MLB Player News

Cease didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against the Brewers, giving up two hits and three walks while fanning six across six scoreless innings.

Cease completed six innings for the first time this season, and the hard-throwing right-hander continues to rack up strikeouts. He has punched out at least six in each of his four starts on his way to 32 strikeouts over 20.2 innings, although he's also walked 12, which is pretty high even by his standards. Cease has a 1.74 ERA in four starts, but he also carries a 1.26 WHIP that's largely the byproduct of the amount of free passes he's handing out. He's slated to make his next start next week on the road against the Angels.

Burke (0-2) was tagged with the loss Wednesday against the Rays after allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks across 5.1 innings. He struck out two.

Burke looked in cruise control early on, but he gave up homers to Junior Caminero and Jake Fraley, as well as an RBI double to Jonathan Aranda, en route to his second loss of the season. The 26-year-old right-hander has completed at least six innings in just one of his four starts and has allowed 11 runs (10 earned) in 20.1 frames, so he's far from being a reliable option in most formats, although the 17:6 K:BB does give him some appeal as a low-end starting option. Still, it's hard to trust Burke to pitch deep into games, which limits his upside considerably.

Scholtens (1-0) earned the win in relief against the White Sox on Wednesday, pitching five innings of one-run ball while allowing one hit and two walks. He struck out three.

Scholtens entered the game after Cole Sulser allowed four baserunners in the first two innings. The right-hander cruised through the seventh inning, allowing just three baserunners in the process and tossing 46 of his 77 pitches for strikes. Scholtens has yet to allow a run in his first two outings of the season, giving up five hits and three walks while striking out seven in 9.2 innings.

Sulser didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against the White Sox, pitching two scoreless innings as the opener, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out one.

Sulser allowed four baserunners in his two innings, but he didn't allow a single run -- that's already a step in the right direction considering his recent performances. He had given up at least a run in five of his six previous outings this season, and as a bullpen arm that's nowhere near pitching in high-leverage situations, he doesn't carry much fantasy upside -- especially since he owns a 4.91 ERA with a 2.00 WHIP across 11.0 innings over his first seven appearances in 2026.

DeLuca went 1-for-1 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's win over the White Sox.

DeLuca entered the game as a pinch hitter for Jake Fraley in the seventh inning and took Tyler Gilbert deep with a three-run blast to bolster the Rays' lead to 8-0. This was DeLuca's second homer of the season, and it was also the third straight game in which he drove in at least one run. DeLuca has also hit safely in four of his last five games, notching a .824 OPS in 17 at-bats over that stretch.

Kay is expected to serve as a bulk reliever behind opening pitcher Jordan Leasure in Thursday's home game against the Rays.

The White Sox have made liberal use of openers through their first 19 games, using Grant Taylor in that capacity on four occasions and now Leasure in what will be his second career start and first of 2026. The arrangement should prove to be a favorable one for Kay, who will have a better chance at qualifying for a win as a bulk reliever than as a starter and will likely enter the game facing the bottom half of the Tampa Bay lineup. Through his first three outings (two starts) of the season, Kay has gone 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 11:8 K:BB in 14.2 innings.

Caminero went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk, an additional RBI, an additional run scored and a strikeout in Wednesday's win over the White Sox.

Caminero snapped a six-game homer drought with a solo shot in the third inning off Sean Burke to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. Caminero has hit safely in four of his last five games, and while he's seeing the ball well, the drop in power numbers is a bit concerning. He smacked 45 homers in 653 plate appearances in 2025 while posting a .271 ISO, but he has just three long balls with a .172 ISO in 77 plate appearances to open the 2026 campaign. It's too early to draw conclusions, but Caminero has also seen a 30-point drop in batting average to .234 so far this year.

Langford served as the designated hitter and went 2-for-4 with a run scored in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Athletics.

Langford made a second straight start as the DH since returning from a quad injury that cost him three games. He's 2-for-7 with a walk in his two games back. For the season, Langford is batting just .183 (11-for-60) with one home run, three RBI, one steal and two walks over 15 contests.

Latz retired all three batters faced in a scoreless eighth inning of Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Athletics.

Latz didn't allow a hit or run for the sixth time in eight appearances. Batters were 0-for-29 against him to start the season before Max Muncy took him deep April 10, and they're just 3-for-35 overall off the left-hander. Latz competed for a rotation spot during spring training but struggled, giving up 14 earned runs over 15.2 innings, and eventually began 2026 in the bullpen. He's not yet part of the group that's been given save opportunities, but Latz has emerged as a trusted late-inning arm for manager Skip Schumaker.

Hader (biceps) threw 20 pitches in a live batting practice session Tuesday and said afterward that it was akin to his first live BP of spring training, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

McTaggart notes Hader was sitting 91-to-93 mph with his fastball during the live session, and he says given Hader's quotes about where he is in his recovery the southpaw is "perhaps about a month away from returning, without any setbacks." Hader, who is working his way back slowly from a bout of left biceps tendinitis, added, "I'm feeling good, feeling strong. I got through it throwing relatively hard and commanded the baseball in the zone, commanded the slider, getting good whiffs on it. Ideally, that's what you want." Meanwhile, Bryan Abreu has struggled in the ninth inning for the Astros this season, opening the door for Enyel De Los Santos to earn a couple saves in recent days.