MLB Player News

This confirms some speculation last week from The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner. While the Paul Goldschmidt reunion looked like something tough for Rice after Goldy played against left-handers last year, this is a terrific update for Rice’s fantasy value. He may even be able to maintain catcher eligibility for 2027 if he gets into enough games at the position, giving him some extra keeper league value going forward.

Encarnacion bolstered his chances of making San Francisco’s season-opening roster in a lefty-mashing bench role by clobbering a gargantuan 463-foot moonshot off Brewers southpaw Shane Drohan in the second inning. It was his second big fly of the spring. He still has some work to do to lock up a spot on the Giants’ roster over the final few days of camp, but he’s made a strong impression so far. His fantasy appeal is limited to NL-only formats as a cheap power source.

Ray retired all 15 batters he faced as San Francisco’s pitching staff carried a perfect game into the ninth inning before it was finally broken up. The 34-year-old southpaw has gone off the board as a top 45-50 range starter in fantasy drafts this spring. There’s going to be some volatility from a run-prevention standpoint based on his career track record but he’s also going to pile up the strikeouts, which provides some insulation for fantasy managers.

McLain reached on an infield single in the opening frame before crushing a 417 foot solo shot his next time up against Mariners ace George Kirby. The 26-year-old second baseman has put together a phenomenal spring performance, batting a surreal .553 (21-for-38) with six homers and two steals through 13 games, which has caused his fantasy stock to skyrocket from a late-round lottery ticket to a mid-round option at the keystone. There’s plenty of reason to believe in a bounce-back campaign for McLain since adding some extra muscle in the offseason could lead to an uptick in consistent hard contact.

Kirby wriggled out of a first-inning jam by striking out Tyler Stephenson before coaxing a harmless ground out from Noelvi Marte to extinguish the threat. He finished with four strikeouts, only issued one walk, and got his pitch count to 67 (45 strikes). The 28-year-old’s strong spring has seemingly cemented his status as a top-15 range fantasy starter in drafts this spring.

Semien is hitting .172/.188/.414 in 32 plate appearances. He’s been seeing a lot of time at the top of the Mets’ lineup with Francisco Lindor out and Juan Soto absent, but there’s no reason for him to be up there in the regular season. Maybe the Mets will show their respect by batting him fifth initially, but in truth, he projects to be their eighth- or ninth-best hitter.

Rogers has great control and typically does a good job of keeping the ball on the ground, but the Mets overpowered him today with seven hits and nine hard-hit balls. The 24-year-old Rogers should be a part of the Jays’ Triple-A rotation this year after amassing a 4.07 ERA and a 76/20 K/BB in 110 2/3 innings in Double-A last year.

The Mets probably aren’t going to have room for Tauchman if Carson Benge makes the team, but someone is going to want him, right? The 35-year-old has finished with OBPs in the .350-.360 range each of the last three seasons, and he’s hitting .333/.481/.619 this spring.

Povich was in the running for a spot in Baltimore’s season-opening rotation this spring but struggled to a 4.32 ERA and 6/7 K/BB ratio across 8 1/3 innings in Grapefruit League action. The 25-year-old southpaw will open the year back in the minors with veterans Zach Eflin and Dean Kremer occupying the final spots in the Orioles’ rotation mix.

An encouraging day for Javier, who was pulled in the second inning of his previous start. He was back up to 92.3 mph with his fastball today, which is right between the 91.7 mph he averaged six days ago and his 2025 average of 92.9 mph. He gave up only two hard-hit balls, and he ended up with a 38% CSW.

Only one batter reached against him, that coming on a walk. The four hard-hit balls he allowed, including two from Yordan Alvarez, all turned into groundouts. After struggling in his first two turns, Pérez has rounded into form nicely this spring, having given up two runs with a 12/3 K/BB ratio over seven innings in his last two starts.