MLB Player News

It’ll be Seby Zavala handling the catching duties during Wednesday’s Grapefruit League nightcap. Fantasy managers should consider Wong day-to-day for now.

Robertson will head to Triple-A Sugar Land as extra relief depth for the Astros after being jettisoned last week from Toronto’s 40-man roster. The 26-year-old righty made nine relief appearances last year between the Blue Jays and Cardinals.

Pasquantino takes a seat after making four straight starts at DH to open the regular season in the wake of a late-spring hamstring strain. The 27-year-old first baseman is hitting .214 (3-for-14) with one homer and four RBI. It’ll be MJ Melendez at DH with journeyman Cavan Biggio handling the cold corner.

Altuve spent Monday’s series opener at second base. He’ll head back to the outfield for the fourth time in five games to open the regular season with Brendan Rodgers handling the keystone.

Woodruff is expected to make a couple minor league rehab starts before he’s ready to make his long-awaited season debut. Milwaukee’s pitching staff could certainly use his help after being crushed for 47 runs over four games to open the year. The 32-year-old righty is in the final stages of his lengthy recovery from shoulder surgery and should be ready to join the Brewers by mid-to-late April.

It’s a welcome development for fantasy purposes since the expectation was that Neto wouldn’t be ready to get into minor-league rehab contests until later in April. The 24-year-old fantasy standout will likely need a couple weeks to ramp up, but he could be ready to make his season debut by mid-to-late April.

Harrington, the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft, will make his major league debut against the Rays tonight. The 23-year-old had a 2.61 ERA and a 115/19 K/BB in 117 1/3 innings between Double- and Triple-A last year.

Manaea opened the regular season on the shelf recovering from a late-February right oblique strain. Newsday’s Tim Healey adds that Manaea is likely out until late May or early June in a best-case scenario following the setback. The 33-year-old southpaw had resumed a throwing program back in mid-March, but was apparently still having issues with his oblique. There should be a clearer timeline for his return once he resumes throwing again, but his season debut is likely going to be pushed back into June.

Delay spent much of 2022 and ’23 as the Pirates’ backup catcher before being supplanted last year. He had a chance to get the job back this spring, but the Pirates went with Endy Rodríguez instead, and they’re feeling confident enough about their younger guys to risk losing some catching depth here. Delay is a career .231/.299/.315 hitter in 373 plate appearances. He’s a fine defender and has options, so with catching always at a premium, someone will probably stash him away.

Adell returns to center field following a two-game absence due to left hip tightness. It’s a situation fantasy managers should continue to monitor, but it doesn’t appear to be a serious concern.

Was this the only way to get Derek Shelton to stop using him in the ninth? Bednar faced nine hitters in three appearances to begin the year and retired just three, giving up four runs and taking two losses to go along with a lone save. He did seem to be unlucky in the process — much of the contact against him was soft — but given how bad he was in the second half of last year and this spring, no further patience was warranted. The Pirates will probably turn to Colin Holderman and/or Dennis Santana in save chances. Neither seems like a must-grab player in shallow leagues right away. Carmen Mlodzinski might be more interesting if the Pirates opt to remove him from the rotation and put him back in short relief.