MLB Player News

The 27-year-old slugger continues to progress toward a return to the Braves lineup. The next step will be to face live pitching. He has sat out each of the team’s last nine ballgames due to soreness in his side. Zack Short is once again starting at the hot corner for the Braves on Wednesday night against Justin Steele and the Cubs.

Thompson posted a serviceable 4.97 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 19/6 K/BB ratio across 12 2/3 innings (nine appearances) earlier this season for the Cubs. The 29-year-old righty provides Chicago’s bullpen with some extra long relief depth moving forward.

Wicks suffered the injury during Friday’s start against the Cardinals and is likely to wind up missing at least a couple weeks, even in a best-case scenario. It’ll probably be Kyle Hendricks taking his spot in Chicago’s starting rotation since they don’t really have a ton of alternatives at the moment.

Kelenic has been bumped up to the leadoff spot in the wake of Michael Harris II hitting the injured list with a hamstring strain. It’s a nice temporary boost for the 24-year-old former top prospect’s fantasy outlook, if he can capitalize on the opportunity. He holds a pedestrain .706 OPS four homers and one steal in 54 games this season.

Vespi gets the call back to the majors with Kyle Bradish heading to the injured list with a UCL sprain in his right elbow. The 28-year-old lefty has made a pair of relief appearances this season for the Orioles.

Not good. Bradish lands on the injured list after being removed from Friday’s start against the Phillies with right elbow discomfort. The primary concern here for fantasy managers is that Bradish missed time earlier this year due to a UCL sprain in his right elbow, which caused him to miss all of spring training and the first month of the season. There should be an update on his status at some point in the near future, but the 27-year-old righty could be facing a lengthy absence. It’s a significant hit to Baltimore’s starting rotation and a massive loss for fantasy managers as well.

Emanuel provides Miami’s overworked bullpen with a fresh arm heading into Saturday’s game against the division-rival Nationals. The 32-year-old lefty made a pair of relief appearances back in April for the Marlins.

Anderson was torched for seven runs on 10 hits over two-plus innings on Friday in a spot start against the Nationals. The 29-year-old journeyman will head back to the minors to await his next opportunity.

Marsh is back in left field and batting seventh for Saturday’s contest against the Orioles following a two-week absence due to a right hamstring strain. The 26-year-old corner outfielder has compiled a solid .264/.344/.426 triple-slash line with six homers and eight steals in 186 plate appearances over 52 games so far.

Wilson heads back to the minors ahead of Saturday’s game against the Orioles with Brandon Marsh returning from the injured list. The 29-year-old has gotten into a pair of games this season for the Phillies going 0-for-4 at the dish.

No word yet on the severity of the neck ailment that led to Verlander being scratched from a highly-anticipated outing against his former team, but Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters they don’t believe it’s an injured list situation. Espada added that the 41-year-old veteran righty has been pitching through neck soreness for the last two or three weeks, which certainly helps explain his recent struggles. It’ll be rookie Spencer Arrighetti taking the ball in his place. There should be an additional update on his status at some point this weekend. He’ll presumably undergo some additional testing to determine the extent of the lingering issue. Stay tuned.