MLB Player News

Emerson made a notable leap in the power department last season, slugging 16 homers across 130 games at three levels before finishing the year just a step from the majors at Triple-A Tacoma. The 20-year-old’s above-average hit tool and power/speed blend cements him as a top-20 dynasty prospect entering spring training, and he’s widely viewed as Seattle’s shortstop of the future with a big-league debut likely sooner rather than later.

The Padres went with lefty Gavin Sheets at first base and Miguel Andujar at DH against Tarik Skubal on Thursday. Tonight, they’re switching to Ty France at first base and sticking with Andujar against Framber Valdez. It’s definitely not good looking for Castellanos, who flew out in his lone at-bat off the bench Thursday. The Padres have no financial obligation to him beyond paying him the MLB minimum, and with all being defensively limited right-handers, it just wouldn’t make much sense to keep all three of Andujar, Castellanos and France around for the long haul.

It’s the farthest any ball has been pushed by the wind in the three years that Weather Applied has been tracking such things. Happ’s ninth-inning fly off the Nationals’ Cionel Pérez would have been projected at 435 feet under neutral conditions, but with about 30 mph of wind working against it, James Wood caught in shy of the warning track.

Devers is available to play first base if needed, but the Giants would prefer he be a little closer to 100 percent first. Casey Schmitt is starting at first again Friday.

It was always the contention of their trade with the Rays that Baltimore was buying in on their ability to make Baz’s pitches play up. Now they’re paying up for the opportunity to keep him in their rotation for the next several years after apparently liking what they saw in Spring Training. Baz was set to be arbitration eligible for the second time next offseason, so the Orioles have bought out two years of free agency in this deal. It’s a reasonable price considering Baz’s talent.

He’ll make his season debut after sitting for Opening Day. It’s unclear exactly why the Astros sat him yesterday when they sent him to Triple-A Sugar Land to take live at-bats, but fantasy managers can overlook that as long as Peña is ready to go. Against LHP Yusei Kikuchi, the Astros will use a lineup of: Peña, LF Yordan Alvarez, DH Isaac Paredes, 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Carlos Correa, RF Cam Smith, 1B Christian Walker, C Yainer Diaz and CF Brice Matthews.

He’ll take over for Carlos Vargas in a bullpen role for the Mariners. Wilcox was acquired from the Rays in November and had a 4.32 ERA in spring training work with Seattle, striking out 11 in 8 1/3 innings pitched. He’ll likely work in low-leverage situations for the time being.

The move is retroactive to March 24. Vargas was surprisingly unavailable last night, and now we know why. The right-hander had a 3.97 ERA in 70 appearances with the Mariners in 2025 and figures to be a middle innings consideration for the club when healthy again.

Coming off a .240/.306/.365 batting line in 2025, this is a pretty surprising lineup placement for Albies in the opener. He batted third in just seven of 157 appearances last season. He did hit slightly better against lefties (.277/.296/.412) last year, but we’re still a bit surprised. The full Opening Day lineup against LHP Cole Ragans is: RF Ronald Acuña Jr., C Drake Baldwin, Albies, 1B Matt Olson, 3B Austin Riley, LF Eli White, SS Mauricio Dubón, C Jonah Heim, and CF Michael Harris II.

It never seemed like Sánchez had fully carved out a role with the Jays after coming over in a mid-February deal for Joey Loperfido. Nathan Lukes is starting in left field and batting second for Toronto against a right-hander. Sánchez probably doesn’t need to be dropped in deeper leagues ASAP, but those in 12-team leagues can probably move on while we see how the playing time shakes out.

The Jays have a deep enough lineup that this shouldn’t mess with his run and RBI opportunities too much, but fantasy managers probably were hoping he’d hit higher than this. The full lineup against RHP Luis Severino is: DH George Springer, LF Nathan Lukes, 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., RF Addison Barger, C Alejandro Kirk, CF Daulton Varsho, Okamoto, 2B Ernie Clement, and SS Andrés Giménez.