MLB Player News

Cabrera’s mostly excellent spring ends on a sour note after coughing up seven hits, including three home runs, on a 91-degree afternoon in the Arizona desert. He struck out three and issued a pair of walks. Fortunately, the results don’t matter here. The 27-year-old will make his Cubs debut this weekend with an extremely favorable home matchup against the Nationals.

It’s a routine off day for McLain with Reds manager Terry Francona moving Sal Stewart to second base to get Nathaniel Lowe into the lineup at DH to face Pirates righty Carmen Mlodzinski. JJ Bleday has been bumped up to the second spot in the order with McLain on the bench.

Ashcraft rejoins Cincinnati’s relief corps after missing three games on bereavement leave earlier this week. The 28-year-old righty has recorded one save to go along with a pristine 1.20 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 15/8 K/BB ratio across 15 innings this season.

Maxwell allowed four runs over one inning during his lone appearance for the Reds after being called up earlier this week. The 25-year-old has made nine appearances for Cincinnati in middle relief over the past two seasons.

Morales finds himself back with the Athletics in a long relief capacity after a roughly one-month stint back in the minors where his control issues persisted. The 23-year-old pitching prospect was lit up for 10 runs on 13 hits with an abysmal 5/8 K/BB ratio across 7 1/3 innings over two starts to open the season.

Basso heads back to the minors after allowing two runs over 2 2/3 innings over three appearances since being called up last week.

Basallo takes a seat as the Orioles deploy a righty-heavy lineup to face Yankees lefty Ryan Weathers. The 21-year-old rookie backstop has been locked in at the plate recently, hitting .283 (15-for-53) with four homers and eight RBI over his last 15 games. Adley Rutschman is behind the dish with Pete Alonso at DH and Coby Mayo at first base in this one.

No pressure. Gibson, the Orioles’ top pitching prospect, will make his major-league debut at Yankee Stadium, with Shane Baz likely pushed back to Monday. The 23-year-old right-hander is one of the more intriguing arms in the minors, but this is an extremely difficult spot for fantasy managers to trust him. He offers legitimate strikeout upside after posting a stellar 166/44 K/BB ratio across 120 1/3 innings at three levels in Baltimore’s system last season, giving him a path to immediate fantasy relevance. He’s talented enough to warrant a speculative roster spot in most formats, even if expectations should be tempered in this challenging matchup.

Matt Shaw takes over at second base with Hoerner on the bench for some additional rest after making an early departure from Friday’s series opener at Wrigley Field with neck tightness. The 28-year-old second baseman has been a revelation, hitting .297/.374/.461 with four homers, 26 RBI and seven steals through 32 games, as an increase in over-the-fence power has pushed him into true superstar territory this season. There should be a clearer picture regarding his status at some point this weekend, but fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now.

Jax, who opened the season roughly six weeks ago as a potential closing option, is being stretched out as a start with the aim of joining Tampa Bay’s rotation. The 31-year-old’s departure from the bullpen mix is a boost to his fantasy value from a volume standpoint, but fantasy managers should probably employ a wait-and-see approach before trusting him in shallow mixed leagues. It’s a nice spot right out of the gate since the Giants have been one of the weakest lineups in the game this season.

Okamoto joked that he was a pregame quesadilla shy of a three-homer performance during Friday’s win over the Twins. He’ll continue hitting cleanup for the seventh time in the last eight games on Saturday afternoon at Target Field. The 29-year-old third baseman has been scorching hot, going deep five times over his last 12 games after Friday’s two-homer explosion.