MLB Player News

Steer is very much in line to be the Reds’ first baseman once again, even though he’s regressed offensively and just doesn’t seem like a very good option at this point. Aided by his home ballpark, he did wind up a sort-of-respectable .238/.312/.411 line last season. However, with his subpar exit velocity numbers, Statcast gave him just a .220 xBA and a .355 xSLG. Because of his ballpark and the possibility that he’ll hit cleanup, he could be a fantasy contributor in shallow leagues if he only bounces back a little bit. Alternatively, he could be overtaken by Sal Stewart, who has to play somewhere, and/or Christian Encarnacion-Strand if he doesn’t get off to a nice start.

Kahnle fortifies Boston’s middle relief depth after a strong showing for Israel in the World Baseball Classic. The 36-year-old veteran posted a respectable 4.43 ERA (4.52 xERA), 1.30 WHIP and 50/31 K/BB ratio across 63 innings for the Tigers last year. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Worcester to open the year, but should make it to Fenway Park relatively quickly.

Neto managed to avoid serious injury when he slid into home plate over the weekend, somehow escaping with just a minor left hand sprain. The 25-year-old impact fantasy contributor will return to game action on Tuesday night and should be ready for next week’s season opener.

The latest batch of cuts trims Padres camp down to 51 players with just over one week left until Opening Day. Adcock has made 18 relief appearances between the Mets and Mariners since 2023. He’ll open the year back in the minors as organizational depth.

Nothing official from a timeline standpoint but Rodgers is facing an extended absence. The 29-year-old has undergone multiple shoulder surgeries in his career and the odds of him returning as a big-league regular in the future are starting to fade.

With J.P. Crawford (shoulder) uncertain for next week’s season opener, it could very well be Rivas starting at shortstop in his place. Any sort of extended absence by Crawford would kick the door wide open for top prospect Colt Emerson to break camp in the big leagues since he would offer a much higher offensive ceiling.

There’s a pathway for Beck to evolve into an upper-echelon fantasy outfielder if he’s able to cut back slightly on the strikeouts while hitting for power and continuing to run at the rate he did last season. Figuring out what the odds of those factors converging at the same time to create a fantasy monster is the proverbial million-dollar question. Beck’s on-field performance has been encouraging to say the least this spring as he’s hitting .350 (14-for-40) with two homers and just 14 strikeouts in 14 games. He’s going outside the top 200 picks, on average, in most fantasy drafts this spring, which makes him a worthwhile gamble in that range.

Dollander came out of the bullpen in this one and was a bit all over the place, tallying four strikeouts while also handing out three free passes. The 24-year-old former top pitching prospect appears to have a spot in Colorado’s season-opening rotation despite a rough spring. Given his immense talent, he could make a leap rather quickly, which makes him worth monitoring on early-season waiver wires.

Murakami is one of the more challenging hitters to forecast fantasy-wise since his track record in Japan suggests he’s going to have some serious contact issues as he adjusts to facing big-league pitching. The power is very real. It wouldn’t be surprising if Murakami reached the 30-homer plateau in his White Sox debut. The question is whether he’s going to strike out nearly 35 percent of the time while doing it.

Spring training stats don’t matter but we’re obligated to point out that Kurtz is apparently saving all of his hits for the regular season. The 23-year-old elite slugger is batting .205 (9-for-44) with three homers in 17 Cactus League contests. There is zero reason to be concerned.

Meidroth isn’t known for his over-the-fence pop as evidenced by just five round-trippers in 122 games as a rookie last year. Still, he’s capable of putting a charge into one on occasion, while boasting strong on-base skills. He’ll occupy the leadoff spot for Chicago going into the year, which makes him a cheap source of runs scored in deeper mixed leagues as a middle infield option.