Braves Recall Didier Fuentes, Designate Ian Hamilton For Assignment
The Braves announced Wednesday morning that they’ve recalled right-hander Didier Fuentes from Triple-A Gwinnett. Fellow righty Ian Hamilton was designated for assignment to open a spot on the active roster. Fuentes will start tonight’s game against the Nationals.
Hamilton’s contract was just selected to the big league roster last week. He made only one appearance with Atlanta and was tagged for three runs in an inning of work. He’ll now be traded or placed on waivers within the next five days.
With his latest appearance, the 30-year-old Hamilton has now pitched 151 1/3 major league innings between the White Sox, Twins, Yankees and Braves. He’s worked to a solid 3.75 ERA overall, although a terrific 2023 season (2.64 ERA, 58 innings) disproportionately affects that career-long mark; Hamilton had a 4.91 ERA in 14 2/3 innings prior to that season and has a 4.35 earned run average in 78 2/3 frames since.
Hamilton has fanned just over one quarter of his major league opponents (25.4%) but also carries a bloated 11.3% walk rate that’s nearly three percentage points north of the league average. He’s shown above-average grounder tendencies (45.9%) and has done a nice job of avoiding homers and hard contact in general. The right-hander sat 96 mph with his heater for the 2024-25 Yankees but averaged 94.4 mph in his lone Braves appearance. His sinker velocity dipped similarly. Hamilton’s primary breaking pitch is a slider that he’s typically thrown at a near 50% clip.
Fuentes, 10 years younger than Hamilton, won’t turn 21 until mid-June. Despite that youth, he’s auditioning for a role in the Atlanta rotation. The right-hander struggled in a four-start cup of coffee last summer but had a big spring showing and has been excellent in Gwinnett thus far. Through his first 16 2/3 frames, Fuentes sports a tidy 2.16 ERA with a 31.7% strikeout rate and a 9.5% walk rate. He made one long relief appearance with the Braves early this season before being sent down and shined there as well, holding the Royals to a run on two hits and a walk with four punchouts in four innings.
Atlanta’s pitching injuries have been chronicled at length. Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep had surgery to remove loose bodies from their elbows before the season started. Joey Wentz tore his ACL during spring training. Spencer Strider opened the season on the injured list due to an oblique strain and has yet to return.
The Braves have been left with a group of Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and Martín Pérez to shoulder the rotation load thus far. To call Elder (1.50 ERA in 30 innings) and Pérez (2.21 ERA, 20 1/3 innings) “pleasant surprises” thus far would be an understatement. Pérez has pitched like a fifth starter when healthy for the bulk of the past five seasons. Elder was one of the least-effective pitchers in baseball in 2024-25.
It’s not reasonable to expect either Elder or Pérez to sustain this level of production, but there’s no taking away what’s already in the books; these impeccably timed hot streaks have helped the Braves weather a storm of early injuries that threatened to dig them in a massive hole for a second straight season. Instead, Atlanta has an NL-best 2.98 ERA from the rotation and sits at 16-8 with a five-game cushion in a disappointing NL East division. With Strider on a minor league rehab assignment, Fuentes now in the majors, top prospect JR Ritchie performing well and injured arms like Schwellenbach, Waldrep and AJ Smith-Shawver (Tommy John surgery last year) all progressing through their rehab windows, Atlanta could be on the cusp of escaping those early health setbacks with an improbable division lead, which would set the Braves up incredibly well for the remainder of the season.
The Opener: Soto, Kurtz, Ohtani
The Mets’ losing streak grew to a dozen last night. The club will be getting some reinforcements for Wednesday’s matchup.
1. Soto set to return
Outfielder Juan Soto is expected back tonight against the Twins. He’s missed a little under three weeks while nursing a calf injury. The four-time All-Star left early against the Giants on April 3. New York won that game and the next three contests with Soto out of the lineup. The team has since lost 12 straight games. Getting Soto’s bat back in the mix should be a boost. He had a .928 OPS through eight games before the injury. After last night’s 5-3 loss, the Mets have scored three runs or fewer 10 times during the losing streak.
2. Kurtz nearing A’s record
First baseman Nick Kurtz led off last night’s matchup against the Mariners by working a walk against right-hander Luis Castillo. It was his 12th consecutive game with a free pass, moving him into a tie with Rickey Henderson for fifth-most in franchise history (h/t Sarah Langs of MLB.com). The A’s record is a three-way tie at 15 straight games with a walk by Henderson, Max Bishop, and Topsy Hartsel. Kurtz will have a tough task on Wednesday, facing right-hander Logan Gilbert and his 4.3% walk rate.
3. Two-way Ohtani returns?
Right-hander Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound tonight against the Giants. It remains to be seen if he’ll be in the hitting lineup. The two-way star did not hit in his last start. Instead, Dalton Rushing served as the DH and slugged a home run. It was the first time as a Dodger that Ohtani pitched but wasn’t in the batting lineup. Manager Dave Roberts said a HBP earlier in the week led to the decision. LA’s lineup will be an interesting one to monitor on Wednesday, especially with Rushing off to a tremendous start.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
Braves Place Raisel Iglesias On Injured List
The Braves placed closer Raisel Iglesias on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation this morning, per a team announcement. Lefty Dylan Dodd was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to take Iglesias’ spot on the active roster. Iglesias had an MRI which showed inflammation, no structural damage, per Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The IL placement comes a few days after Atlanta skipper Walt Weiss had acknowledged that Iglesias was unavailable because he’d slept on his shoulder wrong (via MLB.com’s Mark Bowman). Weiss said at the time that Iglesias might be available the following day (Sunday), and he indeed pitched an inning in that game. He’s now headed to the IL and will miss at least two weeks of action. Weiss will likely provide further updates on Iglesias’ status later tonight, before the Braves take on the Nats in D.C.
Iglesias sat 94.8 mph with his four-seamer in 2025 and was close to that mark for his first several appearances of the current season. His heater sat 95 mph in an April 14 outing but dropped to 93.9 mph the following day and sat just 92.9 mph his last time out.
Iglesias re-signed with Atlanta on a one-year, $16MM deal over the offseason. He’s gotten out to another strong start, holding opponents scoreless on just five hits with an 11-to-1 K/BB ratio in his first 8 2/3 frames. The right-hander struggled early last season due to an uncharacteristic stretch of susceptibility to home runs, but since mid-June of last year, he’s rattled off 52 innings with a 1.04 ERA, 31.2% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate while converting 26 of 27 save attempts.
With Iglesias shelved, Atlanta will almost certainly turn to fellow free-agent addition Robert Suarez in the ninth inning. The former Padres closer, who inked a three-year, $45MM contract this offseason, picked up the save Saturday when Iglesias was unavailable and has been dominant as the Braves’ primary setup man this season. He’s held opponents to just one run on seven hits and a walk with 11 strikeouts in 9 2/3 frames. Suarez picked up 77 saves and 20 holds while pitching to a 2.91 ERA in four seasons with San Diego before signing in Atlanta this winter.
Phillies Re-Sign Pedro León To Minor League Deal
The Phillies re-signed outfielder Pedro León to a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. He’s back with Triple-A Lehigh Valley but no longer occupies a 40-man roster spot.
Philadelphia released León on Saturday when they selected infielder Felix Reyes onto the roster. León had been placed on the minor league injured list with a right hamstring strain a couple weeks ago. Teams cannot place injured players on outright waivers, so the Phils released León to take him off the roster.
It’s unclear how long León will be sidelined. The Phillies evidently still like him as a depth piece but were willing to risk him signing elsewhere if needed to drop him from the 40-man. Philadelphia claimed León off waivers from Baltimore early in the offseason. He’s hitting .283 but has fanned 19 times in his first 53 plate appearances with Lehigh Valley.
León is a .253/.354/.443 hitter in just over 400 Triple-A games. His MLB experience consists of seven games for the Astros two years ago. León was once a highly-regarded amateur signee out of Cuba based on his power-speed combination. That has been undercut by strikeout issues that have made him an average Triple-A hitter.
Phillies To Activate Zack Wheeler On Saturday
Zack Wheeler will start for the Phillies against the Braves on Saturday night, manager Rob Thomson told reporters (link via Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic). It’ll be his season debut after last year’s thoracic outlet surgery.
Wheeler completed his fifth minor league rehab start on Sunday. He threw four innings and 77 pitches. Wheeler had gotten through 5 2/3 frames over 72 pitches in his previous outing. He should be able to work 80+ offerings in his season debut as long as he’s pitching well. Thomson suggested the Phils would cap him around 90 pitches and six innings in any case.
The Phillies have yet to name their starter for tomorrow’s game against the Cubs, though it’s expected to be an opener in front of Taijuan Walker. They’ll turn to Cristopher Sánchez on Thursday. Andrew Painter will go in Friday’s opener in Atlanta, with Aaron Nola getting the nod on Sunday. That’d give Jesús Luzardo six days of rest before next Tuesday’s series opener against the Giants.
Thomson declined to announce Philadelphia’s long-term pitching plans yet. One would imagine Walker will move into a long relief role after tomorrow’s scheduled bulk appearance. The veteran righty has had a miserable start to the season. Walker has yet to make it beyond five innings in any of his first four starts. He has given up six home runs over his past three appearances.
This is the final season of Walker’s four-year, $72MM free agent deal. If the Philadelphia bullpen were at full strength, they might have had a difficult call in whether to carve out a relief role to keep him on the roster. Recent injuries to Jhoan Duran, Jonathan Bowlan and Zach Pop probably ensure that Walker will hold a roster spot. The Phils can option any of Kyle Backhus, Chase Shugart or Alan Rangel once Wheeler returns.
Walker’s struggles have been just one aspect of a brutal start for the Philly rotation. That was expected to be a strength, but only Sánchez has gotten out to a great start to the season. Luzardo has been frustratingly inconsistent. Nola has struggled with the home run ball for a few years and has allowed just over five earned runs per nine innings. Painter has been their second-best starter on a rate basis, though that’s at least partially because the Phillies have mostly shielded him from facing a lineup three times in a game.
Philadelphia’s rotation ranked 27th in MLB with a 5.48 earned run average entering play tonight. That’ll improve slightly after Luzardo managed 4 2/3 frames of one-run ball, but he walked four batters and threw 100 pitches in an inefficient showing. The Phils lost to the Cubs by a 7-4 score, dropping them to 8-15 on the year. Although it has been overshadowed a bit by the Mets’ horrendous start, this has been a rough couple weeks for the two-time defending NL East champions.
They’ll hope for Wheeler’s activation to provide a spark. His post-injury form remains to be seen. The three-time All-Star was one of the top 5-10 pitchers in MLB before the injury. However, his velocity has been down three miles per hour during his Triple-A rehab work. He’s sitting around 93 mph after averaging 96 last year.
Latest On Padres’ Franchise Sale
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Seidler family was nearing a sale of the Padres to private equity mogul José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones. That’s expected to come with an eye-popping $3.9 billion valuation that’d shatter the prior high for a franchise sale ($2.4 billion in Steve Cohen’s 2020 purchase of the Mets).
Feliciano and Jones aren’t actually putting up nearly $4 billion, however. Dennis Lin and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic report that Feliciano and Jones will purchase a 30-40% ownership share. That’d put their investment between $1.17 billion and $1.56 billion. Their exact stake has yet to be determined as they bring aboard additional minority investors. Lin and Vorkunov write that some members of the Seidler family will retain minority shares. Some current minority investors will retain their own stakes.
Padres fans are encouraged to give The Athletic column a full read, as Lin and Vorkunov identify a handful of individuals who might join Feliciano’s ownership group. The most important detail remains unchanged. Feliciano will become the organization’s control person. That’s true even though he’ll own less than 50% of the team, as he’ll hold the plurality share.
The team has yet to officially announce the agreement, though current control person John Seidler had made no secret of the family’s desire to sell. Once the details on the minority investors are sorted out, they’ll need formal approval from at least three-quarters of other ownership groups. That’s essentially a formality. The next quarterly owners meeting is scheduled for June, though they could opt for a virtual vote to expedite the process.
Max Meyer’s Approach Is Working
Marlins right-hander Max Meyer held the Cardinals to two earned runs across 5 1/3 innings on Monday. One of those tallies came around on a Calvin Faucher wild pitch, tying the game and ruining Meyer’s chance at a win, but it was another solid outing for the young starter. Meyer has allowed three earned runs or fewer in all five appearances. He’s flashed the best swing-and-miss stuff of his career.
The 27-year-old Meyer has been a slider-first pitcher as a big leaguer. It remains his most-used pitch in 2026, but he’s also ramped up his sweeper usage. Meyer is relying on his breaking balls more than half the time (52.3%). The arsenal tweak has led to throwing his four-seamer at a career-low 19.8% rate. It’s a worthwhile adjustment given the pitch’s performance. Meyer’s heater had a -7 Run Value in 2024, back when he was throwing it nearly as often as his slider. He cut the usage to 22.2% last season, but it still posted a -6 Run Value.
The strikeouts finally came against St. Louis. Meyer punched out eight Cardinals, with the sweeper doing most of the damage (five Ks). He came into the outing with an excellent 13.3% swinging-strike rate, but a middling 22.7% strikeout rate. Considering his most-used pitch has a whiff rate above 50%, a better-than-league-average strikeout rate should be expected. Meyer now ranks ninth among qualified starters with a 14.4% swinging-strike rate. Only two pitchers were above 15% in 2025 (Tarik Skubal, Dylan Cease).
The increased reliance on his breaking balls has pushed Meyer’s strikeout rate to a career-best 25.2%. He has a sub-4.00 ERA supported by a 3.77 xFIP and a 3.78 SIERA. Walks have been the main drawback. Meyer has issued free passes at a 9.9% clip, more than 2% above his career mark heading into the season. He walked two Cardinals on Monday, giving him multiple BBs in all but one outing. He also hit two Cardinals and uncorked a wild pitch.
Meyer hasn’t just made gains in the strikeout department. He’s also taken a step forward in terms of contact quality. The righty has a career-low 38.6% hard-hit rate. That number has never been below 44% in any of his three previous big-league seasons. Meyer has permitted an 8.6% barrel rate, which is still above league average but represents a major improvement on his 11.2% career mark.
Miami selected Meyer with the third overall pick in the 2020 draft. He was among the organization’s top prospects as recently as 2024. Injuries have kept him from consistently contributing with the big-league club. Meyer suffered an elbow sprain just two starts into his MLB tenure in 2022. He underwent Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2023. Meyer returned to the big leagues for 11 starts in 2024. A shoulder injury ended his season prematurely in September. Meyer broke camp with the team last season, but a hip injury cost him the final three months of the campaign.
A healthy and effective Meyer would be a big boost to a Marlins rotation that has more young firepower on the way. Top prospect Thomas White has a silly 45.0% strikeout rate through three Triple-A starts. Robby Snelling has been just as good, with a sub-2.00 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 19 innings at Jacksonville. It’s easy to forget Eury Perez is still only 23 years old. Miami has the makings of an imposing rotation, regardless of whether they trade ace Sandy Alcantara.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Giants Place Daniel Susac On IL, Select Eric Haase
The Giants announced that catcher Daniel Susac has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 20th, due to right elbow neuritis. He’ll miss about two to three weeks, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Catcher Eric Haase has been selected to take his place on the active roster. To open a 40-man spot for Haase, right-hander José Buttó has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Susac was picked up in the Rule 5 draft, via an intermediary. The Twins took him from the Athletics and then flipped him to the Giants for minor leaguer Miguel Caraballo. The Giants had Patrick Bailey lined up as their catcher but Susac and Haase battled for the backup job.
In the end, Susac won the job and has been on a tear. He has a .478/.500/.652 line through his first 24 big league plate appearances. He wasn’t going to hit like that forever, especially with a .550 batting average on balls in play, but the Giants really needed that. Most of the rest of the lineup has been struggling, including Bailey. He is considered by many to be the best defensive catcher in the game but has never been much of a threat from the batter’s box. He has a .226/.283/.331 line in his career and is at .151/.211/.151 this year.
Susac’s strong showing and the general underperformance of the lineup, including Bailey, were seemingly leading to more playing time for Susac. That will be on pause for the next few weeks. Though Susac was due for some regression, it’s still not ideal for him to hit the IL when the club is struggling to score runs.
Haase will jump onto the roster and see if he can make up some of the slack. When Susac won the Opening Day job, Haase was granted his release but then quickly re-signed on a new minor league deal. He has appeared in nine Triple-A games this year with a .250/.300/.472 line.
His best attribute is his power. He had a 22-homer season with the Tigers back in 2021 and has 48 home runs in 1,224 career plate appearances. However, his offense is otherwise poor. His 30.7% career strikeout rate is quite high and he’s been above 40% since the start of 2024. His 6.2% career walk rate is also subpar. Despite the long balls, his career .228/.278/.396 line translates to an 85 wRC+, indicating he’s been 15% worse than the league average hitter.
That’s not necessarily disastrous for a catcher since backstops are usually about 10% below the rest of the league. For a backup catcher, the threshold of respectability is even lower. Unfortunately, Haase isn’t considered a strong defender. He has a minus-12 grade from Defensive Runs Saved in his career behind the plate. Statcast has considered him around par in terms of throwing but below average with blocking and framing.
Haase is out of options and could get squeezed back off the roster when Susac comes back. For now, he’ll try to support Bailey as the Giants try to find some momentum. They’re currently 9-13, with the Mets the only club with fewer runs scored so far. The Giants are hosting the 16-6 Dodgers for a three-game set beginning tonight.
Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke, Imagn Images
Mariners Designate Casey Legumina For Assignment
The Mariners announced that they have recalled right-hander Alex Hoppe. The righty will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. In a corresponding move, Seattle has designated righty Casey Legumina for assignment. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reported the moves prior to the official announcement.
Hoppe, 27, was just acquired from the Red Sox in November. That was the Rule 5 protection deadline. The Sox apparently didn’t have roster space for him, so they sent him to the Mariners in exchange for minor league catcher Luke Heyman. The M’s immediately selected him to their 40-man so that he wouldn’t be available in the Rule 5.
He started the season on optional assignment at Triple-A and is out to a great start with his new organization, having thrown eight scoreless innings. Of the 30 batters he has faced, he struck out 12 of them, a 40% clip. He also induced grounders on two thirds of ball in play. He has issued three walks, a 10% pace.
That’s a small sample of size of work. Last year’s numbers were somewhat similar but not quite as impressive. He tossed 61 1/3 innings across Double-A and Triple-A with a 4.55 ERA, 26.4% strikeout rate, 12.3% walk rate and 54.7% ground ball rate.
His fastball averages in the upper-90s and he pairs that with a high-80s slider he has been throwing more than half the time so far this year, while also mixing in a cutter and a changeup. The M’s will give him a chance to see if his stuff plays against major league hitters. He has a full slate of options and can be easily sent back down to Triple-A if he scuffles, or just if they need some fresh arms.
For now, the roster casualty is Legumina. He made his major league debut with the Reds but that club designated him for assignment in January of 2025. The Mariners sent cash to Cincinnati in order to get Legumina. His first season with the Mariners didn’t go especially well. He made 48 appearances for the big league club, throwing 49 2/3 innings with a 5.62 ERA. His 25.1% strikeout rate was a bit better than average but his 11.4% walk rate was a few ticks worse than par.
Due to those struggles, he was sent to the minors a few times and burned his final option year, leaving him out of options here in 2026. That put him on thin ice in terms of his roster spot. Thus far, he has thrown 11 2/3 innings over eight appearances. His 4.63 ERA is about a run better than last year but his strikeout rate is down to 17% in that small sample. The lower ERA is mostly due to the fact that none of the fly balls he has allowed have cleared the fence, a fact that wouldn’t have been sustainable.
His velocity is also down on most of his pitches. His four-seamer averaged 94.3 miles per hour last year but is down to 93.5 so far this year. His sinker has gone from 93.8 to 93 mph while his slider has dropped from 81.1 to 79.7 mph.
Legumina’s struggles and his out-of-options status have pushed him into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so Seattle could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also place him on waivers sooner than that. If he were to clear outright waivers, he would stick with the Mariners as non-roster depth. Since he doesn’t have a previous career outright or at least three years of service time, he would not have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
Mets Planning To Recall Christian Scott For Thursday Start
The Mets will recall righty Christian Scott from Triple-A Syracuse to start Thursday’s series finale against the Twins, manager Carlos Mendoza tells the team’s beat (link via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo). It’ll be Scott’s first big league action since undergoing Tommy John surgery during the summer of 2024. He’ll square off against Twins top starter Joe Ryan.
Scott, now 26 years old, once ranked as the organization’s top pitching prospect and one of the top prospects in the entire sport. He made his major league debut in 2024 and posted a 4.56 ERA with 19.8% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate in his first nine starts in the Mets’ rotation. He’d previously tossed 42 1/3 innings with a 2.76 ERA, 33.5% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate at the Triple-A level. His surgery didn’t take place until September, so he was never going to be an option for the Mets in 2025.
At this point, Scott is 19 months removed from going under the knife. He held opponents to three runs in six spring innings and has tossed 13 2/3 innings in Syracuse so far in 2026. His 5.27 ERA isn’t much to look at, but Scott has set down 29.3% of his opponents against a microscopic 3.4% walk rate. His 95.3 mph average four-seamer is actually up about a mile per hour over his prior levels. He’s pairing that pitch with a slider and splitter — the same three-pitch mix he featured prior to his elbow injury.
Outside of Nolan McLean, the Mets’ rotation is something of a mess at the moment. Freddy Peralta has been solid but not as effective as expected when trading a pair of top-100 prospects for the final season of his contract. David Peterson‘s 5.40 ERA is tied heavily to a sky-high .373 average on balls in play, but the results are discouraging nonetheless. Clay Holmes has a sub-2.00 ERA but is working with diminished strikeout and walk rates; metrics like FIP (4.18) and SIERA (4.23) feel he’s in line for a change of fortune. Lefty Sean Manaea, in the second season of a three-year deal guaranteeing him $75MM (with some notable deferrals), has been relegated to a long relief/swing role.
Most concerning of all is right-hander Kodai Senga, whom the Mets optioned to Triple-A last summer amid a series of struggles that looks to have been rekindled. The 33-year-old started the season in strong fashion (four runs, 16-to-5 K/BB ratio in his first 11 2/3 innings) but has lasted only 5 2/3 innings over his past two starts. In that time, he’s been shelled for 14 runs (13 earned) on 14 hits and five walks with only six strikeouts (17.1%).
For the time being, Mendoza indicated that Senga would stay in the rotation. His start date will be pushed back to Saturday, however. Peterson, meanwhile, will pitch out of the bullpen during the upcoming turn through the rotation (via SNY’s Chelsea Janes). It doesn’t seem that move is permanent, but with the Mets mired in a calamitous 11-game losing streak, they’re pulling some levers to try to change the team’s fortunes and avoid the doomsday scenario of digging an April hole that’s simply too large to escape.
The tumult in the Mets’ rotation could pave the way for Scott to carve out a lasting spot. His workload will probably be monitored closely this season, but the Mets can find ways to try to manage that if he’s pitching like one of the team’s five best starters. From a service time vantage point, Scott only needs 56 days on the major league roster or injured list this season to cross from one to two years of service. Doing so would put him on track for arbitration following the 2028 season and free agency following the 2030 campaign. He’s currently in the second of his three minor league option years.