MLB Player News

Hudson (0-1) took the loss Saturday as the Cardinals fell 4-2 to the Brewers, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits -- including three home runs -- and two walks over 4.1 innings while striking out six.

The punchouts were nice, but that was the only silver lining to this outing for Hudson. Christian Yelich, Mike Moustakas and Travis Shaw all took him deep, a shocking 2019 debut for a pitcher who served up only one long ball all of last year in 138.1 innings between Triple-A and the majors. Chalk it up to nerves in the 24-year-old's first big-league start, and look for his power sinker to be a little more effective in his next outing, April 6 at home against the Padres.

Diaz pitched one-third of an inning during Saturday's 11-8 win over the Nationals to earn his second save of the season. He did not strike out or walk a batter.

The Mets entered the bottom of the ninth inning with an 11-4 lead, but the Nationals were able to rally for four runs, prompting Diaz for the one-out save. The 25-year-old has a save in both games thus far this season and has yet to allow a baserunner over 1.1 innings.

Minter (shoulder) could return as soon as Thursday, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Minter has been battling shoulder soreness since being part of a minor car accident in late February. The injury isn't considered to be too serious, but the Braves decided to give him a few extra days to build his arm strength back up. He's had no issues since resuming throwing and could be back in the ninth-inning mix in Atlanta in under a week.

Alzolay (side) will begin his season doing rehab work in Arizona and won't join the Triple-A Iowa rotation right away, Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register reports.

Alzolay has been dealing with a side injury since February, and the Cubs will proceed cautiously with one of their top pitching prospects. Jaron Madison, Chicago's director of player development, said Alzolay is "just a couple of weeks behind" and should be able to join the Iowa rotation in late April or early May.

Jansen struck out one in a perfect ninth inning during Friday's 5-4 extra-innings loss to the Diamondbacks.

With the score tied 4-4 and a save situation off the table at home, Jansen worked the top of the ninth and rang up Alex Avila for his first strikeout of the season. The right-hander looked healthy this spring and, assuming his heart issues are behind him, Jansen should once again be one of the top closers in baseball.

Andriese (1-0) picked up the win in Friday's 5-4 extra-innings victory over the Dodgers, walking four batters in 2.1 scoreless innings.

He nearly blew the game in the 10th inning -- entering with a runner on first and two outs, Andriese loaded the bases on a wild pitch, a HBP and a walk before making a great defensive play to snag an A.J. Pollock comebacker and escape the jam -- but the right-hander suffered no damage from his control issues and was rewarded when Carson Kelly's double in the top of the 13th broke a 4-4 tie. Andriese is used to his current long-relief role from his time in Tampa Bay, but from a fantasy perspective offers little other than iffy ratios and bulk strikeouts.

Yates posted his second save of the young season Friday, recording two strikeouts while allowing a hit and a walk in a scoreless inning during a 4-1 victory over the Giants.

The Padres closer entered after Evan Longoria started the inning with a solo homer. The Giants made things interesting, loading the bases with a single, walk and hit by pitch, but Yates struck out the final two batters to seal the win. The right-hander has converted his last nine save chances dating back to Aug. 28, and he has four strikeouts in his first two appearances of 2019.

Richards didn't factor into the decision in Friday's 6-1 loss to the Rockies, giving up one run on four hits and two walks over six innings while striking out four.

The right-hander threw 52 of 81 pitches for strikes before being lifted for a pinch hitter in a 1-1 game. This could be a common game script for Richards in 2019, as he pitched well enough to win but failed to get enough run support from an anemic Marlins offense, so give his fantasy value a slight boost in formats that use quality starts instead of wins. Richards will next take the mound at home April 3 against the Mets.

Nelson (shoulder) played catch Friday and is expected to pitch once or twice more in Arizona prior to joining Triple-A San Antonio, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

Nelson took some time off from throwing after experiencing some soreness in his elbow, but it turned out to be just a minor setback. He won't join Milwaukee's Triple-A affiliate in time for the season opener but it shouldn't be more than a week or two until Nelson is in San Antonio, barring any further setbacks.

Jackson allowed four runs on two hits and two walks over one inning in Thursday's loss to the Phillies.

The Atlanta bullpen was mostly a disaster Opening Day -- Shane Carle served up a three-run homer to Maikel Franco in the sixth inning, after which Jackson said "Hold my Gatorade" and surrendered a grand slam to Rhys Hoskins in the seventh. The right-hander was already ticketed for low-leverage work this season, but he could be the first reliever to lose his spot entirely if the front office decides to start churning arms.