MLB Player News

Hosmer is officially a free agent after being designated for assignment last week by the Cubs. The 33-year-old veteran first baseman batted just .234/.280/.330 with two homers in 100 plate appearances over 31 games before the arrival of slugging prospect Matt Mervis ultimately forced him off Chicago’s roster. There should be plenty of teams interested in him, especially since the Padres are still paying his salary for a couple more years.

Volpe hit a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the first inning. It would be the last run that either team would score. Whether that’s a good thing or bad thing likely depends on one’s love of pitching duel’s and/or the baseball team that won. Volpe is slashing .246/.335/.442 in 2025 with 33 RBI over 199 at-bats.

Leiter now has two saves on the season. There are at least two options ahead of him on the depth chart in Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, so fantasy managers shouldn’t expect more in the coming weeks/months. He has pitched well in 2025, however, with a 2.28 ERA and 35/7 K/BB ratio over 25 appearances and 23 2/3 innings of work.

Kikuchi gets the loss despite allowing just the one run, as Clarke Schmidt and the New York bullpen silenced the Angels’ bats. He didn’t exactly have impeccable control in this outing with five walks and 42-of-93 pitches landing outside the strike zone, but he struck out four and kept the Yankees off-balance for the majority of the outing. He’s now 1-5 on the season, but Kikuchi has pitched much better than that mark with an ERA of 3.06. He’ll hope to pitch well with some run support against the Red Sox next week.

Schmidt scattered four hits throughout his six frames, and only one of those was an extra-base knock; a double by Yoan Moncada. The 29-year-old struck out four in an effort that wouldn’t be described as dominant, but he was in complete control while throwing 69-of-99 pitches for strikes. Schmidt will take a 3.95 ERA into a scheduled tilt against the Guardians next week.

Bell has been atrocious in 2025, but perhaps this will be the game that gets the 32-year-old going. Weirder things have happened, anyway. The homer was his seventh of the season and gave the Nats a 2-0 lead off an ineffective George Kirby. Even with the three knocks, Wood is slashing an abhorrent .166/.264/.318 over 157 at-bats.

Hassell hit his first MLB homer off a pitcher making his first ever MLB appearance in Blas Castano. Youth. Hassell also singled twice, and it’s nice to see some success after an 0-for-12 run prior to Wednesday’s blowout win. He’s still hitting a rough .227/.227/.364 over his six games.

It’d be tough to overstate how impressive Wood has been over this first third of the season. The 22-year-old absolutely devoured a George Kirby offering on a homer that traveled an estimated 435 feet — a night after hitting one 448 feet — and came with an exit velocity just about 113 mph. He also doubled and has improved his slash to .287/.380/.569 with 15 homers. There will be some downs at some point, but Wood has all the tools to be a special player, and he’s applying them at an impressive rate.

The result was great. The process of getting that result leaves a bit to be desired as he struck out just two while generating just five swings-and-misses in the outing. Still counts, and considering Williams still has an ERA of 5.69, it’s fair to say beggars can’t be choosers. He’d be a poor streaming option Tuesday for a scheduled bout against the Cubs.

Kirby’s first start of 2025 wasn’t great. This one was worse. He allowed three homers to a less-than-spectacular Washington lineup, and he walked two while giving up seven hits. The 27-year-old’s stuff has looked fine in both outings after coming back from shoulder inflammation, but the command hasn’t been there whatsoever. Kirby is clearly still working out the kinks, but offers more risk than he normally would when he faces the Orioles next week.

Bichette was meant to have his first day off of the season Wednesday as he battled back tightness. He was in the lineup Tuesday, but as the designated hitter. Yet, with a scoreless tie in the ninth inning, he was called upon to pinch hit and delivered the decisive blow. He could’ve been battling this back issue for the better part of the last week as he’d gone 1-for-19 before hitting this home run.