MLB Player News

Cowser put together a breakthrough season, emerging as a key component of Baltimore’s lineup -- and an impact fantasy contributor as well -- posting a .768 OPS with 24 homers and nine steals in 153 contests. One of the biggest breakout candidates in the fantasy landscape, Gil made 29 starts for the Yankees last season, finishing with a 3.50 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 171/77 K/BB ratio across 151 2/3 innings of work. Wells emerged as New York’s starting catcher and was an impact contributor, but he’s a distant third behind both Cowser and Gil. It’s pretty much a toss-up at this point, but Cowser seems like the slight favorite. Perhaps the biggest surprise here is that preseason favorite Wyatt Langford didn’t crack the top three in balloting.

Legumina rejoins Seattle’s relief mix ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Orioles with Collin Snider heading to the injured list. The 27-year-old righty has posted a pedestrian 4.58 ERA across 19 2/3 innings (20 appearances) this season in the big leagues.

Snider hits the injured list after allowing nine runs – seven earned – over his last three relief outings, leaving him with a lackluster 5.47 ERA across 26 1/3 innings (24 appearances) this season. The 29-year-old righty figures to return in a couple weeks to Seattle’s bullpen mix.

Garcia arrived in the big leagues a half-decade ago for the Yankees as one of the most promising young pitching prospects in baseball. A combination of injuries and persistent command issues derailed his once-promising career, which has included stints with three different organizations since 2023. At 26 years old there’s a club out there willing to roll the dice on him as a reclamation project, but there’s not a ton of reason for optimism after posting a 5.45 ERA across 33 innings (10 appearances, six starts) this season at the Triple-A level.

It’ll be Brooks Lee taking over at shortstop on Wednesday night against the Athletics. Correa has started 11 of 12 contests since returning from the concussion injured list back on May 23. The move sounds precautionary in nature since he was in the club’s original lineup. Back issues can be tricky matters so fantasy managers will want to keep a close eye on his status heading into Thursday’s series finale.

It’s the best-case scenario as Vientos will continue receiving treatment for the next two weeks before he’s ready to resume baseball activities. The 25-year-old third baseman is still facing a multi-week absence, but it sounds like there’s a chance he’s back before the end of June. It’ll be Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio handling the hot corner in his absence.

Manaea has been on the injured list since spring training working his way back from an oblique strain. The 33-year-old veteran southpaw will require several rehab outings to build up his pitch count and stamina before he’s ready to make his season debut. He could theoretically rejoin New York’s rotation before the end of June or in early July.

The “robot umpires” are coming next year to a major-league ballpark near you. The ABS challenge system has been used in the minors for several years at this point, including during 60 percent of big-league spring training games earlier this year, and is relatively straightforward. Human umpires will still make the usual ball-strike calls from behind home plate with each team getting two challenges per-game. Only the batter, the pitcher or the catcher can challenge an umpire’s call and the decision must be made immediately after the call without assistance from the dugout. A team only loses their challenge if the umpire’s original call is confirmed. The new wrinkle is unlikely to make an impact for fantasy purposes, but it should reduce the number of truly egregious missed calls that tend to impact close games.

It explains why Edman has missed two straight games this week, likely out of an abundance of caution. Roberts added that he’s day-to-day for now. It doesn’t sound like a massive concern, but speedy outfielder Esteury Ruiz, who has posted a solid .791 OPS with 16 extra-base hits and 27 stolen bases across 45 games this season for Triple-A Oklahoma City, is with the Dodgers on the taxi squad just in case.

It’s a bit unclear how close Kopech is to making his season debut, but he figures to be on the precipice following this latest throwing session. Los Angeles could certainly use his help in high-leverage spots. He’s been on the shelf since spring training working his way back from a shoulder impingement.

Fulmer returns to Los Angeles, where he made a career-high 37 appearances (eight starts) last season, after being released earlier this week by the Pirates. The 31-year-old former top pitching prospect was cut loose after compiling a pedestrian 4.64 ERA across 42 2/3 innings (13 appearances, six starts) this season at the Triple-A level. He’ll likely make his way to the Angels’ bullpen mix at some point in the coming weeks as long relief depth.