MLB Player News

The Nationals will have no non-tenders this year. Adams, who hit .186/.252/.308 in a career-high 286 plate appearances last season, has seemed to be on the cut line two years in a row, but he’s again sticking around, and he’ll be the favorite to serve as Keibert Ruiz’s backup. The right move here, if the Nationals were at all serious about getting back into contention, would have been to drop Adams and pursue a halfway decent starting catcher to play over Ruiz.

Soto is at DH and hitting second against the Astros on Saturday following a five-week absence with a left calf strain. The 27-year-old generational talent was hitting .283/.408/.539 with 46 runs scored, 21 homers, 52 RBI and seven steals in 359 plate appearances through 84 games before landing on the shelf in late July. He’s likely to spend most of his time at DH over the final month of the season with Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Luis Robert Jr. splitting time across New York’s outfield mix.

Griffin is aiming to return for Friday’s series opener against the Angels when he’s first eligible to come off the injured list. The 20-year-old prodigy was hitting .276/.332/.404 with 35 runs scored, five homers, 25 RBI and 20 steals in 247 plate appearances across 59 games before landing on the injured list with a torn sagittal band in his left ring finger since early July. His return would be a massive development for Pittsburgh and he offers enough stolen base upside to be a significant fantasy contributor for the final three-plus weeks of the season.

Blake added that Fried was up to 60 pitches during his final live batting practice session earlier this week, which is roughly the same number they’re targeting in his return from the injured list. The 32-year-old upper-echelon fantasy starter will be officially activated from the injured list prior to the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader against Boston.

Buxton remains day-to-day with right hip discomfort, which may ultimately require offseason surgery, according to Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll. The arrival of top prospect Walker Jenkins, who is in center field and hitting ninth on Saturday afternoon after going 1-for-3 in his major-league debut on Friday, gives Minnesota the ability to carry Buxton on the active roster for at least a couple days with the hope that he’ll avoid another trip to the injured list. Clearly, he’ll have to manage the ongoing hip issue for the final month of the season, which is going to make things extremely challenging for fantasy managers.

No surprises here with rookie lefty Jake Bennett toeing the rubber for the opening contest of Saturday’s twin bill at Yankee Stadium. It’ll be Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario getting a look at first and second base, respectively, with Heliot Ramos getting into the lineup in right field.

Rodríguez looked like the top pitching prospect that scouts and evaluators have been raving about for the last few years when he looked extremely impressive against the Astros earlier this week. He struck out six and allowed three runs over six frames in his first big-league outing since late June. The 23-year-old top prospect draws an extremely favorable spot against the Angels in Los Angeles and represents a worthwhile streaming option in deeper mixed leagues. There’s some risk here given his struggles earlier this season, but his stuff looked noticeably improved and he missed plenty of bats in his return to the majors. He could potentially stick around for the final month of the season, which makes Rodríguez worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues for now.

It sounds like there’s a decent chance that Greene is back for Monday’s series opener against the division-rival Twins. The 25-year-old run-producer has been on the shelf with a hamstring strain since early August. He’ll get in a pair of minor league contests over the weekend before the Tigers make a decision on his next steps. They could certainly use his formidable bat back in the middle of their lineup.

It sounds highly unlikely that Ohtani will make his return to Los Angeles’ rotation this weekend based on Roberts adding that the two-way superstar isn’t feeling 100 percent physically due to ongoing left knee and right biceps issues. The club is expected to make a final decision following Saturday afternoon’s contest in Detroit. Regardless, it’ll be Tyler Glasnow doing the heavy lifting on Sunday. The general expectation remains that Ohtani will return to the Dodgers’ rotation in the near future, but it doesn’t sound imminent after Friday’s abbreviated bullpen session didn’t go exactly as anticipated. Simply put, the franchise can’t really afford to take any chances with the postseason right around the corner. There should be additional clarity on his status in the coming days.

The pitcher they call “Tugboat” will presumably come up as the 27th man and draw the starting assignment from the front-end of Saturday’s doubleheader at Oracle Park. The 23-year-old allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings across a pair of appearances earlier this month. He misses enough bats to be interesting from a long-term standpoint, but he’s not a recommended fantasy option at this stage of his career.

It’s an extremely challenging matchup for Montero, who gets the ball on extra rest against a loaded Dodgers’ lineup at Comerica Park. The 26-year-old has hit a little bit of a rough patch in recent weeks, but has still delivered a solid 3.30 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 89/30 K/BB ratio across 133 2/3 innings this season. It’s absolutely a risky spot, but Montero is worth trusting in deeper fantasy leagues.