force the Blue Jays to send him to Triple-A for a couple of weeks.

The Jays have already demonstrated that they’re really fond of Nathan Lukes, so it’s very important that Sánchez get off to a hot start here if he wants to play most of the time against righties. That he’s opened 4-for-9 with a homer, three RBI, two walks and no strikeouts is much more significant than it would be if were still playing for the Marlins.

Díaz kicked off the scoring by taking Brewers lefty Kyle Harrison deep for a leadoff homer. The 34-year-old on-base machine has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball so far, batting .550 (11-for-20) with six RBI through four games. The key to his early-season success has been re-implementing his approach and swing from three years ago when he won the AL batting title, according to Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass.

Contreras put the Brewers ahead briefly with a sixth-inning blast off Rays starter Nick Martinez. He wound up supplying the lone runs of the contest for Milwaukee as Martinez and a quartet of Tampa Bay relievers combined to allowed just eight baserunners.

Kelly got the call to protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning with a runner on first base after southpaw Ian Seymour retired left-handed batters Garrett Mitchell and David Hamilton. He managed to retire pinch-hitter Blake Perkins on a harmless ground ball to extinguish the threat and preserve the victory. Griffin Jax looked sharp while working a scoreless seventh inning of a tie ballgame while Garrett Cleavinger got the eighth. We’re anticipating the Rays continue deploying a closer-by-committee approach, which makes it a virtually stay-away fantasy-wise.

Harrison generated a career-high 16 swinging strikes and needed an economical 87 pitches (64 strikes) to navigate five frames in his Milwaukee debut. A leadoff homer by sizzling-hot Rays slugger Yandy Díaz accounted for all of the damage against him. The 24-year-old former top pitching prospect continues to impress, aided by increased fastball velocity and the addition of a new kick changeup. He should be rostered in all fantasy formats based on his recent performance and strikeout upside. He’ll face the Royals on the road to close out a two-start week on Sunday afternoon.

It’s hard to imagine a stronger season debut than this from Martinez as he managed to limit Milwaukee’s red-hot lineup to just a William Contreras homer across six frames. He struck out three and didn’t hand out a free pass. The 35-year-old veteran is a less appealing fantasy option than someone like Ian Seymour would’ve been, but he has some streaming appeal in deeper leagues. It feels like only a matter of time before he moves to the bullpen to accommodate the arrival of top pitching prospect Brody Hopkins later this year. He’ll face off against the rebuilding Twins on Sunday to cap off a two-start week.