MLB Player News

It sounds like the Rangers may take the cautious approach here — setting him down now to make sure that the blister issue gets right rather than nursing it through multiple starts with the potential to make it worse. Leiter isn’t scheduled to take the mound until Tuesday against the Cubs so they have plenty of time to make a determination on his status.

This is a brutal turn of events for the 23-year-old, who was on a hot streak in Triple-A before exiting a game on May 1st with a thumb injury. The initial thought was that the injury was a strain, but the surgery could keep him out for multiple months and delay his potential call-up to the big leagues. Once he has the surgery, we’ll get a better feel for his recovery timeline.

This is noteworthy because Culpepper is primarily a shortstop, but the Twins have an opening at third base with Royce Lewis having been optioned to the minors today. The Twins seem to be priming Culpepper to take that spot. The 23-year-old is slashing .253/.346/.469 in 39 games at Triple-A with nine home runs, 30 RBI, and nine steals. He’s a potential 20/20 player who could hit .240 at the MLB level this season, which means he’s a player fantasy managers should be looking to stash if you have the space.

This time, Trea Turner will slide into the designated hitter spot, which will allow Edmundo Sosa to remain in the lineup at shortstop and bat seventh. We wouldn’t expect Schwarber’s absence to extend much longer.

It will be Chaparro who is up to take Brady House’s spot in the infield. Chaparro is hitting .260/.336/.465 with six home runs and 24 RBI in 35 games at Triple-A this season. He has also cut his strikeout rate down to 18 percent and improved his zone contact to almost 88 percent. His hard-hit rate has taken a dip, but he can play either corner infield spot and gives the Nationals another option alongside Jose Tena and Jorbit Vivas.

So it’s Wiemer who will be headed to the minor leagues to make room for Dylan Crews’ return. Wiemer got off to a hot start to the season and is still slashing .300/.410/.529 with three home runs in 83 plate appearances. That does come with a 35 percent strikeout rate and 70 percent contact rate. If you take out the first five games of the season, when Wiemer was running crazy hot, the 27-year-old is slashing just .208/.311/.358 with a 41 percent strikeout rate in 61 plate appearances.

Wells has been on the bench for the last two days amidst his immense struggles at the plate, but he’s back in the lineup on Tuesday. The 26-year-old is hitting .173/.292/.264 with three home runs on the season. He does have a solid 32/19 K/BB ratio in 36 games, and his hard-hit rate is at a career-high 46.8 percent, while his swinging strike rate is actually the same as last year. Wells doesn’t need to be on fantasy rosters right now, but it wouldn’t surprise us if he starts to figure things out at the plate. He might just be being a little too passive right now.

Reyzelman was tremendous in Double-A for the Yankees in 2024 and even appeared in big league spring training, but struggled in 2025 and then underwent a microdiscectomy following the season. The Yankees started him at Double-A this year, coming off the surgery, and he has posted a 3.12 ERA and a 48.5 percent strikeout rate over 17.1 innings. He can hit triple digits with his fastball and could push for his MLB debut over the summer.

Severino has posted a 1.04 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 18/8 K/BB ratio in 17 1/3 innings at Triple-A this season for the Mets. Rather than lose him to another team, the Mets decided to add him to the 40-man roster and then send him back to Triple-A. To free up space on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred Clay Holmes to the 60-day IL.

Slater was signed to the team at the end of April but only appeared in nine games for the Mets. On the season, he’s slashing .209/.286/.233 with a 31 percent strikeout rate in 49 plate appearances between the Mets and Marlins.

It makes some sense. Rocker has allowed 18 runs this season, and 10 of them have come in the first inning. That’s an 11.25 ERA in the first frame. Perhaps giving him an easier start to the game will help to curtail his ratio struggles. It will also make it easier for him to pick up a win, so we do like this move for fantasy purposes.