MLB Player News

Virginia backstop Kyle Teel was considered the top catching prospect in this year’s draft class, but the Royals have decided to go with the younger Mitchell, the top-ranked prep catcher instead. The 19-year-old backstop possesses promising raw power potential, although there’s some strikeout risk in his profile. The track record for prep catchers in the first round isn’t a particularly fruitful one, but Mitchell has a legitimate chance to stick behind the plate and also offers some experience on the mound as a fallback plan. He could be the future behind the plate in Kansas City once the Salvador Perez era is over.

Martinez has been shelved since last Thursday due to shoulder fatigue, but he told reporters on Friday that he’s good to go now. We’d surely like to see him demonstrate that on the field before taking his word for it, and if a save chance arises on Friday night we should get that chance.

Kim is still tracking for a return to the Rays in late May or early June, though he may not be able to handle the shortstop position defensively initially. A recent visit with Dr. Neal ElAttrache revealed that there’s no structural damage in the shoulder and that he’s at about 80 percent currently. He’ll continue a slow and deliberate build up until he’s ready for his Rays’ debut.

It’s unclear when exactly he sustained the injury or the severity of it. Given how tricky oblique injuries usually are though, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Mitchell ultimately land on the injured list for at least a couple of weeks. Stay tuned, as the Brewers should have an update on his status after the game.

The 22-year-old rookie second baseman stayed in the game to run the bases for himself and played another couple of innings in the field but was lifted for a pinch hitter the next time that his spot in the order came around. He’ll presumably head for X-rays to rule out any fractures. Stay tuned as the Twins should have an update on his status as soon as more information becomes available.

The original expectation had been that Leiter would take over Kumar Rocker’s spot in the rotation on Monday against the Athletics, but it sounds like they want him back as soon as possible. That means that Patrick Corbin would presumably be pushed back and start in Rocker’s place on Monday.

With the Padres temporarily shifting to a four-man starting rotation, they wanted to have another option to give them length out of the bullpen, so that’s where Bergert comes in. It’s the first trip to the big leagues for the 25-year-old right-hander who registered a 5.16 ERA, 1.72 WHIP and a 24/10 K/BB ratio over 22 2/3 innings in his first five starts. He can be ignored for fantasy purposes.

Lewis also played six innings defensively at third base, as was planned. He’ll remain on the rehab assignment at least through the weekend before the Twins decide how best to proceed. It’s looking like he could be ready to join the big league club before the end of next week, which would be a major boost for the Twins’ offense and for fantasy managers.

The 25-year-old left-hander has made four starts at Triple-A Columbus this season, posting a 3.44 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a 22/7 K/BB ratio across 18 1/3 innings. He’ll likely be the 27th man for the twin bill and will head back to Triple-A after the spot start, so there’s no reason to try to add him for fantasy purposes. Ben Lively will start the first game after his start was rained out on Friday. It’s unclear if Logan Allen — who was originally scheduled to start on Saturday — will get pushed back to Sunday, or if the Guardians will shuffle their rotation.

The Rockies had carried a third catcher for a while with Hunter Goodman seeing most of his time elsewhere, but with a severely depleted infield they needed to add another option to the mix on Friday and Fulford became the roster casualty. The 26-year-old went 1-for-8 (.125) with a solo homer in his limited action with the Rockies.

The Rockies needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster to promote Owen Miller on Friday, so this move made obvious sense. Estrada is still in the process of recovering from a fractured right wrist and now won’t be eligible to return until the end of May. It’s unlikely that he would have been ready before then anyways, so nothing changes as far as his outlook for fantasy purposes.