Betting

Borucki not only gets an MLB deal after opting out of his minor league contract with the White Sox, but he gets to play for a much better team in the process. Win-win. The 31-year-old will operate in the middle innings for San Francisco to begin 2026 .

The Cubs will need to add Conforto to the 40-man roster, and that will likely come closer to Opening Day than not. The 33-year-old didn’t exactly tear up the Cactus League with a .635 OPS coming into Saturday, but he did enough to win a job with Seiya Suzuki (knee) and Tyler Austin (knee) both unavailable to begin the year. Conforto should see playing time against right-handed pitching, but his lack of success since 2020 makes him a wait-and-see option at best.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters that the team isn’t sure yet if Suzuki will open the year on the bench, or if the team will place the outfielder on the injured list. Suzuki was diagnosed with a PCL sprain in his right knee, and it’s not a surprise that the 31-year-old won’t be healthy enough to be in the lineup. It’d be an upset if Suzuki doesn’t hit the 15-day injured list before the campaign begins.

Emerson will not make the Opening Day roster, which isn’t a huge surprise; especially with Cole Young playing so well. The 20-year-old is one of the best infield prospects in the sport and has a chance to contribute in several fantasy categories, but he likely won’t get a chance to do that in the majors until closer to May at the earliest.

Contreras hit one of three homers for the Brew Crew on Saturday; all coming off Randy Vásquez. The 28-year-old backstop has homered twice in the Cactus League, and looks ready to yet again be one of the better fantasy backstops in 2026.

Moore opted out of his minor league deal with the Phillies, and rather than risk letting him go, the Phillies will add the versatile 33-year-old to their bench. He’ll likely see time against left-handers while playing multiple positions in 2026.

It comes in a losing effort, but it’s another impressive game from Bazzana. One of the homers was a grand slam, the other a solo shot off Robbie Ray an inning earlier. Bazzana has hit .381/.435/.857 in Arizona; a friendly reminder that this was the first pick of the 2024 MLB Draft. He likely begins the season in the minors, but it’d be an upset if he wasn’t starting at second base by the end of 2026. There’s some fantasy upside here for this season and obviously beyond.

That according to manager Craig Albernaz. Akin is projected to be a big part of the Baltimore bullpen, but a trip to the injured list to open 2026 can’t be ruled out. This also could be precautionary with camp ending soon, but the left-hander’s status should be updated shortly regardless.

The 344-foot shot down the right field line bounced back into play and was initially ruled a double, but replay showed it was over the yellow line. Simpson has one homer in 1,636 professional plate appearances, that being an inside-the-parker in Double-A in 2024. It’s not strictly an exit velocity matter for him — he exceeded 100 mph on seven of his balls in play in the majors last year — but most of his hardest contact comes on grounders. With a .370/.393/.481 line in 30 plate appearances, Simpson has had a nice spring despite missing a little time with a hamstring issue. He’ll almost certainly be the Rays’ primary left fielder against righties, and he’ll be worth playing in fantasy leagues as long as he continues to start most of the time.

Griffin hit just .184 in his Grapefruit League action, but he was able to hit four homers and had some exceptional exit velocities during his time in big-league camp. There’s reports that the two sides are working on a long-term extension, but he’ll almost assuredly begin the season in the minors. Griffin is one of the few prospects in baseball who is worth rostering in redraft leagues even if he is opening the season in Triple- or Double-A.