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  • Pete Fairbanks RP | MIA

    Marlins' Pete Fairbanks: Unavailable Sunday

    Marlins manager Clayton McCullough announced that Fairbanks won't be available Sunday against the Rockies after pitching the past two days, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of ElExtraBase.com reports.

    The club's new closer, who signed a one-year, $13 million contract in late December, fired two scoreless frames and picked up two saves in Miami's first two games of the season. Fairbanks won't be available Sunday after pitching back-to-back days, which is hardly a surprise this early in the campaign. Calvin Faucher, Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi should be in the mix to fill in as the Marlins' closer should a save situation arise Sunday.

  • Joel Valdez RP | CIN

    Joel Valdez: Cut by Cincinnati

    The Reds released Valdez (shoulder) on Thursday.

    After sustaining a left shoulder injury in spring training, Valdez had been slated to open the season on the 60-day injured list at Triple-A Louisville. Rather than keeping him in the organization and overseeing his rehab process, the Reds will instead opt to move on. Valdez will look to land a minor-league deal elsewhere.

  • Royals' Carlos Estevez: Unlikely to be used Sunday

    Royals manager Matt Quatraro said that he would be "surprised" if Estevez is available out of the bullpen for Sunday's game in Atlanta, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

    Estevez was seen wearing a walking boot Sunday after taking a line drive off his left ankle Saturday, when he suffered a blown save after allowing six earned runs while recording just one out in the Royals' 6-2 loss. Though Estevez been diagnosed with nothing more than a contusion after getting X-rays on his ankle, the Royals appear content to stay away from the 33-year-old reliever, at least for one day. Per Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports Kansas City, Quatraro added that he's "not averse to putting [Estevez] in a lower-leverage situation" once he's deemed available, which suggests that the right-hander may not have a stranglehold on the closer's gig after Saturday's blowup. Before the rough showing in his season debut, Estevez was coming off a discouraging spring training in which he noticed a steep decline in his velocity.

  • JoJo Romero RP | STL

    Cardinals' JoJo Romero: Nabs first hold Saturday

    Romero struck out one in a perfect inning to record his first hold of the season in Saturday's extra-inning victory over Tampa Bay.

    The left-handed Romero was summoned in the eighth inning with a two-run lead and two lefty bats due up, but he wound up facing three righties after the Rays used a pair of pinch hitters. He needed 17 pitches to dispose of the Rays in order. Ryne Stanek has been used for both save chances for the Cardinals but has blown one opportunity and allowed six runners to reach base. Romero will continue to be used in high-leverage situations and get some save chances when the opposition has left-handed hitters due up, though the latter type of outings could be few and far between.

  • Riley O'Brien RP | STL

    Cardinals' Riley O'Brien: Registers first hold

    O'Brien yielded two hits in a scoreless frame to pick up his first hold of the season in Saturday's extra-inning win over the Rays.

    O'Brien was first out of the bullpen for the Cardinals in the seventh inning, called upon to protect a two-run lead after Michael McGreevy spun six no-hit frames. Junior Caminero broke up the combined no-hit effort by singling on the first pitch he saw but was immediately erased with a double play. O'Brien then yielded an infield single but finished off the inning with a groundout. The 31-year-old has now registered a win and a hold in his first two appearances, but the first two save chances for the Cardinals have gone to Ryne Stanek.

  • Connor Seabold RP | DET

    Tigers' Connor Seabold: Effective in team debut

    Seabold tossed 2.1 scoreless innings of relief in Saturday's 3-0 loss to the Padres. He allowed one hit and struck out three.

    After Detroit starter Jack Flaherty allowed three runs (two earned) while covering only 4.1 innings, Seabold was needed to cover a few frames. The righty looked sharp across 50 pitches in his team debut, and he managed to keep the Tigers in the game after Flaherty's ineffective outing. It looks like Seabold, who has made 19 starts at the MLB level in his career, will be tasked with a long-relief role in Detroit.

  • Ryan Watson RP | BOS

    Red Sox's Ryan Watson: Memorable MLB debut

    Watson allowed three walks while striking out one over 2.1 hitless and scoreless innings in Saturday's 6-5 extra-innings loss to Cincinnati.

    Watson, a Rule 5 pick, made his major-league debut in the sixth inning in a not so low-leverage situation. The Red Sox were trailing by two runs when the rookie entered with two outs and two runners on. After walking the first batter he faced, Watson twice thought he'd struck out Eugenio Suarez on called third strikes and walked off the mound, but both calls were challenged and overturned. The right-hander eventually gathered himself and got the slugger to ground out to second base before working scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Despite the tension surrounding Saturday's appearance, Watson is expected to remain in a low-leverage role.

  • Royals' Carlos Estevez: X-rays negative on ankle

    Estevez had X-rays come back negative on his left ankle after being struck by a comebacker during Saturday's loss to Atlanta, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

    The right-hander blew the save in his season debut, surrendering six runs on four hits and two walks in one-third of an inning. With the X-rays returning negative, the injury is now a secondary concern for the Royals and Estevez, who averaged just 91.2 mph with his fastball Saturday, down nearly five ticks from last season. The horrid outing doubled his worst performance from 2025, in which he gave up three runs. Estevez will likely have some leash as Kansas City's closer after recording 42 saves with a 2.45 ERA last year, but that leash is likely to be shorter if the velocity woes continue.

  • Paul Sewald RP | ARI

    Diamondbacks' Paul Sewald: Cleans up loss

    Sewald retired the lone batter he faced in the eighth inning of Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Dodgers.

    Arizona led 2-1 in the eighth inning with Sewald warming up in the bullpen, presumably to save the game in the ninth, but he never got the chance after Juan Morillo allowed a two-run home run, setting up Sewald to get the final out of the inning in a non-save situation. It was the veteran right-hander's first appearance of the season.

  • Connor Brogdon RP | CLE

    Guardians' Connor Brogdon: Picks up save Saturday

    Brogdon earned a save against Seattle on Saturday, allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit while striking out two batters in one inning.

    Closer Cade Smith blew a save opportunity in the ninth, pushing the game into bonus time. Cleveland struck for three runs in the top of the 10th, and the Guardians chose to turn to Brogdon in the bottom of that frame. The right-hander made things interesting by serving up a two-run homer to Luke Raley, but Brogdon was able to convert the save by striking out the subsequent two batters he faced. Fantasy managers need not read into Brogdon's chance to close Saturday, as Smith isn't likely to move out of the closer role anytime soon.

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