MLB Player News
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Ozzie Albies 2B | ATL
Braves' Ozzie Albies: Breaks deadlock in ninth inning
Albies went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 2-0 win over Arizona.
Albies was the only hitter on either team to find much success at the plate in this low-scoring contest. He broke the scoreless deadlock by leading off the ninth inning with a solo shot off Paul Sewald. Albies has logged multiple hits in five of eight games this season, though he's gone hitless in the other three. He's added two homers, three RBI and six runs scored, and he's was caught stealing in his lone attempt so far, which was on Opening Day. Albies has topped the 20-homer mark four times in his career, but he's fallen short of that mark in each of the last two years, and he had a career-low .671 OPS over 157 regular-season contests in 2025.
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Raisel Iglesias RP | ATL
Braves' Raisel Iglesias: Secures first save
Iglesias pitched a perfect inning to earn the save in Friday's 2-0 win over Arizona.
Iglesias came away with his first save of the season after he protected the two-run lead Atlanta established in the top of the ninth inning. The 36-year-old has allowed just one hit over three innings, though he's struck out only one batter and walked none so far. Osvaldo Bido had Atlanta's only other save prior to Friday, but that was a three-inning one. Iglesias is the favorite for the traditional closer role early in the year, though Robert Suarez is also an experienced option after primarily working the ninth inning with the Padres over the previous two seasons.
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Grant Holmes RP | ATL
Braves' Grant Holmes: Strong showing against Arizona
Holmes allowed a hit and three walks while striking out four over six shutout innings in a no-decision versus Arizona on Friday.
Holmes and Eduardo Rodriguez had a pitchers' duel. While Holmes didn't last as long in the game, exiting at 85 pitches (52 strikes) over his six frames, Atlanta got the win in the end with a two-run ninth inning. Holmes has allowed three runs over 11 innings across his two starts, scattering six hits while posting an 8:5 K:BB so far. The right-hander had some positive moments in 2025, pitching to a 3.99 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 123:54 K:BB across 115 innings over 22 regular-season appearances (21 starts). He'll still need to improve at limiting walks, but he's shown enough strikeout potential to be an interesting fantasy option. The 30-year-old's next start is projected to be on the road against the Angels.
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Eduardo Rodriguez SP | ARI
Diamondbacks' Eduardo Rodriguez: Strong in no-decision
Rodriguez allowed four hits and a walk while striking out three over seven scoreless innings in a no-decision versus Atlanta on Friday.
Rodriguez has allowed just one unearned run over 12 innings across his first two starts of the season. He just didn't get any support Friday, as Atlanta's Grant Holmes tossed six innings of one-hit ball in the pitchers' duel. Rodriguez struggled to a 5.02 ERA and 1.54 WHIP over 154.1 innings across 29 regular-season starts in 2025, so his strong performance early in 2026 is at least intriguing, though the southpaw may continue to lack run support. Rodriguez's next start is projected to be on the road versus the Mets.
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Rico Garcia RP | BAL
Orioles' Rico Garcia: Strong start in 2026
Garcia threw a clean ninth inning Friday against the Pirates.
Garcia is now up to 3.1 scoreless innings to begin the season, posting a 4:0 K:BB through three appearances. The 32-year-old right-hander helped pick up the pieces in Baltimore's beleaguered bullpen late last year, producing a 2.84 ERA and 20:6 K:BB with nine holds in 19 regular-season frames for the Orioles in 2025, and he's making a case for high-leverage work early on in 2026.
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Luisangel Acuna 2B | CHW
White Sox's Luisangel Acuna: Tallies third steal
Acuna went 1-for-3 with a stolen base Friday against the Blue Jays.
Acuna has alternated starts at shortstop and center field, but he has been in the lineup for six of Chicago's seven games this season. He has at least one hit in three consecutive appearances, and his stolen base Friday marked his third of the season. Acuna has yet to log an extra-base hit, so his counting stats are likely to remain limited, but he does appear to have a green light on the basepaths.
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Dennis Santana RP | PIT
Pirates' Dennis Santana: Works eighth inning again
Santana struck out one without allowing a baserunner in a scoreless eighth inning to earn a hold Friday against the Orioles.
Santana entered the game in the eighth inning for his second consecutive appearance, with Gregory Soto following him in the final frame on each occasion. While Santana is still in a high-leverage role and has performed well to begin 2026 -- he hasn't allowed a run across five innings while allowing only three baseunners -- it appears that Soto may be the preferred option for saves for the time being.
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Zack Wheeler SP | PHI
Phillies' Zack Wheeler: Shaky in second rehab start
Wheeler (shoulder) struck out one and allowed four hits and two walks in three innings during a rehab start Friday for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Wheeler wasn't nearly as sharp in his second rehab outing as he was in his first, when he fanned three across three scoreless frames last Saturday. The All-Star right-hander threw just 26 of his 49 pitches for strikes, and his four-seam fastball averaged 92.7 mph Friday. The expectation is that Wheeler will need to make at least one more rehab appearance before the Phillies consider activating him from the injured list, but the hurler still has a chance to make his season debut for Philadelphia in mid-April if all goes well.
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Framber Valdez SP | DET
Tigers' Framber Valdez: Blanks Cards for first win of 2026
Valdez (1-0) collected the win in Friday's 4-0 victory over St. Louis, allowing three hits and two walks over six scoreless innings. He struck out five.
The southpaw recorded his second straight quality start to begin his tenure with the Tigers. Valdez tossed 61 of 91 pitches for strikes, and through 12 innings with Detroit he's delivered a 0.75 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 10:3 K:BB. He'll look to keep rolling in his next outing, which is set to come on the road next week in Minnesota.
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Jared Triolo 3B | PIT
Pirates' Jared Triolo: First multi-hit effort of 2026
Triolo went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored Friday against the Orioles.
Triolo remained in the lineup despite Konnor Griffin's arrival, though he shifted to third base while hitting eighth in the order. Triolo has struggled with the bat in the early going, with Friday marking his first multi-hit effort of the season. He delivered an RBI single in the second inning and came around to score in the same frame. While Triolo was in the lineup over Nick Gonzales on Friday, the duo will likely split time in some fashion for the foreseeable future.