MLB Player News

Jackson has yet to reach the big leagues and spent all of last year in the Mets’ system at Double-A Binghamton, posting a lackluster .618 OPS with 19 homers and 11 steals in 482 plate appearances over 121 games. The 24-year-old middle infielder is merely extra organizational depth for the Orioles, who are absolutely loaded with young superstar-caliber infield talent.

Ureña will join a Mets’ team that is already down Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea due to injury this spring, so a good showing in the Grapefruit League for the right-hander gives him a chance to make appearances for New York this spring. He’s coming off a 2024 season where he made 33 appearances for the Rangers — nine of those starts — with a 3.80 ERA and 70/39 K/BB over 109 innings.

Barger has been out of action because of a contusion on his right hand near his index finger, but the 25-year-old is feeling well enough to go with plenty of time to get enough reps in to be ready for the regular season.

Knehr continues to work his way back from a right elbow injury that caused him to miss all of last season. The 28-year-old right-hander made 21 appearances (seven starts) for San Diego from 2021-2023, posting a lackluster 5.96 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 34/29 K/BB ratio across 48 1/3 innings of work.

Feigl will head to Triple-A St. Paul as extra organizational relief depth. The 34-year-old southpaw made one relief appearance last year for the Pirates and posted a respectable 4.05 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 68/15 K/BB ratio across 60 innings (39 appearances) at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Freeman will make his return to game action for the first time since undergoing offseason ankle surgery. He could potentially play first base over the weekend. Barring an unexpected development, the 35-year-old fantasy stalwart should be ready for Opening Day in a couple weeks when the Dodgers square off against the Cubs in the Tokyo Series.

Venable also added that Martín Pérez and Jonathan Cannon have locked up spots in the club’s season-opening rotation. No real surprises here. The decision leaves some combination of Sean Burke, Jairo Iriarte and Bryse Wilson in contention for the final two spots. Martin recorded a serviceable 4.32 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 47/23 K/BB ratio across 50 innings (11 appearances, 10 starts) last year after missing the previous season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s shown some increased strikeout upside after adding a kick-changeup last August to his repertoire. He’s an interesting late-round lottery ticket in deeper mixed leagues and AL-only formats.

McLain in center and Gavin Lux at second might be the Reds’ best arrangement, but they’re committed to keeping McLain at second for now. McLain is a bit of a roll of the dice after his shoulder surgery and the missed season, but he certainly would seem to have the potential to be a top-five fantasy second baseman.

He struck out two. With Rhett Lowder and Andrew Abbott both being brought along slowly this spring, the slim chance of Lodolo getting left out of the Reds rotation appears gone. He’ll probably offer some mixed-league value while healthy.

That’s three homes in three games. De La Cruz has a 2.500 OPS, which might just be sustainable for him. However, he’s yet to steal a base this spring, so his fantasy stock is surely about to crash.

Trout served as the Angels’ leadoff man today, but that was probably just to get him an extra at-bat before his departure. He’ll play right field for the second time this spring on Friday.