MLB Player News

Not good. McLain suffered a Grade 2 right oblique strain during Sunday’s minor league rehab contest for Triple-A Louisville and won’t make it back to Cincinnati this season. The 24-year-old infielder, who will obviously be ready in plenty of time for spring training, closes out an impressive rookie campaign with a .290/.357/.507 triple-slash line with 65 runs scored, 16 homers, 50 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 403 plate appearances over 89 games.

Rafaela’s home run, his third of the spring, was 98.6 mph off the bar and traveled 360 feet. He also added a 98.2 mph single and is hitting .394/.447/.788 this spring. He has ten strikeouts to just three walks in 38 plate appearances, but he continues to make hard contact and flash potential 20/20 upside while being an everyday player due to his elite centerfield defense. Considering he is also second base eligible in fantasy leagues, he’s an intriguing target outside of the top 100 picks.

It gets worse. Oviedo’s velocity was down over two mph on every one of his pitches, and his four-seam fastball averaged just 92.9 mph, which is significantly down from the near 96 mph mark he’s shown all spring. He also allowed eight hard-hit baseballs in this one and a 96.1 mph average exit velocity. As of now, there is no indication that the 28-year-old is dealing with any injury, and he mentioned after the game that his execution was “off” as he continues to work on new pitches, including his cutter. Considering Oviedo has minor league options left, this was not a great time for a poor outing and could open the door for Connelly Early to steal the final rotation spot.

Ober sat 89.6 mph on his fastball, which is down from last season but up from the 88.8 mph mark he had in his last outing. Still, it didn’t much matter. He allowed ten hard-hit baseballs on the day while walking three and striking out three. It’s impossible to recommend him in fantasy leagues right now.

Williamson’s home run was his third of the spring and was a 350-foot shot off Jesus Luzardo that left the bat at 95.7 mph. The 25-year-old is slashing .348/.423/.565 in spring and could get a chance to play some second base with Gavin Lux starting the year on the IL. He likely remains off fantasy radars outside of deep AL-only leagues.

Luzardo also struck out six and walked two while registering a 22.5 percent whiff rate. His sweeper did most of the damage in terms of swing-and-miss, and it’s worth noting that his fastball did get hit hard in this one, with four hard-hit balls allowed and an average exit velocity of 92 mph. It was still a strong outing overall for Luzardo, who heads into 2026 looking to build on what was a career season in 2025.

Bowman was shipped back to the Athletics last spring after failing to make Cincinnati’s season-opening roster as a Rule 5 pick. The 26-year-old infielder hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since getting into 11 games for the Athletics back in 2024. He bolsters Tampa Bay’s organizational depth at Triple-A Durham heading into the season.

Rosario put up some solid numbers last year in the lower minors with a 2.27 ERA and 43/18 K/BB ratio across 47 2/3 innings for High-A Bowling Green. The 24-year-old is a lottery ticket pickup for the Athletics.

Matz threw 66 percent of his pitches for strikes and had a 25.7 percent whiff rate on the day. The Rays seem to have been tweaking his slider, which Matz is now throwing over three mph slower with far more drop than last season. It seems to be a pitch that could add some whiffs against left-handed hitters while his changeup will be a featured pitch against righties. The 34-year-old has not allowed a run on 11 spring innings this season while giving up just six hits and striking out eight. He’s probably worth a late-round dart throw in deeper formats.

Schumaker elaborated that he’s comfortable with both Robert Garcia and Chris Martin handling the ninth-inning duties but added that there’s a chance a few different guys get opportunities. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement from Texas’ skipper but we would be surprised to see someone other than Garcia or Martin coming through the bullpen gates at the start of the year based on their high-leverage experience. The interesting dark horse name to watch long-term is Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler based on his impressive stuff.

Seabold heads to Detroit as additional long relief depth shortly after being cut loose by the Blue Jays earlier this week. The 30-year-old swingman holds an inflated 7.79 ERA and 96/44 K/BB ratio across 119 innings over 40 appearances (19 starts) in the big leagues since 2021.