MLB Player News

Both McClanahan and Noah Schultz struggled to consistently locate during Tuesday’s effort, and McClanahan walked four — the same as Schultz — while striking four as well. He would have gotten away with it if not for a Everson Pereira homer with two on, but all things considered, this could have gone much worse. He’ll take a 3.95 ERA into a scheduled bout Sunday against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

After seven scoreless innings from Shota Imanaga, Brown took over in the eighth and gave the Cubs two clean frames to close it out for his first save of the season. The 26-year-old right-hander has been incredibly effective in this multi-inning relief role, posting a 1.82 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and a 23/7 K/BB ratio across 24 2/3 innings. Daniel Palencia (oblique) is expected to be activated in the coming days to resume closing duties.

Imanaga was lights out on Saturday, holding the Diamondbacks scoreless over seven innings. He scattered four hits and one walk while striking out five batters on 14 whiffs. It was a nice bounce-back after giving up five runs against the Dodgers in his last start. The 32-year-old left-hander will take a 2.40 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and a 43/10 K/BB ratio across 41 1/3 innings into a start against the Reds in Chicago on Thursday.

Nelson tossed a clean first inning, then surrendered a solo homer to Ian Happ to start the second. He then worked through a bases-loaded jam in the third. Nelson would pitch into the sixth, leaving with one runner on and two outs at 84 pitches. He struck out four. The one-run outing ends a rough stretch for Nelson, who surrendered 14 runs over his last two starts. The 28-year-old right-hander will take a 6.61 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and a 28/13 K/BB ratio across 31 1/3 innings into a start against the Mets in Arizona on Friday.

Okamoto followed a two-homer game with another excellent day at the plate. He took Justin Topa deep for a solo homer in the sixth inning, an absolute blast at 111.7 mph going 453 feet. He then knocked a base hit in the eighth to bring home a run. The 29-year-old third baseman is up to eight homers and 20 RBI while slashing .235/.316/.454 across 133 plate appearances.

Sosa put the Blue Jays on the board with a solo home run off Connor Prielipp in the second inning, then later drove in a run on a single and scored in the eighth. The 26-year-old infielder is still seeing sporadic playing time, splitting games at second base while getting occasional starts at first and designated hitter. He’s hitting .257/.254/.386 with one homer, eight runs scored, and nine RBI across 72 plate appearances.

Buxton scored the first run of the game, taking Dylan Cease deep for a solo blast in the first inning. The home run was the fifth in the last six games for Buxton and his tenth of the season. The 32-year-old slugger is hitting .260/.315/.542 with 25 runs scored and 14 RBI across 143 plate appearances.

Cease surrendered a solo homer to Byron Buxton to start the bottom of the first inning. A walk, two hits, and an error brought in two more runs in the second before the Twins added a fourth run in the fifth. Cease would settle in to complete seven frames on 106 pitches, 66 for strikes, and struck out seven batters on 16 whiffs. The 30-year-old right-hander will take a 3.05 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and a 56/18 K/BB ratio across 38 1/3 innings into a start against the Angels in Toronto on Friday.

Graterol is currently on the injured list as he recovers from right shoulder surgery; an operation that cost him all of 2025 and the first month-plus of 2026. The 27-year-old has been one of the more effective Los Angeles relievers when healthy, and assuming all goes well in the rehab assignment, he could be back with the Dodgers before the end of May.

Prielipp served up a pair of solo homers to Lenyn Sosa and Myles Straw in the second inning. That was the only damage Toronto could do over five frames. He scattered one other hit and two walks while collecting four strikeouts. The 25-year-old left-hander has a 3.86 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and a 15/5 K/BB ratio across 14 innings over three starts as he’s filled in for the injured Mick Abel (elbow). He’ll take the mound for at least one more start on Friday in Cleveland against the Guardians.

Harris is back after hitting a go-ahead homer off the bench in the win over Colorado on Friday. The 25-year-old has been excellent to open 2026 as seen in a .324/.358/.569 slash, and it’s great news for Atlanta and fantasy managers that he’s healthy enough to be back on the field in a starting role after missing two games.