MLB Player News

With Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg on the shelf, the door is open for Jackson to secure a spot in the team’s starting lineup to open the 2026 campaign. The 25-year-old hit .276/.328/.447 with five homers and 21 RBI in 183 plate appearances with the O’s in 2025. It seems his most likely competition for that spot will come from Blaze Alexander, who was expected to function in a super utility role. Coby Mayo is starting in place of Westburg at third base and seems like the most likely candidate to fill in there.

Rice took a seat on Friday with lefty strikeout machine Robbie Ray on the mound for San Francisco. The 27-year-old first baseman will continue ceding the occasional start to veteran Paul Goldschmidt against southpaws but he’s still going to play enough to be an upper-echelon fantasy backstop.

The only thing more surprising than seeing Luis Arraez out of the leadoff spot is that he’s batting third in this one behind Matt Chapman and ahead of Rafael Devers. It’s a perplexing lineup from Giants manager Tony Vitello after Arraez led off in back-to-back games to kick off the season.

Peña went 2-for-5 with a stolen base on Friday during his season debut after sitting out Thursday’s opener. Fantasy managers should anticipate the Astros continuing to closely manage his workload after missing a couple weeks earlier this month recovering from a fractured finger. It’ll be Carlos Correa handling shortstop with Isaac Paredes at the hot corner to face Angels lefty Reid Detmers on Saturday night.

Quero has been called up to fortify Milwaukee’s catching depth in the wake of Andrew Vaughn suffering a hamate fracture that will require surgery. It’ll be backup catcher Gary Sánchez helping fill the void at first base, which makes it necessary to have Quero around as additional catching insurance. The 23-year-old backstop hit .271 with 11 homers in 69 games at the Triple-A level last year after missing most of the previous season recovering from shoulder surgery.

Vaughn is expected to miss 4–6 weeks after he undergoes hamate surgery on Monday. He suffered the injury during Thursday’s season-opening rout of the White Sox. The 27-year-old former third-overall pick hit .308 with nine homers in 64 games for Milwaukee last year to emerge as their everyday first baseman. It’s a significant loss for the Brewers since he’ll likely be sidelined until at least early May. It’ll be some combination of Gary Sánchez and Jake Bauers taking over at the cold corner with prospect Jeferson Quero coming up to fortify Milwaukee’s catching depth.

Stubbs opted to remain with Philadelphia after passing through waivers following his removal from the club’s 40-man roster earlier this week. It’ll be Rafael Marchán handling the backup catching duties behind J.T. Realmuto moving forward.

Smith latches on with Minnesota as organizational relief depth after failing to make the Nationals’ season-opening bullpen earlier this spring. The 32-year-old veteran tossed 5 1/3 scoreless frames with a 7/2 K/BB ratio in Grapefruit League action. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him operating in middle relief for the Twins at some point later this year.

Lee remains with Chicago as organizational catching depth after passing through waivers unclaimed earlier this week. The 27-year-old will remain stashed at Triple-A behind Edgar Quero and Reese McGuire while Kyle Teel (hamstring) is on the shelf.

“He’s doing much better,” Vogt told reporters on Friday after Bibee was removed from Thursday’s season-opening start against the Mariners with right shoulder inflammation. The 27-year-old right-hander is officially day-to-day for now, but it sounds like there’s a realistic chance he takes the ball on Tuesday night. He’s scheduled to throw a bullpen session this weekend to determine whether he’s ready. It’s a tough spot for fantasy managers since Bibee is likely to have some workload restrictions while also facing an extremely challenging Death Star-caliber lineup. It’s a positive sign that he might avoid a trip to the injured list, but fantasy managers should probably leave him on the bench next week.

Beavers makes his first start of the season after taking a seat in favor of veteran Tyler O’Neill, who is on the bench in this one with Samuel Basallo at DH, during Thursday’s opener. The 24-year-old top prospect dealt with knee soreness at the conclusion of spring training, so it’s an encouraging sign that he’s ready to go without needing a trip to the injured list.