MLB Player News

Sanchez has not pitched in the majors since 2022 when he had a 6.60 ERA over 60 innings with the Twins, and Nationals, and in 2023 he spent all of the year in the minors with a 68/63 K/BB and 5.54 ERA. He’ll provide depth, but the days of Sanchez providing fantasy value are likely over.

Williams and Melton are viewed as long-term building blocks up the middle for Tampa Bay. The pair of top prospects will open the season back in the upper minors with veterans Taylor Walls and Cedric Mullins starting at shortstop and center field, respectively. Williams is a phenomenal defender but his power/speed combo is muted somewhat by persistent contact issues that have followed him throughout his ascent. Melton came over from the Astros as part of the Brandon Lowe three-team deal in the offseason and shouldn’t have to wait too long for an everyday opportunity with the Rays.

The rest of the Phillies went 3-for-26 today, but Garcia crushed it, knocking in both of the game’s runs. All four of his balls in play were hit at least 102.5 mph, and he topped out at 112.4 mph on his final single. García came into the day 5-for-26 with one extra-base hit this spring, so that’s not very notable. However, he’s now up to 37 plate appearances and has struck out just twice. That’s a 2/6 K/BB for a guy who came in at 135/28 for the Rangers last year. He was at 29/2 in 94 plate appearances over the previous two springs.

Venezuela checked back in to see if Luzardo might be available to pitch in the championship round of the WBC, but he again declined. Had he changed his mind, he likely would have gotten the nod over Eduardo Rodriguez to face Team USA tonight. Luzardo, though, didn’t want to risk overdoing it ahead of the long season. His velocity today was down from last year by about one mph on his fastball and three mph on his changeup, but it seems like it’s part of the process for him.

Ober’s fastball velocity continues to trend in the wrong direction, as he averaged just 88.2 mph today. He was 89.9 mph in his spring debut and 88.8 mph last time out. This is all way down from the 91.7 mph he averaged last time he was an effective starter in 2024. Expectations for Ober should be pretty low at this point.

Marsh missed a week at the beginning of the spring with a hand injury sustained while sliding, and one can’t help but wonder if it still might be a problem. He’s 3-for-27 with no extra-base hits since returning two weeks ago.

There was speculation that Miller would be unavailable after throwing 22 pitches during Sunday’s save appearance against the Dominican Republic. With fellow high-leverage arm David Bednar shut down for workload reasons, Miller is the overwhelming favorite to get the ball to close out the international showcase. Garrett Whitlock is the other late-inning arm with some workload questions but all indications are he’s good to go. The electrifying 27-year-old Padres stopper will be pitching for the third time in the last five days, if he makes an appearance on Tuesday night at loanDepot park. He’s the top closer off the board in all fantasy drafts this spring.

Suárez was one of Venezuela’s heroes during Monday’s comeback win over Italy to reach the WBC final, launching a solo homer off starter Aaron Nola to jump-start a four-run outburst. He’ll get the nod at DH after appearing in just four of the six games for Venezuela to this point in the tournament. Here’s the full lineup: Ronald Acuña Jr. (RF), Maikel Garcia (3B), Luis Arraez (1B), Suárez (DH), Gleyber Torres (2B), Ezequiel Tovar (SS), Wilyer Abreu (LF), Salvador Perez (C) and Jackson Chourio (CF).

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa will turn to Bregman at the hot corner over Gunnar Henderson, who crushed a game-tying solo homer during Sunday’s semifinal win over the Dominican Republic, to face Venezuela lefty Eduardo Rodriguez. The other notable changes here for matchup reasons are Byron Buxton in centerfield over Pete Crow-Armstrong and Will Smith getting another turn at catcher over Cal Raleigh. Here’s the full lineup: Bobby Witt Jr. (SS), Bryce Harper (1B), Aaron Judge (RF), Kyle Schwarber (DH), Bregman (3B), Roman Anthony (LF), Smith (C), Brice Turang (2B) and Buxton (CF).

He also struck out three and walked one while posting a 20 percent whiff rate and 20 percent CSW. You rarely see a pitcher get just seven called strikes in five full innings of work, but that’s what May did today. The right-hander threw 55 strikes on the day today, and the Nationals swung at 46 of them. Perhaps Washington was simply being aggressive, or perhaps May wasn’t really fooling hitters, which might be why Washington had eight hard-hit balls. Regardless, he maintained his fastball velocity throughout the outing, which is good news. That puts him on the fantasy radar, but until we start seeing consistent whiffs, it’s hard to get too excited.

Irvin posted a 24 percent whiff rate and 30 percent CSW, but he did allow five hard-hit balls on the day. It’s been a solid spring so far for Irvin, and he beat out Mitchell Parker for the final spot in the rotation. He has also showcased new movement profiles on his curve and slider; although, only the curve missed bats today. Irvin is likely not on the fantasy radar in any formats, but we have seen him produce value as a streamer when his curveball is effective, so he’s a name to at least keep an eye on early in the season.