MLB Player News

The Red Sox have said they would get Mayer more at-bats against lefties this season, but that won’t be the case on Opening Day against Andrew Abbott. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will start in Mayer’s place, and fantasy managers will have to hope that this is not a locked-in situation for Mayer all season long.

Wilson got the chance to lead off against a lefty tonight after hitting fifth in the first four games of the season and capitalized with his first two RBI of the year. That the A’s offense busted out ever so slightly after the team’s 0-4 start might cause the team to think about having Wilson remain the leadoff man against righties. First, though, we’ll have to see how the group fares against a much tougher lefty than José Suárez with Chris Sale on the schedule Wednesday.

Civale allowed four hits, walked one and struck out three. The lone run came on a Drake Baldwin homer. Civale’s velocity is down 1-2 mph from last year, when he posted a 4.85 ERA in 18 starts and five relief appearances for three clubs. He seems like a particularly weak bet in a tough situation for pitchers in Sacramento, but he held his own in this one. He’ll likely face the Yankees next time out.

If anyone in the A’s pen was worth taking a flier on, it seemed to be Leiter, and he made good for one day, at least. Hogan Harris, Justin Sterner and Scott Barlow all also pitched scoreless innings for holds. We wouldn’t bet big on Leiter getting consistent save chances with the A’s still trying to figure out their bullpen hierarchy, but the team lacks any clearly better options.

Ugh. DeLauter was replaced by CJ Kayfus in right field after fouling a ball off his lower left leg in the first inning of Tuesday’s game at Dodger Stadium. He stayed in to finish the at-bat against Shohei Ohtani but was unable to run out a grounder before exiting. The 24-year-old rookie sensation was off to an unbelievable start, homering four times in five games to open the season. He’ll likely undergo X-rays to determine whether he suffered any fractures. There should be additional updates on his status shortly.

Suárez will fortify Baltimore’s overworked bullpen with Zach Eflin (elbow) heading to the injured list ahead of Wednesday’s series finale against the Rangers. The 36-year-old veteran was in Orioles camp this spring as a non-roster invitee.

It sounds like Weiss is considering flipping roles with Pérez and José Suarez after the latter gave up four runs over 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday against the Athletics. Pérez came out of the bullpen to spin 4 1/3 scoreless frames. Atlanta has a couple days to figure out their rotation plan. Regardless of their final decision, it’s a stay-away situation for fantasy managers.

Cruz got off to another shaky start, colliding with Bryan Reynolds on a fly to left to let in a run in the third. He more than made up for it, though. Cruz hit eighth tonight against lefty Brandon Williamson after sitting out the first time the Pirates took on a southpaw. His first homer came off Williamson, with the second providing insurance in the ninth against Pierce Johnson. If he’s in the lineup against another left-hander in Andrew Abbott on Wednesday, it will almost surely be because of the strong showing tonight. He didn’t start any of the previous three times the Pirates faced Abbott.

Chandler was perfect in the first, second and fourth innings, striking out two each frame. In between that, he walked three in the third and gave a run because Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds collided on a fly to left. That frame also featured TJ Friedl bunting into a double play. The fifth was like the third inning minus the hijinks; Chandler walked three out of four and got pulled in favor of Yohan Ramirez, who did Chandler a huge favor by striking out Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz to strand the bases loaded. Chandler’s wildness still cost him a win. There’s no denying a stuff, but he’s lost the strike zone a handful of times since the beginning of the spring. He won’t be all that valuable in fantasy leagues until he can get a handle on that. He’s due to take on the Padres next.

Dennis Santana was called in to bail out Hunter Barco with the Reds up 6-3 in the eighth and wound up throwing a scoreless inning. That temporarily set up Soto for his first save chance, but that was denied after the Pirates scored twice in the top of the ninth. Soto came in anyway and did make things interesting before pitching around a single, a walk and a HBP. Soto is enough of a threat for saves in Pittsburgh to perhaps warrant a spot in deep leagues, but Santana would seem to be quite a bit more trustworthy in the ninth.

Williamson, who is returning from Tommy John, was making his first start since 2024, and by giving up three homers to the Pirates, he accomplished something that no pitcher had done since that season. Ryan O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds hit back-to-back homers off him in the second before Oneil Cruz chimed in with another in the fourth. Williamson was supposed to be part of some odd hybrid gig for the Reds before Nick Lodolo’s blister meant there was room for all three of him, Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder in the rotation. Instead of going back to whatver was the original plan, they should probably just send down Williamson once Lodolo returns.