10 hours agoOn Friday, the Washington Nationals placed starting pitcher
Michael Soroka (biceps) on the 15-day injured list with a biceps strain. Pitcher
Jackson Rutledge was recalled from Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding move. Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reported the news. Soroka left his start against the Blue Jays after five innings with what the Nationals initially deemed as cramping. The timetable for his return is unclear, but he's slated to miss at least a few turns in the rotation. Rutledge will hold down Soroka's spot for the time being. The oft-injured 27-year-old has not been fully healthy since 2019 and has failed to eclipse 80 innings in each season since.
--Alex CiullaSource: Mark Zuckerman
10 hours agoBack in February, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Brendan Kuty reported that free-agent first baseman
Anthony Rizzo is healthy and wants to continue playing in 2025. However, even at just 35 years old, Rizzo knows the end of his career might be approaching. The 14-year veteran became a free agent when the Yankees declined his $17 million option, instead giving him a $6 million buyout. After two injury-marred seasons the last two years, Rizzo understands why his market hasn't been robust, and he remains available after the start of the regular season. He dealt with concussion issues, two fractured fingers in his hand and a fractured forearm the last two years. While Rizzo is healthy now and would love to continue his major-league career, he also said he's not going to ruin the market for veterans that come after him and settle for a minimum contract.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Athletic - Ken Rosenthal and Brendan Kuty
10 hours agoSt. Louis Cardinals pitching prospect Chen-Wei Lin (undisclosed) is opening the High-A regular season on the 7-day injured list with an undisclosed injury. The team did not specify when Lin suffered this injury. The 23-year-old is considered the No. 13 prospect in the St. Louis system on MLB Pipeline. He made his professional debut during the 2023 campaign. After logging four innings in the Arizona Complex League, Lin was moved up to Low-A, where he posted a high 7.71 ERA with a 2.06 WHIP across 11 2/3 innings. Last summer, the Cardinals kept Lin at Low-A Palm Beach the entire season to continue his development. He took a nice step forward as he logged 116 innings to the tune of a 2.79 ERA with a 1.04 WHIP. He held a 36:123 BB:K and allowed just three long balls. When cleared to return, he will make his High-A debut.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MiLB.com
10 hours agoDetroit Tigers outfielder
Matt Vierling (shoulder) is not yet throwing, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. Stavenhagen notes that Vierling is hitting BP, conditioning, and running defensive drills daily but has yet to progress to throwing. This spring, Vierling was limited to just two at-bats after falling victim to a rotator cuff strain. The Tigers are short-staffed in the outfield right now, with teammates
Parker Meadows (arm),
Wenceel Perez (back), and
Akil Baddoo (wrist) all dinged up with their respective injuries. Vierling was expected to rejoin the team by the end of April, which remains a possibility. However, he still has a few milestones to check off before he returns to in-game action. The 28-year-old will undergo an MRI in the coming days to check the status of his shoulder.
--Alex CiullaSource: Cody Stavenhagen
10 hours agoSt. Louis Cardinals pitching prospect
Cooper Hjerpe (undisclosed) will open the Double-A regular season on the injured list. Hjerpe was limited by numerous injuries during the 2024 campaign and will now start the 2025 campaign sidelined. Last season, the former 22nd overall pick was only able to log 52 1/3 innings of work split between High-A and Double-A. With High-A, Hjerpe held a 3.35 ERA with a 1.19 WHIP across 37 2/3 innings. He struck out an impressive 56 batters. He then made his Double-A debut and continued to pitch well, posting a strong 3.07 ERA with a stellar 0.95 WHIP in 14 2/3 innings of work. During this brief taste, he tallied 20 punchouts and served up eight free passes. Dynasty managers should monitor his status as an extended injury could prevent him from reaching Triple-A this season.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MiLB.com
10 hours agoCleveland Guardians third baseman
Jose Ramirez finished last year with 39 home runs, 39 doubles and 41 stolen bases in 158 games, leaving him just shy of the elusive 40-40-40 club, which only Alfonso Soriano in 2006 was able to pull off. Ramirez said he worked even hard this past offseason to try and reach that unique goal. The 32-year-old Dominican is already a six-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger award winner. He said he's the same weight now as he was at the end of the 2024 season -- he's listed at 5-foot-9, 200 pounds -- but he was strict with his intake and increased his muscle mass while trimming body fat over the winter. J-Ram has been as dependable, durable and productive as any hitter in recent seasons, and he's played 681 of a possible 708 games from 2020-24. He's gotten off to a strong start in 2025, too, hitting .294 (5-for-17) with a homer, two doubles and two RBI in five games.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Tim Stebbins
10 hours agoChicago White Sox starting pitching prospect
Grant Taylor will begin the 2025 regular season with Double-A Birmingham. The White Sox drafted Taylor with the 51st overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. The 22-year-old has been unable to pitch through most of the start of his professional career as he underwent Tommy John surgery while still in college at LSU. Last season, Taylor made his professional debut. He logged just 19 1/3 innings, split between the Arizona Complex League and Low-A. At Low-A Kannapolis, Taylor tossed 16 innings and held a strong 1.13 ERA with a stellar 0.63 WHIP. He held a near-perfect 1:25 BB:K. In spring training, the right-hander tossed four shutout innings and held a 1:9 BB:K. Taylor will join a top-heavy Birmingham rotation that features
Noah Schultz, one of the top pitching prospects in the sport, and
Hagen Smith.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MiLB.com
11 hours agoEvan Woodbery of MLive Media Group reports that Detroit Tigers pitcher
Alex Cobb (hip) is scheduled to throw live batting practice at Comerica Park early next week. The 37-year-old missed all of spring training due to right hip inflammation. Cobb dealt with injuries last season, limited to just 16.1 innings pitched over August and September. Unfortunately, injuries have already hampered him once again, but it appears he's turning a corner as he'd only thrown bullpen sessions thus far. It's unclear if the former fourth-round pick will be ready to go when he's first eligible or return to the rotation at all when he's healthy, as injuries have been a concern for him. Despite pitching well during his limited 2024 with the Cleveland Guardians -- holding an ERA of 2.76 -- Cobb held an xERA of 5.01.
--Alex CiullaSource: Evan Woodbery
11 hours agoMilwaukee Brewers shortstop prospect
Cooper Pratt will begin the season with Double-A Biloxi. The Brewers drafted the 20-year-old in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Later that summer, Pratt received a brief taste in the Arizona Complex League where he held a strong .326/.424/.444 slash line across 12 contests. He opened the 2024 campaign at Low-A, where he spent most of the season. In a 73 game-stint, Pratt posted a .295/.394/.395 line with 11 doubles, three triples, and three home runs. During this stint, he swiped 25 bags and held a 38:57 BB:K. He then earned a 23-game taste of High-A, posting a modest .221 AVG. However, Pratt has shown enough to earn a vote of confidence to open the campaign just one step away from the top of the minor leagues.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MiLB.com
11 hours agoMilwaukee Brewers infield prospect
Mike Boeve (shoulder) will miss the start of the Double-A regular season after undergoing offseason right labrum surgery. According to Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline, the 22-year-old will continue to build back up in extended spring training. Last season, Boeve opened the campaign at the High-A level and tallied an impressive 21 hits across 13 contests before getting the call to Double-A Biloxi. With Double-A Biloxi, Boeve held a strong .306/.374/.447 slash line across his first 66 contests. During this stretch, the Nebraska-Omaha product hit 12 doubles, three triples, and six long balls while holding a 27:49 BB:K. Boeve is considered the No. 5 prospect in the system on MLB.com. He should push an early-season promotion to Triple-A when he is cleared for action.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MiLB.com
11 hours agoPhiladelphia Phillies pitching prospect
Andrew Painter is set to throw live batting practice on Friday in Clearwater. Phillies manager Rob Thompson noted that his next steps will become "clearer" after that. Fantasy managers should keep an eye on his throwing progression as he could be cleared to make his season debut in the coming weeks. The Phillies are slowly increasing Painter's workload as he underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2023. Painter was able to pitch in the Arizona Fall League and performed very well. He did not participate in any Grapefruit League contests. The former 13th overall pick is considered the No. 8-best prospect in the sport on MLB.com and the top prospect in the Philadelphia system. Given that he has yet to appear in a Triple-A game, he is still several months away from his big league debut.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: Destiny Lugardo
12 hours agoThe St. Louis Cardinals recalled infield prospect
Thomas Saggese from Triple-A Memphis on Friday after placing second baseman
Nolan Gorman (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list with a right-hamstring strain. Saggese will head back to the big leagues after starting the year going 4-for-14 with a home run in his first four games with Memphis in the minors. The 22-year-old former fifth-rounder by the Texas Rangers in 2020 made his MLB debut last year with the Red Birds but played in only 18 games, going 10-for-49 (.204) with a homer, four RBI and 14 strikeouts in 52 plate appearances. Saggese has good bat-to-ball skills and raw power, but he must learn to become a more patient and selective hitter at this level if he's going to stick around. In his second big-league stint, expect him to serve as infield depth for the Cards while Gorman recovers.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: St. Louis Cardinals
12
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announced
on
Friday
that
they
placed
infielder
Nolan
Gorman
(hamstring)
on
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10-day
injured
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(retroactive
to
April
2)
with
a
right-hamstring
strain.
Infield
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Thomas
Saggese
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been
recalled
from
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Memphis
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13 hours agoColorado Rockies shortstop
Ezequiel Tovar is off to a slow start this season. He holds a .125/.125/.167 line with only one RBI and one extra-base thus far in 24 plate appearances. The only silver lining is that he is striking out at a 16.7 percent clip, which is better than his 27.7 percent career strikeout rate. It's still early in the season, and the Rockies have yet to play a game at Coors Field, but it's not necessarily the start that Tovar, or fantasy managers, were hoping for to start the 2025 season. Look for Tovar to get right this weekend as the Rockies head home to Coors Field to start a three-game series against the Athletics.
--Nicho Roessler - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
13 hours agoArizona Diamondbacks second base prospect
Tim Tawa went 2-for-5 at the plate with two doubles and three RBI during their victory over the Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday. Tawa's first double brought home
Jordan Lawlar and
Trey Mancini. Later in the contest, his second double would bring in Trey Mancini for the second time. Tawa has been one of the most productive hitters at the start of the Triple-A campaign. Through six games, he has tallied at least one hit in each of them. During this stretch, he launched three long balls and two doubles, adding a triple with 13 total RBI and eight runs. Last season, Tawa enjoyed similar production during his first 37-game taste of Triple-A as he held a strong .304/.376/.616 slash line with 11 doubles and 10 home runs. He is worth monitoring as he could push an early-season MLB debut if he continues to swing a hot bat.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MiLB.com
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