MLB Player News

Once considered a piece of the Angels’ core, Fletcher has fallen on hard times in recent years. The 29-year-old infielder saw just 97 plate appearances at the big league level in 2023 — hitting .247/.302/.326 with a pair of long balls and 12 RBI. He should have a shot at landing a utility infield role with the Braves.

Morales will get another shot with the Athletics after coughing up 10 runs on 13 hits with an abysmal 5/8 K/BB ratio across 7 1/3 innings over two starts to open the season. He’ll presumably be available to pitch in long relief after starter Jacob Lopez against the Guardians on Saturday afternoon. The 23-year-old is a talented pitching prospect, but the results simply haven’t been there for fantasy managers to trust him in any capacity.

Davila will be making his first trip to the majors after posting a solid 2.00 ERA and 10/1 K/BB ratio across nine innings for Double-A Arkansas this season. The 27-year-old righty has spent six seasons in the minors after going undrafted.

Acevedo provides Colorado with some additional relief depth at Triple-A Albuquerque. The 32-year-old righty last appeared in the majors for the Athletics when he made 89 appearances for 2021-2023. He’s spent the past two seasons pitching in the independent Mexican League and is merely organizational fodder at this stage of his career.

Orioles manager Craig Albernaz delivered a positive update, noting that Helsely is merely dealing with elbow inflammation and that there isn’t a high level of concern. The 31-year-old closer will be cleared to resume throwing once the swelling subsides and isn’t expected to require a lengthy absence. Andrew Kittredge’s closing experience makes him the clear favorite to take over the ninth-inning role, but rookie Anthony Nunez has the stuff to handle the role. Rico Garcia is another name to watch in the closing mix for the next couple weeks.

Kurtz drew a seventh-inning walk on Friday night at Sutter Health Park, tying Barry Bonds, who accomplished the feat back in 2003, for the second-longest walk streak in major-league history. He’ll have a chance this weekend to match Roy Cullenbine’s all-time record of 22 consecutive games, set in 1947. Unreal. He saw at least six pitches in four of his five plate appearances on Friday night. The 23-year-old’s ability to control the plate has always been his defining trait, but he’s taken it to another level this season with a staggering 34 walks through 31 games.

Neto’s recent struggles have flown a bit under the radar as he’s batting just .220 (13-for-59) with zero homers, six RBI and six steals over his last 15 games. The 25-year-old fantasy standout’s power outage has surpassed three weeks as he hasn’t homered since April 10. There isn’t a clear explanation for his downward trajectory, besides an elevated strikeout rate, which means it’s possible he’ll turn things around at any moment.

Pinango continues to see regular at-bats in left field for Toronto with Nathan Lukes on the injured list. The unheralded 23-year-old rookie hits the ball hard and doesn’t strike out a ton considering his aggressiveness. He’s off to a nice start, hitting .500 (5-for-10) with three RBI in five games. There’s some sneaky appeal here for fantasy managers in extremely deep mixed leagues and AL-only formats.

Johnston’s emergence as a viable heart-of-the-order option for the Rockies this season has been a fun development as he’s hitting .320/.376/.460 with two homers, 16 RBI and one steal through 29 games. The 28-year-old is in a groove right now, batting .370 (10-for-27) with six RBI over his last seven games.

There’s no way to sugarcoat Anthony’s abysmal start to the season, but he showed some real signs of life in this one, recording three hits with exit velocities over 93 mph. The 21-year-old showcased an ability to generate consistent hard contact during last year’s rookie campaign and his underlying batted ball metrics remain extremely encouraging, despite his recent struggles. It’s a positive development that he’s back to hitting the ball hard after missing time with a lingering back issue last week.

Schwarber struck out all five times up out of the leadoff spot for the first time in his entire career. The 33-year-old slugger has 11 homers and a 28.8 percent strikeout rate through 31 games this season, which are both in line with his career norms in both departments.