MLB Player News

Moore was the final first-round selection from the 2024 MLB Draft out of Stanford and winds up getting a slightly over-slot $3 million signing bonus from the defending World Series champions. The 20-year-old backstop has solid power, but there are some questions regarding the hit tool based on his collegiate track record. The big question for fantasy purposes is whether he’ll be able to stick at catcher long-term.

Junk performed admirably in a bid this spring to break camp in Miami’s season-opening bullpen as a non-roster invitee, allowing six runs with a 10/4 K/BB ratio across 10 1/3 innings (five appearances) in Grapefruit League action. The 29-year-old will presumably stick around at Triple-A Jacksonville and wait for an opportunity to arise.

There was virtually zero chance for Winn, who is still making his way back from last year’s elbow surgery, to break camp in the majors this spring, especially with Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp pitching exceptionally. The 27-year-old righty will head back to Triple-A as extra organizational depth to open the regular season.

Gausman has looked sharp at times this spring, despite some fastball velocity fluctuations, and will open the year as Toronto’s No. 2 starter behind José Berríos. He threw 78 pitches in his final spring tune-up. The 34-year-old veteran seems poised for at least a modest bounce-back campaign given his extensive track record, after experiencing a sharp decline last year in strikeout rate.

Law is dealing with some general arm soreness this spring and won’t be ready for Thursday’s season opener. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern, but the Nationals don’t want to ramp him up too quickly and risk anything more serious. He should rejoin Washington’s high-leverage mix at some point in April.

It’s a brutal development for Encarnacion, who was in the midst of a strong spring at the dish before suffering the injury earlier this week during a Cactus League contest while attempting to make a diving catch. He’s facing a multi-week absence, at a bare minimum, and will undergo additional testing and evaluation this weekend to determine whether surgery is required. There should be some clarity on his status shortly, but fantasy managers should anticipate a lengthy absence. His absence should result in an uptick in playing time for Luis Matos and Grant McCray, but their fantasy-relevance is limited to extremely deep mixed leagues and NL-only formats.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman confirmed Saturday that Schmidt and reliever Ian Hamilton (illness) will not be ready for the outset of the regular season. He also added that veteran Carlos Carrasco will be officially added to the major-league roster this weekend. The relief for fantasy managers here is that he’s already progressed to facing hitters in a 30-pitch live batting practice session and figures to only a handful of minor league rehab starts before rejoining New York’s starting rotation mix in mid-to-late April.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters Saturday that Yoshida will head to Triple-A Worcester to continue ramping up his throwing program. The 31-year-old figures to spend most of his time in left field this season with Rafael Devers taking over as a full-time DH. He probably would’ve been ready for the start of the year if he wasn’t moving back to playing left field coming off shoulder surgery.

No real surprise here since Steer has been sidelined for the vast majority of spring training due to an ongoing right shoulder issues. He got into a minor league game at DH earlier this week, but hasn’t appeared in a Cactus League contest since late February. The 27-year-old resumed throwing earlier this week, but will need some additional time to ramp up in the minor leagues prior to making his season debut.

Solis was a notable pitching prospect with some serious swing-and-miss stuff roughly a half-decade ago before undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career back in 2021. The 25-year-old righty has yet to reach the big leagues and it’s unclear whether another organization out there is willing to give him a look.

Both Ottavino and Moore, who were in camp this spring as non-roster invitees, presumably have opt outs in their minor league deals with the club, so we’re anticipating them winding up somewhere else.