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Shane Smith pitched well in his big league debut against the Twins on Tuesday, giving up two runs on two hits over 5 2/3 innings.
The 24-year-old Rule-5 selection struck out three opposing hitters on the night while issuing four walks. He hurled five scoreless frames to start the season, but Smith returned for the sixth inning where he issued a pair of two out walks before turning the ball over to the bullpen — both of which came around to score. He generated 11 swings and misses on 73 pitches on the night, posting a solid CSW of 30 percent. He’ll see if he can replicate this success when he squares off against the Guardians in Cleveland on Tuesday.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (hamstring) is back to baseball activities.
The speedy infielder is expected to start running the bases by this weekend and then should progress to batting practice. He could begin a rehab assignment by the middle of May.
Ryan Brasier (groin) pitched a scoreless inning for Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday.
He gave up a hit and struck out two batters on 16 pitches in the outing. Brasier will likely need a few more outings before he returns to the big league bullpen, but the Cubs could certainly use his experience at the end of games.
Freddy Peralta (groin) threw off flat ground on Wednesday and expects to make his next start.
Peralta acknowledged that he may need one extra day of rest, which is in line with what Brewers manager Pat Murphy said on Monday as well. Fantasy managers should start Peralta as they would normally.