MLB Player News

Díaz told reporters he’s feeling better and hopes to return later this weekend, while downplaying concern about a potential trip to the injured list. The 34-year-old on-base machine will get some extra time off to rest and recover after leaving Friday’s series opener with oblique tightness. It doesn’t sound like a massive concern, but oblique issues can be tricky matters. Clearly, the Rays don’t want to take any chances. It’ll be Jake Fraley taking over at DH in his absence on Saturday evening.

Bellinger’s first homer was a Yankee Stadium special that traveled just 363 feet, per Statcast, and would’ve been an out in every other stadium. His second against lefty reliever Keegan Akin in the fifth inning was a bit more definitive and gave New York a commanding 6-1 lead at the time. It was his multi-homer performance of the season. He also plated an additional runs with a pair of additional hits, and added his fourth stolen base of the season, just for good measure.

Alonso homered for the second consecutive game in the series, taking Yankees southpaw Ryan Weathers deep in the fourth inning for a 413-foot no-doubter. It was his lone hit in four at-bats in the one-sided affair. The 31-year-old slugger has gone deep three times in his last five games and is up to six round-trippers on the year in his Orioles debut.

Weathers struck out five and only issued two walks. He gave up three hits with a fourth-inning solo shot from Pete Alonso accounting for the only damage against him until the sixth inning. The 26-year-old southpaw has performed extremely well early on in his Yankees debut, posting a strong 3.03 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 45/10 K/BB ratio across 38 2/3 innings. The big questions is whether he remains in the rotation once Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón are ready to make their season debuts this month. He’ll face the Rangers his next time out at home on Thursday.

It’s challenging to classify Bradish’s early-season as a disappointment, but he certainly hasn’t pitched like a certifiable upper-echelon fantasy starter. The most concerning development is that he’s pitched beyond the fifth inning just twice in seven starts to open the year. Not to mention that he’s sporting a bloated 5.03 ERA, 1.82 WHIP and 35/21 K/BB ratio across 34 innings during that span. He served up homers to Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham in this one and has allowed homers in three consecutive starts since April 20. He’ll aim for better results his next time out against the Athletics on Friday.

Evan Carter takes over in center field and will occupy the leadoff spot in his absence. No surprise here after Nimmo made an early exit from Friday’s series opener with right hamstring tightness. The 33-year-old reaggravated the existing issue, which first cropped up earlier this week during Wednesday’s game against the Yankees. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now.

Adolis García is shifting over to center field with Felix Reyes and Garrett Stubbs in the corners. Crawford is presumably day-to-day heading into Sunday’s series finale. The 22-year-old rookie is hitting .269/.340/.376 with eight runs scored, zero homers, six RBI and two steals in 28 games.

Vanasco gets his opportunity with the Tigers after veteran Will Vest landed on the shelf with a forearm injury. The 27-year-old righty is certainly deserving after recording a sublime 28/4 K/BB ratio across 15 consecutive scoreless innings to open the season at the Triple-A level. He last pitched in the big leagues when he made four appearances between the Dodgers and Tigers back in 2024.

There is no timetable for Vest to return at the moment. The 30-year-old high-leverage arm hits the shelf after Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters Friday that he’s been pitching through an injury. He’s struggled to an inflated 6.17 ERA across 11 2/3 innings of work this season.

Curet has been removed from Detroit’s 40-man roster to make room for reliever Ricky Vanasco to come up from Triple-A Toledo. The 23-year-old was claimed off waivers from the Phillies last month.

Kyle Finnegan, who notched a save on Thursday in place of Jansen, seems like the clear favorite to take over temporarily as Detroit’s closer since Will Vest is hitting the injured list with forearm inflammation. The 38-year-old veteran stopper hasn’t pitched since surrendering a walk-off homer to Matt Olson in a blown save against the Braves on Wednesday. It’s possible this turns into an injured list situation if Jansen isn’t ready to pitch early next week. Certainly, Finnegan should be picked up in all fantasy leagues.