MLB Player News

While the Pirates have a genuine interest in Valdez, there is a belief that their interest may just raise the price for other bidders. As Rosenthal notes, “The Baltimore Orioles have been linked to Valdez the entire offseason,” and “the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres continue to pursue starters.” However, the Pirates did hire Bill Murphy as their new pitching coach. He has “worked with Valdez for the vast majority of the pitcher’s professional career, as both a minor- and major-league coach with the Houston Astros,” so that may be enough for the left-hander to honestly entertain joining the Pirates.

The 34-year-old slugger served his time from brawling with Braves’ right-hander Reynaldo López last week. He returns to a .231/.342/.508 slash line with five homers and 18 RBI in 79 plate appearances through his first 18 ballgames. Fantasy managers have to be thrilled with the power production that he has provided to start the season.

The 26-year-old southpaw will add some length to a Nationals’ bullpen that has been taxed lately. Alvarez was terrific in five starts for the Nats in 2025, posting a 2.31 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and a 20/10 K/BB ratio over 23 1/3 innings of work.

The 29-year-old isn’t eligible to return from the injured list until the end of May. Red Sox’ skipper Alex Cora told reporters on Saturday that Gonzalez has been going through his progression and that he feels good. If he doesn’t at least begin baseball activities soon, he may have trouble being ready to return when first eligible.

While Tatis was able to pick up his fifth steal of the game, the one negative was that he also was caught stealing for the first time in 2026. It had to happen sometime; who do you think he is, Josh Naylor? Tatis shown very little power to begin the year, but he’s driven in 12 runs in 21 games while getting on at a .344 clip. The homers will come.

It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing for Miller, as he did give up a hit and a walk. He still was able to pick up the save while not allowing a runner to score, and that’s already seven on the season for the 27-year-old. Even if Leo De Vries ends up a superstar, it’s pretty easy to see why AJ Preller wanted Miller on this pitching staff. He has a chance to be special for a long time.

Kikuchi generated 12 swings-and-misses to get the eight punchouts, and he allowed just four hits without issuing a walk. That’s the second time in three starts he’s reached that level of strikeouts, but this was easily his best start of the season in the first month of the campaign. Kikuchi has shown almost zero consistency in his MLB career, but there are enough outings like this to keep fantasy managers curious. He’ll try and match this effort Friday against the Royals.

Márquez allowed just two hits — doubles by Mike Trout and Zack Neto — and he struck out five with two walks. That’s the second time in three starts that the right-hander hasn’t allowed a run, and his ERA over his first month in his first season with the Padres is now 3.86. Considering how awful Márquez was over the past two season, it’s understandable to have skepticism. It’s probably the right call. That being said, Márquez once was one of the rare successful Rockies’ starters, and maybe the grass was greener on the other side. He gets the Diamondbacks next Saturday.

Hoffman allowed three hits and a walk, and while he struck out two, it’s tough to get excited about a pair of punchouts in a game where you give up a salami in one inning. That grand slam came in a 2-2 game in the eighth inning by Corbin Carroll, and it sees his ERA inflate to an ugly 7.71. Hoffman had his issues in 2025 as well despite Toronto reaching the World Series, and while there’s no obvious answer behind him to close out games, this is a situation that has to be monitored.

Ohtani was able to reach three times, but the first time came on an error in the first, and he took first on catcher’s interference a few innings later. His on-base streak would have ended despite those two reaches, but a single in the ninth extended it to 50 games. He also pitches.

Mullins drove in a run with a base hit in the fifth inning to give the Rays the lead. With the game extended into the 13th, he came through with a two-run homer to once again put the Rays ahead with what would end up being the game-winning runs. It was the 31-year-old outfielder’s best day at the plate so far. His home run gives him two on the year with eight RBI while slashing .149/.205/.284 across 75 plate appearances.