MLB Player News

King is easily the most interesting name heading to the Padres from a fantasy standpoint as the former high-leverage reliever seamlessly made a late-season transition to New York’s starting rotation in mid-August, posting a brilliant 1.88 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 48/9 K/BB ratio across 38 1/3 innings (eight starts) to close out the year. It’s too small of a sample size to draw any firm conclusions, and a checkered injury history raises some additional red flags, but King certainly looked like a viable fantasy contributor. The 28-year-old righty figures to open the 2024 campaign in San Diego’s starting rotation and will be an extremely popular sleeper candidate in all fantasy formats.

Ohtani was left with a bruise by the David Peterson offering, but he finished the game just fine. He should be in Tuesday’s lineup, and he’s slated to start Wednesday’s series finale against the Mets.

Scott allowed a leadoff single, but he was able to get the next three hitters in order to keep the Dodgers in front. It was a non-save situation, but Scott has looked good in 2026 with a 1.17 ERA over nine innings and an 8/0 K/BB to pair with it.

Pages continues his hot April with a three-run shot in the third inning off David Peterson that gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead and Pages his fifth homer of the campaign. As it was his only hit, his batting average dropped to .417 to pair with a .453 on-base percentage that also plummeted. Obviously Pages is due for some regression, but the 25-year-old is clearly talented enough to have some hot runs throughout the 2026 campaign.

Peterson, 30, allowed an RBI single to Will Smith in the first inning, but the big blow was a three-run shot to Andy Pages two innings later. He was solid over the second half of the start, but damage done; particularly with the Mets providing a goose egg of run support while he was in the game. Peterson has an unhealthy 6.41 ERA over his four starts, and he’ll have a chance to get things going in the right direction Sunday against the Cubs.

Wrobleski only struck out two, but he didn’t walk anyone while giving up just a pair of singles. There were 10 balls hit off the 25-year-old that were considered hard hits, but his ability to command the strike zone a long with a smidgen of luck carried the way against the anemic Mets’ lineup. Wrobleski will likely make at least one more start, and it would be Monday in Colorado against the Rockies.

Butler, 25, hit a garbage-time homer in the eighth inning off Luis Curvelo that brought the Athletics to within seven runs. Still counts, and it’s nice to see Butler drive a baseball. He’s off to another less-than-spectacular start with a slash of .180/.255/.320 with two homers and one stolen base through 15 contests.

It’s always nice to enjoy a double burger every once in a while. Burger took Luis Severino deep twice; once on a solo shot, the other a three-run blast. The 30-year-old’s second season with Texas is off to a better start than his first campaign, and he’s now up to 11 RBI with a .492 slugging percentage through 15 games.

This would have been a very solid outing for Severino if not for Jake Burger. Unfortunately for Severino and the A’s, Burger took him deep twice — one solo, one three-run shot — so it was just a mediocre outing; albeit one that passed the eye test more so than his previous few outings. The 32-year-old struck out seven while issuing three walks, and saw his ERA climb to 5.59 on the campaign. He does have a friendly matchup on paper over the weekend against the White Sox, for those looking to take an early chance.

Eovaldi was brutal in his first couple starts, but he’s back to his winning form. The right-hander allowed only three hits while needing only 84 pitches to get through the outing, and he struck out seven against two walks. His ERA still sits at 5.40, but it was 11.57 after his first two appearances. Expect that number to continue to drop in the coming weeks, although he’ll face a decent Seattle lineup over the weekend.

Bird earned a ticket back to the minors after struggling to an inflated 7.71 ERA across seven innings to open the season. The final straw was likely Monday’s relief outing against the Angels where he allowed three runs in his lone inning of work courtesy of a gargantuan homer by Mike Trout. The 30-year-old came over from the Rockies in a trade deadline deal last July.