MLB Player News

Lavender missed the 2025 season while recovering from an internal brace procedure. He has thrown just seven innings since 2023, and will look to get back on the horse in (likely) Syracuse or Binghamton.

Rice’s contact rate is down and his groundball rate is way up, but that certainly hasn’t mattered yet; he has three homers, four doubles and 11 RBI in eight games. His homer today was a 410-footer against an unusual opener in Pete Fairbanks, who had other things on his mind before leaving during the game to join his pregnant wife.

Kayfus, who would have opened up in the minors if George Valera hadn’t gotten hurt, was 0-for-10 on the season and had been out of the lineup in five straight games before getting the nod in the first game today. His double in that game should have been handled by Michael Conforto in right, but it apparently was enough to get Kayfus started. One imagines he’ll get another start Monday against the Royals’ Michael Wacha, but with the Guardians set to face lefties four times in six games this week, this isn’t the time to pick him up in fantasy leagues.

Messick struck out six in his second straight strong showing to start the year. He allowed only two hits, one of which was a 355-foot homer from Matt Shaw. He has a tough assignment in Atlanta next weekend, but it’s worth rolling with him in mixed leagues.

Smith walked two and gave up a bloop hit to Ian Happ before striking out Carson Kelly to end the game. He ended up throwing 33 pitches, so it will be interesting to see if the Guardians risk going to him with a late lead on Monday. Maybe Eric Sabrowski or Shawn Armstrong could pick up a save in his place.

Imanaga, who struck out four, opened the sixth with a 3-0 lead, only to get pulled immediately after a groundball double from Steven Kwan. The Guardians went on to score three runs in the inning to tie things up. Imanaga is throwing better than he did last year and projects as a pretty solid mixed-league starter going forward. He’ll face the Pirates next.

Ramírez (6-for-39) has only two more hits than Austin Hedges (4-for-8) this season. He walked once in the first game today, but he was retired his other seven times up, leaving him at .154/.214/.282 overall. The Guardians have had a really tough schedule to date (they started with road series against the Mariners and Dodgers), which has taken a toll on most of the lineup, but it’d be nice for those who picked Ramírez in round one to see him start hitting the ball harder in near future.

The homer was just 95.2 mph off the bat, but fortunately, he went the other way with it and got a little assist from the wind at Progressive Field. He’s 5-for-23 in eight games while helping to fill in for Seiya Suzuki, and while he should be in line for less playing time, he’ll almost certainly keep his roster spot after Suzuki returns.

Kurtz’s steal was the first of the year. He also drew three walks while hitting at the top of the order. Fantasy managers are still patiently — or they should be patient, anyway — for Kurtz to hit that first homer, but a .361 OPS suggests that he’s picking the baseball up well. He’ll be fine.

Walker was a massive disappointment in his first year with the Astros, and while Houston has only played a little under 1/16th of the season thus far, it’s been a much better beginning to 2026 for the veteran. He’s homered in back-to-back games, and already driven in 11 runs while forging an OPS of 1.054. Considering his ballpark and previous offensive success prior to the 2025 scuffles, there’s plenty of reason for optimism with Walker in 2026. Cautious optimism, but, optimism.

Alvarez kept on keeping on with a two-run blast off Jacob Lopez in the first inning. It’s already the fourth homer of the campaign, and that homer along with a pair of walks has him slashing .400/.578/.900. Obviously some regression is coming because this is not the Cal League, but this is a wonderful reminder that very few hitters have more offensive upside than Alvarez.