MLB Player News

Suárez has been playing catch as he begins to ramp back up from his back injury, but he has yet to work up to bullpens, so his timeline is unclear at this time. Taijuan Walker will replace him in the rotation but should not be on fantasy radars.

What a turnaround for Gallen compared to his poor start on opening day. He had significantly better command of his patented knuckle-curve and it sent the Yankees spinning with a whopping 13 swings-and-misses. Overall, he forced a career-best 25 whiffs and tied his career-high with 13 strikeouts. His fastball was a bit spotty, but his knuckle-curve, slider, and changeup were all so nasty that it didn’t matter at all. He’s lined up for a two-start week coming up against the Orioles and Brewers.

Puk was called upon in a 4-0 game after Ryan Thompson allowed singles to Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge to start the ninth inning. Then, things got tight when Anthony Volpe hit a three-run home run into Yankee Stadium’s short porch, but Puk closed the door after that. Once again, the Diamondbacks went to Puk to close out the game and he seems to have a firm leg up on Justin Martinez for closing duties in the desert.

Fresh off his newly-minted contract extension, Marte was a tough out in this one. He set the tone to start the game by going from down 0-2 against Carlos Rodón to drawing a walk and scoring on Lourdes Gurriel’s home run. Then he pushed home what would be the Diamondbacks’ final run in the second inning with a two-out single. He is a star and will be the engine atop Arizona’s strong lineup all season long.

Volpe is becoming adept at the fabled “Yankee Stadium home run”. His ninth inning blast was hit just 94 MPH and would’ve only been a home run in two parks: Yankee Stadium and Steinbrenner Field down in Tampa Bay. Still, it did leave the yard and gave Volpe four home runs on the season. The kicker? He has just four total hits on the season. It will be interesting to see if he can turn this power surge into more prolonged success at the plate.

This was another one of those games from Rodón where he just never looked comfortable. Sadly, those types of games have become the norm over his tenure with the Yankees. Lourdes Gurriel jumped on him early with a first inning home run and the Diamondbacks rallied against him again in the second after a lead-off walk. He grinded his way through the middle innings to limit the damage, but he wasn’t in the strike zone consistently enough to be effective. His sinker, which flashed on opening day last week, was sparsely used and he didn’t have great command of his fastball or changeup. He’ll look to get back on track next Monday against the Tigers.

Aces doe what aces do. Wheeler made mincemeat of a poor Rockies lineup and ran into virtually no trouble all night long. His only blemish was a solo home run from Hunter Goodman in his third time around the order. Otherwise, no other Rockie reached scoring position and Wheeler forced a gaudy 25 swings-and-misses in total. He’s set to face the Braves and Cardinals next in what lines up as a two-start week.

There may not be a hotter hitter in baseball right now than Sosa. He’s had at least two hits in all four of his starts this season and gave the Phillies some valuable insurance in the eighth inning of this one with a two-run double. Trea Turner’s brief absence opened the door for him to get a few starts at shortstop earlier this week, but Sosa drew the start at second base over Bryson Stott in this one against the left-handed Kyle Freeland. That’s interesting as Stott has been solid to start the season despite a dreadful 2024 campaign. It’s a situation to monitor as Sosa remains hot at the plate.

It’s impressive to see anyone get a good swing off against Wheeler. It’s especially impressive when you don’t have a single teammate that even reached second base in that particular game, but Goodman took him out of the yard the third time he saw him and later smoked a double off José Alvarado. A popular breakout pick, Goodman has been great to start the season as the Rockies’ catcher. He even drew the start at DH on his off-day behind the plate. Colorado would be silly to take his bat out of the lineup at this point and he looks like he could be primed for a huge season.

Maybe this is a new Freeland. His stuff wasn’t as sharp as it was on opening day, but he managed to nearly get through seven innings against the Phillies strong lineup. He once again leaned on his new sweeper and it forced eight swings-and-misses. His command waivered a bit against right-handed batters though as Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, and JT Realmuto were tough outs for him. Still, it’s hard not to be encouraged by Freeland so far. It will be a whole new challenge in his next scheduled start on Tuesday though, as he heads home to Coors Field for a start against the Brewers.

Marte was jettisoned from the Angels’ 40-man roster last October and didn’t end up latching on somewhere else until after spring training. The 28-year-old righty, who looked sharp last year in 14 relief appearances for Los Angeles, is working his way back from shoulder surgery, so this deal will have more of an impact for the Mets in the late stages of the year or next season.