MLB Player News

Shohei Ohtani is the big fish everyone wants to catch this offseason but Yamamoto wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the Mets were among the initial group of suitors for Ohtani but have turned their attention to other players. Martino responded to these reports by saying the Mets are not the frontrunner for Ohtani but still in the conversation, “I’m not totally 100% ruling him out for Steve Cohen’s team until he signs elsewhere.” As of now, their attention is on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, though. Yamamoto was reported to have remote meetings set up this week before returning to the United States for next week’s Winter Meetings in Nashville.

Altuve has his second three-hit game of the season, and it’s probably not the last. The 35-year-old has doubled four times over 11 games, and he’s bumped his slash to an outstanding .378/.531/.649. Unfortunately for Altuve and the Astros, it comes in a losing effort, but this is an impressive first few weeks for the second baseman, to say the least.

Smith absolutely destroyed a Ryan Feltner offering, and it traveled an estimated 462 feet in the air with an exit velocity just under 111 mph. He also drew a walk and doubled to raise his slash to .297/.422/.595 with three homers in the first 11 games. There’s a long way to go, but it’s great to see Smith look like the player that enticed — but ultimately disappointed — fantasy managers in 2025 as a rookie.

Johnson also drove in a run with a double to give Colorado a 4-3 lead. His homer came in the sixth off a completely-ineffective Ryan Weiss to extend that cushion to 9-4. Johnston has swung the bat well to begin the season, and the 28-year-old has a chance to earn regular playing time for the (obviously) rebuilding Rockies.

With Victor Vodnik seemingly unavailable, the Rockies tasked Mejia with protecting a two-run lead and to get the final five outs. He did both. The 25-year-old will likely be a high-leverage option for Colorado, but even if the Rockies somehow end up winning more games than anticipated, it’s hard to picture too many more save opportunities.

Feltner was fortunate to get the W, as it was much more about the Colorado offense than effective pitching. He issues two walks, struck out just one batter, and generated all of three swings and misses over 70 pitches. Hard pass, but good enough for the win Monday. Feltner will be back on the mound Saturday against the Padres.

Bolton, 27, made his first MLB start, and all things considered, it went ok. He blanked the Rockies into the fifth before giving up a pair of runs, and he was much more effective than Ryan Weiss (2 1/3 IP, 6 ER) despite the late scuffles. Bolton could make another start over the weekend against Seattle, but fantasy managers should look elsewhere for a streaming option, if necessary.

Keaschall broke a 3-3 tie by hitting a 101.8 mph home run off Casey Mize. It was Keaschall’s first home run of the season, and the 23-year-old now has five RBI as well. He’s gotten off to a slow start to the season, but his price was always a bit too high in fantasy leagues. His .302 average last season came with a .263 xBA, and he has never had over 15 home runs in a minor league season. Keaschall will run if he gets on base, but he’s also likely to hit something closer to .250-.260 this year

The Dodgers gave Rushing a second straight start with Will Smith due to catch the next two days, and Rushing came through with his best game as a major leaguer. He’s now 6-for-9 with three homers to start the year. There currently wouldn’t seem to be any way for the Dodgers to get him extra at-bats at another position. but he is deserving of being more than just the backup to one of the league’s best catchers.

Wrobleski’s first start produced his first win of the year. He mostly just stuck with the fastball and slider tonight, throwing one of the other 69 times in the 78-pitch outing. He had a poor 19-percent CSW, but just four of 15 balls in play against him were hard-hit and only two produced hits. Wrobleski will probably get another start next week against the Mets, assuming that he isn’t needed in long relief this weekend. The Dodgers will probably want him available behind Roki Sasaki on Sunday just in case.

That’s two more RBI than he had against the Jays in 33 at-bats in the World Series last year. Hernández is hitting .353/.389/.559 with two homers through nine games. There isn’t much behind those numbers to suggest he’s swinging any better than he did during his disappointing 2025, but we’ll wait another couple of weeks at least to pass judgment there.