MLB Player News

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch’s decision to hand the ball to Miller, instead of keeping stopper Jason Foley in the contest to attempt to convert a five-out save, backfired spectacularly as the Cardinals rallied for a pair of runs to waste a brilliant performance from Jack Flaherty. Miller surrendered three-straight one-out singles, including a game-tying knock to Alec Burleson, before rookie Pedro Pagés came through with a go-ahead sacrifice fly. It’s not what you want.

Garcia isn’t expected to return to Houston’s starting rotation mix until sometime around midseason as he continues to recover from last May’s Tommy John surgery.

Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters the hope is to build up Urquidy’s pitch count to roughly 80 in his likely final rehab tune-up outing. The 29-year-old righty should be ready to make his season debut at some point later next week.

Blanco is currently serving an automatic 10-game suspension for violating the league’s illegal foreign substance rules, but he’s in line for a tasty matchup in his return against the struggling Athletics. Fantasy managers should prepare to get him back in their lineups later this week.

The writing was seemingly on the wall after Hendricks was torched for eight runs (seven earned) over 4 2/3 innings on Friday against the Pirates. The soft-tossing 34-year-old righty has struggled mightily this season to a disastrous 10.57 ERA, 1.99 WHIP and 25/11 K/BB ratio across 30 2/3 innings (seven starts). He’ll presumably operate in mop-up duty until further notice with either Ben Brown or Hayden Wesneski likely moving into Chicago’s rotation until Jordan Wicks is ready to return from the injured list.

Alexander will make his Oakland debut following a seven-week stint on the injured list at the outset of the season recovering from a stress reaction in his left ribs. The 34-year-old southpaw figures to pitch in middle relief intially, but could find himself in the late-inning mix at some point.

Giants manager Bob Melvin has bumped a sizzling-hot Matos up to the heart of the order for the first time this season. The 22-year-old former top prospect has batted a sublime .385 (10-for-26) with two homers and a staggering 16 RBI in seven contests since returning to the majors back on May 12. He’s absolutely worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats, despite some lackluster underlying quality of contact metrics.

Conforto is expected to ramp up his running progression this week as he continues to recover from a right hamstring strain that sent him to the injured list back on May 12. The 31-year-old slugger, who was off to a really strong start this season, should be ready to return in late May or early June.

It’s an extremely encouraging development for fantasy managers as Hoerner is back at second base and batting sixth on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field following a six-game absence due to left hamstring tightness. The hope here is that he received enough time off to put the issue to bed completely.

No surprise here as Riley will miss his eighth straight contest due to an ongoing side issue after sitting out both contests of Monday’s doubleheader. There’s been zero indication that he’ll wind up requiring a trip to the injured list, despite the fact that he’s yet to resume swinging a bat. It’s a frustrating situation for fantasy managers, but it doesn’t sound like the Braves are going to make a roster move at this juncture. It’ll be Zack Short drawing another start at the keystone on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

Lewis will be re-evaluated later this week to determine where he’s at in his rehabilitation process from a severe right quad strain that he suffered back on Opening Day. The 24-year-old is getting close to starting a minor league rehab assignment and could return at some point next month, barring any setbacks.