MLB Player News

Walker is 33 years old, which may impact the length of the deal he gets, but he’s also averaged 33 home runs over the last three years and has won three Gold Glove awards at first base. His defensive value and likely short-term contract potentially makes him a more intriguing fit for some teams than Pete Alonso, and Nightengale reports that the Yankees, Mets, Nationals, and Diamondbacks are among the teams vying for his services. Given his power production, moving to a hitter-friendly park could be good news for Walker’s fantasy value.

Hader was sitting 91-93 mph during the 20-pitch session as he continues working his way back from biceps tendinitis that put him on the shelf in spring training. The 32-year-old veteran stopper will likely need a couple minor league rehab outings to get back up to speed, but he’s close to making it back to Houston’s bullpen, which has been struggling mightily during his absence. It’s possible he’ll be ready to make his season debut at some point in May.

Bader has been dealing with an ongoing hamstring issue since the late stages of spring training. The 31-year-old outfielder is on the bench for Tuesday’s game against the Reds. It sounds like he’ll avoid a trip to the injured list for now.

Walker is at first base and batting fifth after missing a game over the weekend due to a minor leg issue. The 35-year-old veteran slugger has gone just 5-for-23 at the plate over his last seven contests.

Rafaela takes a seat following seven consecutive starts in center field with righty Mick Abel toeing the rubber for Minnesota. It’ll be Jarren Duran taking over in center field. The 25-year-old speedster is hitting .318 (7-for-22) over his last seven games.

It’s a tough break for Jones since he likely would’ve been in the lineup to face Royals southpaw Cole Ragans. The 28-year-old utility specialist should be ready to go once he’s feeling better later this week.

Kelly, who was supposed to be Arizona’s Opening Day starter this season, will take the ball on Tuesday night against the Orioles for his season debut. His return pushes Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen until further notice. The 37-year-old veteran right-hander offers some appeal as a back-end rotation stabilizer in deeper fantasy formats after registering a strong pristine 3.52 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 167/48 K/BB ratio across 184 innings last year between the Diamondbacks and Rangers

The cosmic ideal of a journeyman emergency catcher, Garcia provides Arizona with some additional depth behind James McCann and Adrian Del Castillo while starter Gabriel Moreno is on the shelf with an oblique strain.

It turns out Moreno was dealing with an oblique strain when the Diamondbacks said he was dealing with lower back soreness. It’s a bit unclear how much time the 26-year-old backstop is going to miss, but oblique issues can be tricky matters. It’ll be James McCann and Adrian Del Castillo handling the catching duties in his absence.

Smith has been on the shelf since late March recovering from elbow inflammation. The procedural move opens up a spot on Arizona’s 40-man roster for emergency catcher Aramis Garcia.

Anthony finds himself in left field for just the third time in Boston’s last 12 contests due to some highly-publicized throwing issues. He’s been a liability when he’s out there but the Red Sox don’t have much of a choice given their present roster limitations.