San Diego

Padres

The 29-year-old knuckleballer will rejoin the Padres to start on Friday night against the Angels. Waldron made three starts at Triple-A El Paso on his minor league rehab assignment, hurling 12 scoreless innings with a 0.67 WHIP and a 12/1 K/BB ratio. He’s worth a look as a streaming option in deeper mixed leagues for Friday’s matchup against the Halos.

The Padres needed to free up a spot on their active roster for the return of Matt Waldron on Friday and unfortunately for Jacob he drew the short straw this time around. The 27-year-old hurler made one appearance during his time with the Padres, firing two scoreless frames with a 3/1 K/BB ratio. He should get another opportunity with the Padres in relatively short order.

Diamond reports that the sale would be at an “MLB-record valuation of around $3.9 billion.” The deal is not yet official and would mean yet more private equity involvement in professional sports. However, it also might mean an infusion of capital for the Padres, which could prevent them from having to cut costs with the roster again.

Laureano has a .290/.355/.551 slash line and Stammen praised the quality of his at-bats regardless of his spot in the order. With Laureano now locked into a job hitting in front of guys like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, his fantasy value is clearly on the rise.

Buehler averaged 92.9 mph with his fastball in his first two starts, but he was up to 93.9 mph last week against the Rockies and 94.5 mph tonight. That’s above his 2025 average of 94.0 mph (and he was typically under that it in the second half of the year). It doesn’t make Buehler a fantasy addition just yet, but his stock is trending the right way. He’ll take a 1-1 record and a 4.58 ERA into a start in Coors Field against the Rockies next week.

The Giants’ Luis Arraez singled off Miller to start the ninth inning of a game on April 1. Since then, Miller has retired 24 straight batters, striking out 21 of them. He averaged 101.2 mph and topped out at 102.5 mph with his eight fastballs tonight.

Manager Craig Stammen said after the game that Laureano is going to stick in the leadoff spot for now, boosting his fantasy value. He’s been the Padres’ best hitting with a .290/.355/.551 line, four homers and three steals in 76 plate appearances.

The 29-year-old infielder was shelved at the end of the spring due to a right oblique strain. He had already been playing at Triple-A El Paso on a minor league rehab assignment where he has hit .276/.364/.310 with zero homers, 10 RBI, zero stolen bases and a 17/8 K/BB ratio over 66 plate appearances. He’ll remain there in an everyday role until he’s needed at the big league level.

Enjoying one of the best all-around games of his young career, Merrill, who turns 23 this weekend, robbed Julio Rodríguez of a two-run homer in the third, long before he ended the game with his two-run double in the ninth. His .261/.320/.464 line isn’t all that eye-catching, but that he’s 4-for-4 on the basepaths after going 1-for-3 last year has taken his stock up a couple of notches.

Vásquez’s velocity was again above his norms tonight, but his four walks caused him problems as his ERA jumped from 1.02 to 2.49. He fanned six, and he still seems worth trusting against the Rockies in Coors Field next week.