MLB Player News

Horton, who pitched a scoreless first, appeared uncomfortable after throwing a 93.8 mph fastball, his slowest of the game. It wasn’t obvious what exactly was wrong, but we’ll find out soon enough. Colin Rea replaced him against the Guardians and would be the favorite to join the rotation if Horton lands on the IL.

The Miami native capped off another impressive showing in his hometown by taking Marlins starter Eury Pérez deep in the fifth inning for his third round-tripper of the young season. He also picked up his third theft of the year in this one. The talented 22-year-old rookie sensation is off to a phenomenal start, hitting .366 (15-for-41) with three homers, eight RBI and three steals through 12 games. He looks like a potential franchise cornerstone for Cincinnati to build around for years to come and is making a significant all-around fantasy impact already.

McLain’s sizzling-hot spring training feels like a lifetime ago. The 26-year-old second baseman stepped to the plate representing the tying run in the ninth inning and went down looking at a called third strike from Michael Petersen to end it. He’s off to a frosty start at the dish, hitting .217 (10-for-46) with zero homers and two steals through 12 games.

It wasn’t easy, but Petersen got the job done with Pete Fairbanks still away from the club on paternity leave. The 31-year-old journeyman was summoned to face the bottom of Cincinnati’s lineup with a three-run lead and immediately got into hot water by surrendering back-to-back infield singles. He recorded two quick outs before striking out Matt McLain to preserve the win.

Pérez needed the same number of pitches (95) to compete five frames as Sandy Alcantara did the previous night to work into the ninth. Amazingly, Pérez was the only one who came away with a win. Go figure. The positive news for Pérez is that he generated 15 swinging strikes, with eight of them on his four-seam fastball, while half of his punchouts came on his brand-new sweeper. The flip side of the coin is that he gave up six hits, including a two-run homer to Miami native Sal Stewart, and struggled to get quick outs. The 22-year-old is one of the most electrifying young arms in the game and certainly has the talent to take the next step and evolve into a fantasy ace. He’ll face the Braves in a challenging road matchup on Monday.

Hoerner served as Chicago’s primary catalyst during Wednesday evening’s series finale at Tropicana Field, taking Rays starter Joe Boyle deep to left field to open the contest. It was his first big fly of the year. The 28-year-old speedster also added an RBI double in the fifth inning as part of a three-hit effort. He’s recorded three multi-hit efforts over his last seven games and is batting .333 (14-for-42) with six doubles, one homer and nine RBI through 12 games. He’s also taken eight walks and only struck out six times during that span.

Aranda was one of the few bright spots for Tampa Bay in another one-sided loss to Chicago as he was responsible for two of their five total hits on the night. He delivered a game-tying sacrifice fly in the third inning before adding a single and a run scored in the eighth inning. He’s off to a nice start at the dish this season, batting .271 (13-for-48) with three homers and 11 RBI through 12 games.

Rea provided Chicago with everything they could’ve hoped for while helping fill the void created by injuries to Matthew Boyd (biceps) and Cade Horton (elbow). He gave up only two hits with an RBI double from Jonathan Aranda representing the lone tally against him. He struck out two and only handed out a pair of free passes. He’ll square off against the Phillies in a road tilt on Tuesday. It’s a tough matchup but there’s some low-upside streaming appeal in deeper mixed leagues.

Boyle was all over the place, serving up a leadoff homer to Nico Hoerner, in addition to handing out three free passes and throwing just 46 of 84 pitches for strikes. The bigger concern is that he generated only three punchouts. Fantasy managers in deeper formats would be willing to stomach some of the volatility in exchange for big-time strikeout upside, but it hasn’t really been there his last few outings at the highest level. He’s not a recommended streaming option despite an extremely favorable matchup against the White Sox on Wednesday.