MLB Player News

Ashcraft allowed six hits, walked three and struck out seven. He fell to 1-2 with the loss. The 26-year-old right-hander now has a 3.71 ERA and 3.42 xFIP on the year. In 34 innings this season, he’s struck out 39, walked 12 and allowed three home runs. Ashcraft’s clunky start Tuesday included two of those home runs, but he’s still worth consideration for fantasy managers in standard mixed leagues. He’s lined up to face the Reds at home on Sunday.

Jorge Barrosa is more likely to start if Gurriel can’t go on Saturday.

Neto homered off Jacob deGrom to open the bottom of the first and later added a 427-footer off Chris Martin in the eighth. He’s on pace for 31 homers and 106 RBI now that he’s returned to the leadoff spot after a brief, ill-planned hiatus in Anaheim.

Even though he gave up four runs, Rodriguez surprisingly won the duel against Jacob deGrom. He struck out five despite recording first-pitch strikes on just 12 of 25 batters, and he gave up seven hits and nine hard-hit balls. The stuff is there for him to improve from here, but he has a 10.61 ERA after two starts and is clearly quite a ways away from being a mixed-league option. He’ll likely face the Tigers next.

DeGrom gave up a leadoff homer, two walks and another homer in a four-run first inning. He followed with an easy second, but after he allowed three singles and a walk in a two-run third, the Rangers made the rather surprising call to pull him after 65 pitches. There was nothing after the game to suggest anything physical was involved. DeGrom had decent velocity tonight, and he got 13 whiffs while allowing five hard-hit balls. He should still be fine to use against the Astros next week.

Meckler took Jacob deGrom deep in his first at-bat of 2026. It was his first major league homer, as he went without one in his only previous major league action in 64 plate appearances with the Giants in 2023. Meckler’s EV numbers just don’t bode well for him hitting for much power in the majors, but he has an excellent approach and some sneaky stolen base ability. It probably won’t make him a mixed-league option, but he might be of some use to the Angels in left field.

Tromp entered this game in the seventh inning after Mike Yastrzemski pinch-hit for Sandy León in the prior frame. That’s meaningful as the Braves try to work out their catching tandem in the wake of Drake Baldwin’s oblique injury. Also, it was meaningful because Tromp had run-scoring hits in both the 10th and 11th innings including the walk-off single. Both balls were hit hard as well. Neither of these catchers have ever been much of hitters, but Tromp projects slightly better and could be moderately interesting in two-catcher formats with both Baldwin and Sean Murphy out for an extended period.

Elder just keeps doing it. The addition of a new cutter this season has continued to be invaluable to his approach against left-handed batters. Again here he worked that pitch along with his fastball in on their hands to keep them honest and not allow them to dive out over the plate to hit his changeup or slider on the outer half. He’s still yet to give up more than three earned runs in any start this season and in the three where he allowed exactly three, he at least pitched into the seventh inning in each. At this point, it’s difficult not to trust him with a 1.97 ERA. 0.99 WHIP, and 64:22 strikeout to walk ratio over 72 2/3 innings so far this season. He’s scheduled to face the Red Sox in Boston next time out.

Abrams will not stop hitting. He hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning of this one and then what felt like it would’ve been the clinching two-run triple in the 10th. Alas, the Braves stormed back to take this one, but those three runs batted in brought Abrams’ total to 45 on the season, which leads the league. His .947 OPS is also fifth-highest as he’s put together the best offensive stretch of his career so far this season.

Mikolas genuinely pitched well here. He kept the ball down, consistently got ahead in the count, and worked mostly quick and painless innings against this tough Braves lineup. It’s always dangerous playing this game, but if we took out Mikolas’ 11-run blow-up against the Dodgers in early April, he’d have a 3.99 ERA. That’s a lot different than the 6.17 ERA he currently has. That start against the Dodgers is also the only time he’s allowed more than four earned runs in any start this year. Again, that’s not the best way to approach this, but his command has been good and has a deep enough repertoire to be moderately effective… sometimes. Just be ready for the next blow-up that’s lurking around the corner

The 31-year-old outfielder snapped a 3-3 tie as he deposited a 3-2 changeup from Jeffrey Springs into the seats in left field for a 401-foot (102.9 mph EV) solo shot, giving the Padres a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Laureano finished the evening 1-for-3 and is now hitting .217/.297/.385 with six homers and 20 RBI on the season.