MLB Player News

Pitchers just can’t seem to sufficiently exploit Tovar’s tendency to swing at absolutely everything., He has a 39/2 K/BB in his last 28 games, but his numbers have held up anyway. The only disappointment here is that he’s a mere 4-for-8 stealing bases this season.

Hagen Smith’s velocity fluctuated in his last outing, and the White Sox were cautious about him showing some signs of fatigue. They shortened his last outing and will skip his next start to help him manage his workload in his first full professional season. Everything is fine with Smith from a medical perspective, but this is a good reminder that Smith is an immense talent, but fantasy managers shouldn’t expect a major impact this season as he adjusts to professional baseball.

Blackburn has already made four rehab starts, so he will need to be reinstated from the injured list after his start on Friday. As of now, there is no room in the Mets’ rotation, so the most likely outcome is that Blackburn would serve as a multi-inning reliever, which could bump Dedniel Nunez back to the minors.

After his brutal start on Monday, Houck admitted this is “probably the most lost [he’s] ever been.” The struggles really began in the second half of last season, but Houck now has an 8.04 ERA and has allowed double-digit runs in less than three innings twice this season already. Houck does have minor league options remaining, so the Red Sox could simply send him to Triple-A and give him time to figure out what’s going out. If they were to do so, that would allow Hunter Dobbins to stay in the rotation even after Walker Buehler returns next week.

Milwaukee has pushed Jose Quintana’s start back to Saturday against the Twins, which means they currently don’t have a starter for Wednesday’s game. Henderson is already on the 40-man roster, so he would make some sense and be an intriguing streamer in deeper formats.

SLater had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee back on April 16th. He was given a four-to-six week timeline at the time, so he remains on track in his recovery. He could need multiple weeks of rehab games before returning to the White Sox lineup.

Up-and-downs simulate a multi-inning game scenario where Fitts will face hitters and then rest as if it were the half inning that his team was hitting, and then face more hitters. It’s used to test stamina and recovery. The next step would be for Fitts to progress to a rehab assignment.

The 26-year-old has been lights out at Triple-A for the Astros, pitching to a 2.55 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 43 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings. Gordon doesn’t have tremendous velocity on his fastball, but he has a low release point, which allows his fastball to seemingly rise at the top of the zone. He pairs that with a good sweeper that is primarily effective versus lefties. With Ryan Gusto struggling on Monday, there’s a chance for Gordon to stick in the rotation for a bit if he pitches well on Wednesday.

Pérez threw three scoreless innings for Low-A Jupiter on Sunday and will now start work with the Marlins’ pitching development team to analyze his pitch shapes and movement and start honing his pitch mix. This is a positive step for the 22-year-old. The first rehab outings were mainly about health and rhythm, so Pérez can now start taking more deliberate steps towards getting back onto an MLB mound.

It was a scary scene for the Angels’ 3rd-ranked prospect, but he seems to have avoided major injury. He will undergo further testing before there is any timeline for his return to the mound. After emerging as a top-tier pitching prospect for the Phillies, Klassen was traded to the Angels last year in a deal for Carlos Estévez. He has a 4.97 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 36 strikeouts in 29 innings at Double-A this season.

Ramos was one of the few hitters who had any offensive success against Merrill Kelly in a game where the Giants were held to just one run by Kelly and the D-Backs’ bullpen. The three knocks up his average to .290, and he’s been on fire in the month of May with a .400/.472/,800 slash over his 30 at-bats in that timeframe.