MLB Player News

General manager Dana Brown said Sunday that the Astros' series with the Royals that runs from April 25 through 27 could be a potential target for McCullers' (forearm) season debut, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports. "That would be pretty encouraging, but we don't want to rush it," Brown said.

McCullers made the third start of his minor-league rehab assignment Saturday with Triple-A Sugar Land and delivered his best performance yet; he struck out five over four scoreless innings, yielding just one hit and one walk. He covered 61 pitches in the outing, inducing 13 whiffs while averaging 91.4 miles per hour on his 13 sinkers, 80.5 mph on 13 curveballs and 85.1 mph on 12 sliders, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. All of those velocity readings were a couple ticks below his averages from his last healthy season in 2022, but McCullers noted that it's not an unexpected development, and he's happy overall with how his surgically repaired forearm has been responding coming out of his first three rehab starts. According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, McCullers will shift his rehab to Double-A Corpus Christi for his fourth rehab start next weekend. He's expected to reach 75-to-80 pitches in that outing, and if all goes well, he'll be activated from the 15-day injured list to make his 2025 Astros debut during the Kansas City series.

Duran threw a perfect inning while striking out one in Sunday's 5-1 win over Detroit. He has a 1.42 ERA with five strikeouts in 6.1 innings but doesn't have a save chance.

He was lined up to get a save opportunity, but the Twins scored in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Duran a four-run lead to protect in the ninth inning. The Twins do not have a save yet as a team this season. Duran's velocity is down slightly this season (99.9 mph average fastball from 100.5 mph last season), but he's still been very effective. He's set to get the bulk of save chances for the Twins, though manager Rocco Baldelli will likely play matchups and use Duran in the eighth inning at times with Griffin Jax pitching the ninth inning.

Julien went 1-for-4 with a home run in Sunday's victory over the Tigers. He started at second base and hit leadoff.

Julien has been improving at the plate and gaining more playing time in the last week. He's hitting .380 (8-for-21) with a home run over his last eight games. He could stay in the leadoff role against right-handed pitching if he stays hot.

Woods Richardson (1-1) earned the win Sunday, allowing one run on five hits with no walks over five innings against Detroit. He struck out five.

Woods Richardson had a solid outing with a slight increase in velocity to a max 95.9 mph fastball after two lackluster starts to begin the season. He likely needed a strong outing to remain in the rotation with David Festa making a case for keeping a starting role and Zebby Matthews pitching well at Triple-A.

Milner struck out two over a scoreless inning in Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Mariners.

Milner made a sixth consecutive scoreless appearance to open the season. He's allowed three hits and walked one while striking out eight over seven innings.

Harris started in left field and went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's 3-1 loss to Seattle.

The Rangers rested Marcus Semien, which led to Josh Smith covering second base and gave Harris is first start since being called up. The lefty hitting outfielder could see more opportunities in left field with Wyatt Langford (oblique) on the injured list, but Smith is the primary fill-in.

Caminero went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in Sunday's 8-3 win over Atlanta.

Caminero's three run-homer in the sixth inning was his second long ball in as many days. The 21-year-old is off to a solid start at the plate, slashing .280/.315/.500 with three long balls, seven RBI and nine runs scored across 54 plate appearances. He also leads the majors in average bat speed, clocking in at an impressive 78.6 mph in the early going.

Dominguez picked up a hold Sunday against Toronto after throwing 1.1 clean innings. He struck out one.

Dominguez came on to protect a 4-3 lead with two runners on base in the sixth inning, striking out Bo Bichette on a foul tip to end the frame before retiring the side in the seventh frame. Dominguez has yielded just one hit over seven shutout innings to begin the season, but the right-hander doesn't carry much fantasy value outside of leagues that record holds while closer Felix Bautista is healthy for the Orioles.

Noel started in right field and went 1-for-3 with a run scored in Sunday's 4-2 loss to Kansas City.

Noel, who as usual was in the lineup against a left-hander, singled and scored in the Guardians' two-run second inning. He's scored a run in four straight games. Noel isn't chasing as much as he did last season, but those better swing decisions have not resulted in improvement. Big Christmas is batting .188 through 13 games.

Paredes went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer in Sunday's win over the Angels.

Paredes took Kyle Hendricks deep to cap off a five-run second inning. It was Paredes' third straight game with a home run after a 12-game drought to begin the year. He owns a .276/.382/.448 slash line with four extra-base hits and nine RBI through 68 plate appearances.