MLB Player News

It’s a tough break for fantasy managers looking forward to seeing arguably the most exciting young power prospect in baseball on a big-time stage. The 20-year-old slugger, who checked in as the 12th-ranked prospect (74th overall) in Rotoworld’s latest dynasty rankings update, will open the regular season in the upper minors. He has a chance to reach the big leagues by the end of the year after posting an .890 OPS with 23 homers in 116 games last year across four minor-league levels to finish at Triple-A Sacramento.

Bazzana is off to a good start at Triple-A, slashing .287/.422/.511 with two home runs, 10 RBI, eight steals, and a 25/21 K/BB ratio. The 25 strikeouts in 24 games isn’t ideal, but his walk rate is tremendous and shows a strong sense of the strike zone. The speed has also been nice after he stole only 12 bases in 84 games last year. The Guardians are struggling to find an option at second base, so Bazzana could enter the conversation.

Eldridge now has three home runs and 14 RBI on the year while slashing .305/.411/.463. He does have 33 strikeouts in 25 games, so he will need to continue to work on making more consistent contact before the Giants give him another shot at the big leagues. However, the 21-year-old is close.

In 10 games at Triple-A, Marte is hitting .452/.500/.714 with two home runs, three RBI, six steals, and an 8/4 K/BB ratio. The Reds continue to play him only in the outfield, but with Ke’Bryan Hayes continuing to struggle with the bat, you have to wonder if Marte’s time in Triple-A might be better served getting him more reps at third base again to see if he can be a long-term solution there for the Reds.

Waldschmidt now has three home runs on the year while hitting .317/.416/.529 with 19 RBI and four steals. Lourdes Gurriel’s return has clogged his path to MLB at-bats a little bit, but if he keeps hitting like this into May, the Diamondbacks may need to think about a call-up.

The scoreless innings are great, but Priester also threw just 18 of his 45 pitches for strikes, which is a 40 percent strike rate. On top of that, his cutter averaged 88.7 mph, which is 3.6 mph below his normal velocity. His sinker was also 2.3 mph below his normal mark, and he only threw five of them on the day, none for strikes. There still seems to be a long way to go here. We would not be stashing Priester in fantasy leagues unless you have lots of IL spots.

Strider was still sitting just 95 mph with his four-seam fastball, but he did maintain that velocity through five innings, so that’s a positive. His slider had a 61 percent strike rate and 54 percent whiff rate, and he threw 61 percent of his 82 pitches for strikes overall. It’s hard to see the Braves keeping him in the minors much longer. They have shifted around their rotation with Reynaldo Lopez heading to the bullpen, and Martin Perez starting on Tuesday. That would make it very easy for Strider to pitch this weekend in Perez’s spot. However, that game is in Coors, and Strider still does not look like his pre-surgery self, so we would proceed with caution.

Tong struck out six, but he also walked three while throwing 50 of 86 pitches for strikes. It hasn’t been the start to the season that many hoped for Tong, as he has a 5.68 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 25 1/3 innings. He has struck out 38 batters over that time, but he needs to get the walks and home runs in check if he’s going to push for a spot in the Mets’ rotation.

Volpe will head to Double-A Somerset to start the week because they are closer to New York, and will play three games in two days on Tuesday and Wednesday. That could mean Volpe returns to the Yankees on Thursday. If he pushes Jose Caballero off of shortstop, that could mean Caballero gets more at-bats in the outfield or third base, which might impact playing time for Ryan McMahon or Jasson Dominguez.

We knew that López’s spots in the rotation were changed to TBD, but now we know he will officially be in the bullpen for the time being. It’s unclear what mechanical issues López needs to work on, but this will open up a spot in the short-term for JR Ritchie, who will start on Wednesday. Martin Perez will also start on Tuesday; although, his spot could be taken by Spencer Strider within a week.

Working with a 9-8 lead, Lucchesi retired the first two batters in the bottom of the 10th, but he then walked Maikel Garcia and gave up the homer, which was the first for Thomas this season. Thomas is batting .226/.359/.302 in 64 plate appearances. As per usual, he’s been far more successful against lefties than righties. He should continue to be platooned accordingly.