MLB Player News

This is a setback for Fitts after two strong outings to begin the spring, but it is nice that his velocity was back up some. His average fastball dipped from 97.6 mph in his spring debut to 96.6 mph last week, but it was back up to 97.3 mph today. That’s 1.4 mph better than his 2025 average. It’s probably going to come down to Kyle Leahy and Fitts for the fifth spot in the Cardinals’ rotation.

Bolte belted a two-run homer off Cody Bradford in the third, and Zack Gelof made it back-to-back with a round-tripper of his own. Then in the fourth, Bolte connected for another two-run homer that even he thought was foul off the bat, but it stayed just inside the right-field pole. It was his first career multi-homer game, and he picked up his 15th steal of the season. He’s been caught eight times, so the efficiency hasn’t been great, but the roto-friendly skill set was on full display this afternoon. Bolte has hit leadoff in every game for the A’s dating back to August 18.

Lopez allowed six hits and two walks in the 102-pitch performance, continuing a tremendous second-half run. He was optioned to the minors earlier this season after a rough couple of months, but he’s been fantastic since returning. The southpaw now has a 2.38 ERA with 60 strikeouts over his past 49 2/3 innings, spanning nine starts. He’ll look to keep it going at home against the Blue Jays next time out.

All five runs came via the long ball. This was Bradford’s sixth start since returning from internal brace surgery a little over a month ago. It was also the most runs he’s given up in an outing this year. Through 30 1/3 innings he has only struck out 17, severely limiting his fantasy upside. He’ll look to rebound on the road against the Mariners next time out.

Gelof connected for a solo home run in the third inning off Cody Bradford, going back-to-back with Henry Bolte. The 26-year-old is now hitting .256 with 15 homers and 10 stolen bases this season. It isn’t the full upside he flashed as a rookie back in 2023, but the health and performance have been a nice bounce-back from the past two seasons. He has started every game since coming off the injured list on August 10, primarily playing third base and left field.

It was the first career leadoff homer for Duran, who has started every game for Texas dating back to June 28. The versatile 27-year-old is posting career-bests across the board this season, with 16 homers, 75 RBI, 62 runs scored, and a .276/.336/.455 triple slash. He has started at every defensive position other than pitcher and catcher, and he entered Wednesday tied for the eighth-most fWAR among all position players.

Foscue’s homer was one of two the Rangers hit off Jacob Lopez, but those were the only runs they could muster on the afternoon. He’s up to 11 homers on the year, eight of which have come against left-handers. Foscue gets the majority of his playing time against southpaws and has hit them at an impressive clip. His small-side platoon role makes him most valuable in deeper daily-lineup leagues or in DFS.

Nationals manager Blake Butera said afterwards that Ruiz passed concussion protocol and will undergo further evaluation prior to Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers. He was pulled from Wednesday’s contest after taking a foul tip off his mask during the fourth inning.

Pratt somehow managed to avoid serious injury when he collided with teammates Jackson Chourio and Joey Ortiz in shallow left field during Tuesday’s game at Wrigley Field. He’s in the lineup on Wednesday night without missing any time.

The homer was Acuña’s 200th, making him the 57th player in MLB history to hit 200 homers and steal 200 bases. He’s also the eighth active player to accomplish the feat. The steal was his 20th of the season, and only the fourth time in his career he’s reached that mark given how many injury-shortened campaigns he’s had. 2026 hasn’t been one of his better seasons, so it’ll be interesting to see where his ADP settles this offseason. Set to enter his age-29 season in 2027, Acuña still possesses plenty of high-end fantasy upside whenever he’s healthy.

Holmes struck out one and didn’t allow any baserunners. He was cruising, needing only 26 pitches to record nine outs before a rain delay interrupted his day. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 3.62, and he’s had just two starts all season where he gave up more than three earned runs. A home matchup against the Rays is up next.