MLB Player News

Machado took Ryan Feltner deep for a two-run shot to draw the Padres to within a run at 4-3. That’s the second homer of the season for the probable future Hall of Famer, and ups his slugging percentage to .370. Both numbers are sure to go up — assuming good health, of course — in the warmer months.

Durbin had been hitting second for the last five games, but the Red Sox elevated Willson Contreras to second to try to get the offense going. Durbin had gone 3-for-19 with two walks in those five games. He’s hitting just .127/.226/.164 on the season in 62 plate appearances. Eighth is the lowest placement for him in the lineup so far this year — he’d gone as far down as seventh, but mostly had hit sixth.

Cam Sanders is taking Urquidy’s spot in the bullpen. Urquidy had allowed runs in each of his last three appearances, including a four-spot against the Nationals on Monday, to put his ERA at 8.53 on the season. He’ll try to get back on track at Indianapolis.

Yates is trending towards a return as Jordan Romano has given up five earned runs in his last two outings. There’s no guarantee that Yates will see closer work, but he’s certainly got a cleaner recent track record than Romano despite 2025’s 5.23 ERA in 50 games out of the Dodgers pen. He may be worth stashing in deeper leagues for those looking for saves.

It’s unclear when Palencia suffered the injury as he hadn’t pitched since last Sunday. In the topsy turvy world of the Cubs bullpen, which somehow carries five left-handed relievers at the moment, our best guess is that Ben Brown would be in line for saves if the Cubs choose to use a traditional closer going forward. It’s possible this becomes a full-blown committee in Palencia’s absence. It’s great news that it’s not an arm injury — at least for the long-term — but the 15-day placement tells us this is serious for Palencia and something that could stretch well into May.

Yesavage threw 71 pitches in his third rehab start. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said the outing “was everything the Jays expected from a workload and velocity perspective.” He’ll make one more rehab start and could join the Jays in Anaheim next week if the team decides he is ready to go.

In theory it gets Lauer a better chance of a win, but it’s hard to recommend Lauer against the Diamondbacks in fantasy leagues considering the 9/12 BB:K ratio and 7.82 ERA.

Buried in that positive news is the somewhat-ominous “the Mets will want to do a supplemental MRI to ensure he’s OK before activating him.” Soto’s progression to return from his calf injury has appeared normal from the outside. Assuming things check out, he’ll be back at some point next week.

His ankle is “better today,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. Polanco remains out of the lineup for the Mets on Friday after a Thursday off-day. If only there were some sort of “injured list” where a player like this could be stashed.

The DFA -> elect free agency -> sign a minor-league contract -> get called up cycle took Pérez exactly five days. He’ll get the ball on Friday against the Phillies. It’s not a great spot for fantasy managers, but we’re very proud of Pérez for speedrunning the veteran live arm free agency experience.

A cause wasn’t formally announced. Angels owner Arte Moreno issued a statement saying that the organization is “mourning the loss of one of our franchise’s most beloved icons.” The team plans to wear a jersey patch saying “GA, 1972-2026" for the rest of the season. Anderson got one Hall of Fame vote after finishing his 17-year career with 2,529 hits, 287 homers, and a .293/.324/.461 triple-slash line. He helped lead the Angels to a World Series in 2002, a year in which he finished fourth in MVP voting. and made three All-Star teams.