MLB Player News

Ryan (3-0) earned the win Thursday, allowing one run on three hits and zero walks over seven innings against the Yankees. He struck out 10.

Ryan pitched like a true ace in a hostile environment, as his only blemish on the night was giving up a solo homer to Anthony Rizzo. The former seventh-round draft pick has now recorded two straight starts with 10 strikeouts and has a 2.84 ERA and 26:3 K:BB in his first 19 innings of the season. He will look to continue his hot start to the season against the Red Sox next week.

Montgomery fell to 2-1 in a loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday. He completed 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five batters.

Montgomery continued his strong start to the season, picking up his second straight quality start and holding the Pirates scoreless through his first five frames. Pittsburgh finally got to him for a run in the sixth, and the southpaw was lifted after allowing two straight one-out singles in the seventh. One of those hitters came around to score, and Montgomery was ultimately charged with the loss since St. Louis couldn't offer any runs in support of him. Despite the defeat, Montgomery has been a strong fantasy asset through three starts this season, posting a 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 17:5 K:BB across 18.1 frames.

Velazquez (1-2) earned the win over St. Louis on Thursday, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out six batters over six scoreless innings.

Velasquez turned his left ankle in his previous start against the White Sox on Saturday, though the issue was never considered serious enough to impact his ability to make his scheduled start Thursday. It didn't appear that the ankle bothered the veteran righty at all against the Cardinals, as he picked up his first win and quality start of the campaign while helping Pittsburgh improve to 8-5 with six shutout frames. Velasquez racked up an impressive 18 swinging strikes in the contest, one shy of his career high, per Joe Block of the Pirates' broadcast team. Despite the excellent outing, it's hard to justify Velasquez as a target in fantasy, as he struggled in his first two appearances of the campaign and hasn't posted a season ERA better than 4.12 in any of his nine big-league campaigns to date.

Brito (2-1) took the loss Thursday, allowing seven runs on six hits and one walk over two-thirds of an inning against the Twins. He struck out zero.

Brito was the main culprit in the Yankees' worst first inning since 2000. The rookie struggled with his command, leaving too many easy pitches over the middle of the plate for the Twins' hitters. The Dominican native will have a chance to redeem himself Wednesday against the Angels, where he will look to regain the form he had in his first two starts (one run in 10 innings pitched).

Bassitt (1-2) took the loss against Detroit on Thursday, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven batters over six innings.

Bassitt mostly tamed the Tigers' lineup, though three of the four hits against him were doubles. He nonetheless managed to limit Detroit to just two runs, but that wasn't good enough to prevent him from taking his second loss of the season. The right-hander has notched two straight quality starts, during which he has allowed only four earned runs over 12 frames. However, his season ERA still stands at 7.63 due to a season-opening nine-run blowup against St. Louis. Bassitt's two most recent outings are probably a better reflection of what fantasy managers can expect from him going forward, as he held his ERA below 4.00 in all but one of his eight campaigns coming into 2023.

Mahle will have his start pushed back one day from Friday to Saturday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

The Twins' rotation will shift as the team skips Kenta Maeda's (arm) turn through the rotation this weekend against the Yankees. As a result, Louie Varland will be recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to start Friday and Mahle will take the hill Saturday. Mahle has been mediocre through two starts, maintaining a 4.09 ERA and 1.36 WHIP to go along with a more impressive 13:2 K:BB across 11 frames.

Varland will be called up to start Friday's game against the Yankees, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Varland has spent the early portions of the season with Triple-A St. Paul, and he's made one start during which he worked five innings and struck out nine while surrendering only one earned run. He made his big-league debut last season and put together a respectable 3.81 ERA and 1.23 WHIP with a 21:6 K:BB across 26 innings. Varland will tentatively be limited to a spot start in a tough matchup at Yankee Stadium, as Kenta Maeda (arm) is expected to avoid the injured list.

Maeda (arm) will have his turn through the rotation skipped during Minnesota's weekend series against the Yankees, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Maeda exited his first start of the season prematurely due to arm fatigue. He proceeded to make his next outing on regular rest, but he allowed eight hits and four earned runs across six innings to take the loss. Maeda will now have his turn in the rotation -- which lined up to be Saturday -- skipped, but he's avoiding the injured list for the time being. To accommodate Maeda's absence, Louie Varland will be recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to start Friday while Tyler Mahle's start will be pushed to Saturday.

Turnbull (1-2) allowed just one run on six hits across five innings to earn the win Thursday against the Blue Jays. He walked one and struck out six.

After allowing 12 runs across eight innings in his first two starts of the season, this was a step in the right direction for Turnbull. The six strikeouts were particularly encouraging, as he entered the contest with only four of them this year. This was the righty's first win since May of 2021, as he underwent Tommy John surgery later that year, so some rust is to be expected early in 2023. Turnbull will look to build on this positive outing in his next start, which should come early next week against the Guardians.

Watkins was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Watkins failed to make the big-league club out of spring training, though he's had a solid start at Norfolk by allowing only three earned runs across 10 frames through two starts. He's likely to pitch out of the bullpen in Baltimore, but he could be an option for spot starts after he posted a 4.70 ERA across 105.1 innings last year.