MLB Player News

Valdez allowed six hits and didn’t walk anyone for the first time this year, tossing 99 pitches in the outing. He was in line for the loss when exiting, but Detroit’s lineup went on to score four of its five runs against the Braves’ bullpen. This outing will go a long way toward improving his season-long K-BB%. He’ll face the Red Sox at home next time out.

Eldridge will get another shot after batting .333/.445/.518 for Sacramento, but his return really complicates things, what with his replacement, Casey Schmitt, being arguably the Giants’ best player to date. All of the team’s veteran infielders are used to being everyday players, and it’s hard to imagine any will be happy sitting once or twice per week to make room for Eldridge at first and DH, even if it’s the right call for the team. Rodriguez has started at catcher, second base and in left field this year, so he offers a lot more versatility than Eldridge and will be an easier fit. Still, we’re not sure either rates a pickup in mixed leagues at this point. Eldridge has the potential, but he’ll stay the bench against lefties and possibly the occasional righty.

Bubic struck out seven while allowing one or no runs for the fourth time in seven starts this season. He’s 3-1 with a 3.32 ERA ahead of a date with the Tigers next weekend.

Lynch struck out three of the four. Lynch was only the choice to close today because both Lucas Erceg and Matt Strahm had pitched the last two days, but he’s been the Royals’ best reliever this season. He still might wind up being interesting in fantasy leagues if Carlos Estévez fails to return to form.

Castillo had good velocity today and got through three innings scoreless, but really, he was hit hard throughout. At this point, it seems like it’d be difficult to justify keeping him and his 6.29 ERA in the Seattle rotation after Bryce Miller’s return. It’d be interesting to see if he could contribute out of the pen; all 250 of his appearances in the majors have been as a starter. Right now, he’s probably looking at one more start next weekend against the White Sox before Miller is activated.

Collins was also caught stealing for the third time in four tries this season. That’s a definite issue for him as a fantasy outfielder, since he probably has more potential in steals than in any other category. But Collins should be a fourth outfielder anyway. The Royals have thus far started him 26 times in 34 games, and he’s responded by hitting .236/.343/337 with below average defense in left field.

Vientos took Jack Kochanowicz and Nick Sandlin deep for his sixth career two-homer game. He hadn’t had even a multi-RBI game this season while hitting .238/.287/.363 coming into the day. He’s getting to play regularly of late because of all of the Mets’ injuries, but he’ll need to be a steadier run producer in order to keep the lineup spot for good.

While the Mets’ other four starters are a combined 2-13, Holmes has opened the campaign 4-2 with a 1.69 ERA, and he still hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his seven starts. He’s due to face the Diamondbacks next time out.

It’s still another quality start for the 24-year-old. He’s already matched his 2025 total of four quality starts in 16 fewer tries (seven versus 23), and two of his three misses this year have seen him pulled just one out short of qualifying. Kochanowicz still doesn’t inspire much confidence as a fantasy starter, but his emergence has been huge for the Angels. He’ll take a 2-1 record and a 3.05 ERA into his next start against the Blue Jays.

Statcast thinks Semien has been fairly unlucky to hit .213/.265/.279, but he’s both striking out a little more than usual and hitting the ball not quite as hard as usual, which is a bad combination. It’s quite possible that he’s done as a mixed-league infielder at age 35.

Lowe had a couple of hard-hit flyballs today, but as per usual this season, he got a little too far under both to hit them out. Lowe’s 24-degree launch angle this season is one of the highest marks in the league and far higher than his career average of 13 degrees. Maybe he’ll figure it out, but he’s been a big liability thus far.