MLB Player News

Arenado blooped a single to left field to put Puerto Rico on the board as they prepare to kick off the World Baseball Classic on Friday against Colombia in San Juan. The soon-to-be 35-year-old veteran is among the more prominent names on a roster that doesn’t include Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa due to insurance reasons.

Matz threw 66 percent of his pitches for strikes and had a 25.7 percent whiff rate on the day. The Rays seem to have been tweaking his slider, which Matz is now throwing over three mph slower with far more drop than last season. It seems to be a pitch that could add some whiffs against left-handed hitters while his changeup will be a featured pitch against righties. The 34-year-old has not allowed a run on 11 spring innings this season while giving up just six hits and striking out eight. He’s probably worth a late-round dart throw in deeper formats.

Schumaker elaborated that he’s comfortable with both Robert Garcia and Chris Martin handling the ninth-inning duties but added that there’s a chance a few different guys get opportunities. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement from Texas’ skipper but we would be surprised to see someone other than Garcia or Martin coming through the bullpen gates at the start of the year based on their high-leverage experience. The interesting dark horse name to watch long-term is Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler based on his impressive stuff.

Seabold heads to Detroit as additional long relief depth shortly after being cut loose by the Blue Jays earlier this week. The 30-year-old swingman holds an inflated 7.79 ERA and 96/44 K/BB ratio across 119 innings over 40 appearances (19 starts) in the big leagues since 2021.

Brieske will be on the shelf until at least late May after suffering a groin injury earlier this week. The 27-year-old righty holds a pedestrian 4.14 ERA (4.33 xERA), 1.29 ERA and 170/79 K/BB ratio across 206 1/3 innings over 108 appearances in the big leagues since 2022.

Wheeler will open the season on the injured list to continue building up his pitch count and stamina in advance of his season debut, which is likely to come before the end of April.
The 35-year-old veteran fantasy ace will likely require a handful of rehab outings before he’s ready to rejoin Philadelphia’s rotation. He’s a top 25-30 range fantasy starter in remaining drafts this spring. His absence gives top prospect Andrew Painter some additional runway to prove he belongs at the highest level following a strong performance in spring training.

Estrada was granted his release to pursue opportunities elsewhere after opting out of his minor league deal with the Orioles. The 30-year-old veteran was limited to just 39 games with the Rockies last year due to injury. There was a chance for him to make the club’s season-opening roster with both Jackson Holliday (wrist) and Jordan Westburg (elbow) getting hurt during spring training.

Olson took Carson Fulmer and Mike Clevinger deep today. He typically hit second or fourth for the Braves last year, but he’s poised to occupy the third spot behind Ronald Acuña Jr. and Drake Baldwin this year. He seems like a good bet to finish with 30 homers and 100 RBI for the fourth time in his career, but he’s fallen just short the last two years (29 HR, 98 RBI in 2024 & 29 HR, 95 RBI in 2025).

It’s the first run he’s allowed in 13 1/3 innings this spring. Fuentes probably ought to be the Braves’ No. 2 starter with Spencer Strider out, but at least before the game, the team maintained that he’d open the season in the bullpen, with the plan being to send him to the minors to start in a few weeks. And given that the 20-year-old Fuentes threw just 70 innings last year, that would be the sensible plan if the Braves could afford to do without him. It just seems like that might be difficult right now.

The Pirates are going to be starting four pure left-handed hitters against righties: Oneil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz, Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn. Their OBPs over the last two years are .311 for Cruz, .355 for Horwitz, .309 for Lowe and .351 for O’Hearn. So, guess which two Don Kelly seems to prefer batting first and second in his lineup? Well, it was Cruz first, Lowe second, O’Hearn fifth and Horwitz seventh today. Lowe was dropped to fifth a couple of times during the middle of the month, but he’s only hit second recently. It’s not a disaster or anything, but Lowe’s typical line is that of a good No. 5 hitter, and it seems like he’s mostly hitting second because, well, he’s a second baseman and that’s what second basemen did back in Kelly’s day.

It’s official. Wetherholt will make his highly-anticipated big-league debut against the Rays on Thursday at Busch Stadium. The 23-year-old top prospect will open the regular season as the Cardinals starting second baseman and figures to bat near the top of the lineup. He projects as an immediate five-category impact fantasy contributor after batting .306/.421/.510 with 17 homers and 23 steals in 109 games in the upper minors last season.