MLB Player News

Henry Davis is sticking around, so the Pirates will divvy up playing time behind the plate three ways. That figures to be bad news for Yasmani Grandal, particularly now that the Pirates are out of the race and better off taking a look at their younger players. Bart should get more of the catcher starts than anyone else, and he and Davis could DH on occasion.

Osuna and Helman come up short on bids to break camp in the big leagues with the Rangers going with Ezequiel Duran and Andrew McCutchen in reserve roles. Osuna got into 63 games as a rookie last year and has the look of a reserve outfielder. Helman is a gritty jack-of-all-trades utility specialist with plenty of defensive versatility. He should get another look in the near future.

There simply isn’t a spot of Alcántara on Chicago’s season-opening roster, even with Seiya Suzuki (knee) heading to the injured list. The 23-year-old prospect offers an intriguing power/speed blend, but he’s been incredibly streaky at the highest level, which has made it tough for him to carve out a permanent role. He could wind up getting another shot if the whole Matt Shaw outfield experiment winds up backfiring.

Hoglund missed time earlier in camp with a back issue after ending last year on the injured list with a knee sprain. The 26-year-old righty will likely head to Triple-A Las Vegas once he completes a rehab assignment.

Bogaerts scalded a 410-foot double against Mariners starter Luis Castillo, which left his bat at 111.4 mph. The 33-year-old veteran middle infielder posted a career-high 20 steals last year in just 136 games but managed just 11 round-trippers during that span. It doesn’t seem outlandish to suggest a 15-homer, 15-steal season is possible, which would make him extremely impactful in deeper mixed leagues.

Adam has twirled a pair of hitless frames this spring in his return from last year’s quad surgery and could potentially be on San Diego’s season-opening roster. The 34-year-old veteran will operate in a high-leverage role behind elite stopper Mason Miller.

Márquez appears penciled into San Diego’s season-opening rotation after another strong outing where he piled up a staggering 22 swinging strikes against a watered-down Seattle lineup. The 31-year-old’s track record away from Coors Field suggests he could be a decent streaming option in deeper fantasy leagues.

Castillo appears on track to take the ball this weekend against the Guardians to kick off the regular season after wrapping up spring training with a lackluster 7.80 ERA and 13/4 K/BB ratio across 15 innings. The lack of big-time strikeout upside at this stage of his career limits his fantasy appeal to more of a back-end rotation stabilizer capacity.

It’s flown a bit under the radar fantasy-wise, but Hoerner has put together a strong spring, batting .389 (14-for-36) with six extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs, in 14 games. The 28-year-old speedster will occupy the leadoff spot in Chicago’s formidable lineup and projects as a top-10 second baseman fantasy-wise thanks to a realistic 25-steal, 80-runs scored floor to go along with a strong batting average.

Palencia was named Chicago’s closer roughly a month ago by skipper Craig Counsell and he’s looked the part this spring, putting together a dominant run as Venezuela’s stopper in the World Baseball Classic before finishing Cactus League play with four shutout frames. The hard-throwing 26-year-old has the talent to blossom into an upper-echelon fantasy closer this season and looks like a borderline top-10 option already.

Imanaga generated a staggering 17 swinging strikes, with nearly half of them (eight) coming on his sweeper alone. The 32-year-old’s fastball velocity was up nearly two miles per-hour in this outing as he continues to flash increased velocity this spring, leading to a 4.50 ERA and 18/3 K/BB ratio across 18 innings of work. He’s looked extremely impressive this spring, causing his fantasy stock to increase as a result, vaulting him into the top 40-50 range among starting pitchers entering the year. He’s in line to take the ball on Saturday against the Nationals to kick off the regular season.