Fantasy Baseball News, Stats and Analysis (2024)

Nationals' Luis Garcia: Absent from lineup versus lefty

15h ago

Garcia is not in the lineup for Thursday's contest in Atlanta.

Southpaw Ray Kerr is drawing the start for Atlanta, so the left-handed hitting Garcia will defer to switch hitter Ildemaro Vargas at second base. Garcia is slashing just .194/.265/.226 versus lefties this season.

Braves' David Fletcher: Dabbling with knuckleball at Triple-A

18h ago

Fletcher made his first career start as a pitcher for Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday, striking out six over five innings while allowing two earned runs on three hits and and one walk in a 5-2 win over Norfolk.

Primarily an infielder since entering the professional ranks in 2015, Fletcher saw action in five games with Atlanta earlier this season and has been making regular starts at second base for Gwinnett since being outrighted off the 40-man roster in late April. However, the 29-year-old recently informed club officials that he had been tinkering with a knuckleball, and he impressed enough in workouts for the Gwinnett coaching staff to give him the chance to pitch in games earlier this month. Fletcher was tagged for six earned runs over six innings across his first four relief appearances for Gwinnett, but upon stepping into a starting role Wednesday, he delivered his lengthiest and best outing yet. Fletcher will likely need to turn in at least a few more quality performances on the mound for Gwinnett before Atlanta contemplates bringing him back on the big-league roster as a pitcher and utility infielder. There's also the matter of an ongoing investigation from Major League Baseball into Fletcher's involvement with the same Southern California bookmaker used by Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. According to Tisha Thompson of ESPN.com, sources familiar with the booking operation relay that Fletcher didn't place any bets on baseball, but clarity on whether Fletcher will receive any punishment related to his gambling activities won't become clear until the investigation concludes.

Royals' Adam Frazier: Exiting starting nine Thursday

20h ago

Frazier is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Twins.

Frazier will give way to Nick Loftin at second base after occupying the keystone in four of the previous five contests. Though he'll be on the bench against a right-hander (Chris Paddack), the lefty-hitting Frazier is still expected to see the bulk of the starts at second base while Michael Massey (back) is on the injured list.

Marlins' Otto Lopez: Pilfers third bag

21h ago

Lopez went 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base in Wednesday's win over the Padres.

The 25-year-old infielder has seized the starting job at second base in the wake of the Luis Arraez trade. Through 30 games in the majors this season, Lopez is slashing a solid .273/.313/.429 with three homers, three steals, 11 runs and 15 RBI, and Statcast has graded him in the 89th percentile for outs above average on the defensive side of the ball. Given his career .288/.354/.401 line over nearly 1,000 plate appearances at Triple-A, this level of production seems very sustainable for Lopez, and he could even get more aggressive on the basepaths -- he's stolen 42 bags in 53 attempts at Triple-A.

Rays' Brandon Lowe: Sitting out against lefty

21h ago

Lowe is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics.

The lefty-hitting Lowe will head to the bench for the series finale while the Athletics bring southpaw Hogan Harris to the hill. Amed Rosario will fill in at second base in place of Lowe, who is slashing just .174/.296/.391 in eight games since being reinstated from the 10-day injured list May 20.

Twins' Edouard Julien: Resting in series finale

22h ago

Julien is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.

With Thursday's contest being a day game after a night game, manager Rocco Baldelli will give rest to several key regulars. Along with Julien, Alex Kirilloff, Max Kepler and Trevor Larnach will rest as the Twins open up room in the lineup for reserves Kyle Farmer, Carlos Santana, Manuel Margot and Christian Vazquez.