MLB Player News

Bradish will make his long-awaited season debut on Thursday afternoon against the divisional-rival Yankees in the final game of a four-game series. The 27-year-old right-hander has been on the injured list since the start of the regular season and comes back at a good time as the team had to place Grayson Rodriguez on the injured list on Wednesday. If he’s not already on a roster, fantasy managers should pick Bradish up as he can be a valuable starter in all formats.

De La Cruz might break the century mark in the stolen base department, if he sustains this surreal pace. He was thrown out attempting a fifth steal in the seventh inning of Thursday’s showdown at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The 22-year-old burgeoning fantasy superstar is still striking out 30 percent of the time, but some improved plate discipline has enabled him to reach base more frequently this season and show off his field-tilting speed. He’s batting .277/.378/.516 with 35 runs scored, nine homers, 22 RBI and 30 steals following the first four-steal performance of his career out in Los Angeles. There’s still some room for improvement, but De La Cruz is rapidly evolving into one of the premier five-category impact contributors in the entire fantasy landscape.

Benson has homered in two of the last three contests out of Cincinnati’s leadoff spot. He’s shown glimpses of immense five-category fantasy potential, but the plate skills simply haven’t improved to the point that he can really put it all together and make the leap to superstardom. He’s struck out in 39.5 percent of his 162 plate appearances through 42 contests, which has contributed greatly to a lackluster .196/.290/.406 triple-slash line. He’s up to six homers and eight steals already, which puts him on pace to set new career-high marks in both categories. However, the plate skills need to improve if he’s going to make a massive impact in shallow mixed leagues down the road.

It was a rare dud for Glasnow, who has allowed three earned runs or fewer in eight of his 10 starts at the outset of his Dodgers debut. The 30-year-old righty will bring a and 81/16 K/BB ratio across 62 innings (10 starts) into a home outing on Tuesday against the division-rival Diamondbacks.

It was a quiet night for the Oakland offense. Gelof recorded his first hit and RBI in his third game since returning from the IL. He needs to regain his power stroke if he’s even going to approach the impact fantasy managers expected from him before the season.

The home run was the first of Loperfido’s major league career. He’s now up to a .324/.378/.441 line in 37 plate appearances. He should continue to see regular playing time against right-handed pitching while Chas McCormick is on the IL.

Diaz opened the scoring with a bases-clearing double in the third inning off Joey Estes and the route was on from there. He hit 23 home runs in 104 games last year, but his power is noticeably down this year. His .119 ISO is well below his .256 ISO from last year. Diaz doesn’t walk often, but has cut his strikeout percentage to 13 percent so far this year. He’s not going to fall off a cliff if that keeps up, but he’s not exactly delivering on his lofty preseason draft price so far either.

After a surprisingly good season debut against the Mariners, Estes came crashing back to earth against the surging Astros. Estes’ ERA was 7.20 in two late season starts last year. He’s now sporting a 9.38 ERA after two starts this season. Estes isn’t usable in fantasy at the moment, but he’ll have a better matchup in his next start against the Rockies as long as the Athletics let him stay in the starting rotation.

Javier allowed only two hits and a walk. It was a good bounce back start for him after he had allowed seven runs against the Tigers in his last start. Javier lowered his ERA to 3.23 on the season. He’ll face the Angels at home in his next start.

Jason Adam was one out away from picking up his fourth save of the season, but Rays manager Kevin Cash went to the mound and pulled him out of the game after Adam walked Rob Refsnyder and allowed a single to Rafael Devers. Pete Fairbanks seemed to have the night off after pitching the eighth inning on Wednesday. Ramirez is now the eighth different Rays reliever to record a save this season.

Devers hit the ball into the monster seats at Fenway Park against Rays starter Zack Littel for his sixth home run of the season. It’s his second consecutive game with a home run. Devers is hitting .288 with a .902 OPS in 33 games this season.