MLB Player News

Scott fell off the map completely this past season, getting lit up for a calamitous 7.90 ERA — 6.32 FIP — across 24 appearances between the Astros and Diamondbacks this past season. The unexpected implosion came after posting a career-best 2.23 ERA across 68 2/3 innings for Houston during the 2024 campaign. The 33-year-old journeyman represents a low-risk depth addition for Atlanta in the event they can help him re-discover his previous form. He’ll compete for a bullpen role in spring training.

Paredes is batting third for the second straight contest with Jose Altuve in the cleanup spot and Christian Walker hitting fifth. It’s a bit of a new-look lineup for Astros manager Joe Espada after Paredes mostly hit fifth or lower over the first month. The 27-year-old is in a groove right now, hitting .240 (6-for-25) with two homers and four RBI over his last seven games.

McCutchen gets a chance to face Athletics lefty Jeffrey Springs on Saturday afternoon with Joc Pederson heading to the bench. The 39-year-old has played sparingly this season, hitting .242 (8-for-33) with one homer and five RBI in 17 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

It appears to be a matchup-specific wrinkle with Langeliers moving up to the leadoff spot to face Rangers southpaw MacKenzie Gore. Nick Kurtz moves into the second spot in the order with Colby Thomas hitting third and Tyler Soderstrom in the cleanup spot. Lefty Carlos Cortes retreats to the bench following Friday’s two-homer effort.

Giolito signed a one-year contract to bolster San Diego’s rotation earlier this week and is going to need a couple outings in the minors to build up his pitch count and stamina before making his season debut. The 31-year-old veteran languished on the open market all offseason before finally finding a suitable deal with the Padres. He’ll offer some appeal as a matchup-dependent streaming option in deeper mixed leagues once he’s ready to debut in mid-May.

Nick Loftin draws another start at the hot corner with Garcia getting some additional time off the rest and recover after making an early exit from Thursday’s game with right elbow soreness. The 26-year-old downplayed the severity of the issue while speaking with reporters, so it qualifies as a bit of a surprise to see him still on the shelf. There should be some additional clarity on his status later this weekend.

Contreras collected a pair of RBI earlier in the contest before taking position player Weston Wilson deep for a garbage-time homer in the ninth inning. It counts all the same for fantasy managers, who certainly don’t mind a little stat-padding during the late stages of a one-sided affair. It was his fifth round-tripper of the season and second time he’s gone deep in the past week.

Mayo was responsible for Baltimore’s lone extra-base hit of the contest when he doubled against Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet with one out in the fourth inning. The 24-year-old former top prospect has shown some signs of life recently with hits in four consecutive games.

Monasterio ripped a pair of doubles in the early stages of the one-sided affair before launching a grand slam off lefty reliever Keegan Akin in the ninth inning to put the metaphorical cherry on top of a much-needed three-hit performance. It was his first round-tripper of the season. He’ll continue to see at-bats against left-handed pitching, but he’s mostly limited to reserve duty right now.

It was a much-needed rebound performance for Crochet after getting torched for 16 runs over 6 2/3 innings combined over his previous two starts. The 26-year-old fantasy ace looked like his usual self in this one, leaning heavily on his four-seam fastball, and limiting Baltimore’s red-hot lineup to just five baserunners. He generated an encouraging 12 swinging strikes, and gave up only seven hard-hit balls, needing just 90 pitches to navigate six frames. The scoreless effort lowered his full-season ERA from 7.88 to a more respectable 6.30 through six starts. He’ll square off against the Astros at Fenway Park in his next outing on Friday.

Rogers was replaced by long reliever Tyler Wells in the second inning after just 47 pitches. It was his shortest outing since his tenure with the Marlins back in 2022. He finished with a pair of strikeouts and issued two walks. All three runs crossed the plate with two outs in the second inning as he allowed five consecutive batters to reach base safely prior to being pulled. Simply put, the damage could’ve been even worse. He’s gotten off to an abysmal start with a bloated 4.75 ERA. 1.45 WHIP and 27/10 K/BB ratio across 30 1/3 innings through six starts. He’ll face the Yankees in a challenging road matchup on Friday. At this point, it’s tough for fantasy managers to justify throwing him out there, especially in a one-start week.