It was actually kind of concerning to see Hancock’s velocity drop tonight. He averaged a much-improved 94.9 mph with his four-seamer last year and was up to 95.4 mph this spring, but he was down to 93.5 mph tonight. Nevertheless, the Guardians simply couldn’t touch him. Their one hard-hit ball turned into a double play. The remaining seven balls in play against him were five other groundouts and two popups. Between the velocity drop and the 24 percent CSW, it’s hard to be too excited about the showing tonight. Still, he’ll always be a streaming option whenever he’s starting at home. Unfortunately, he’ll be on the road against the Angels next weekend, and he might be in line for only a couple of more starts before Bryce Miller returns.

Donovan’s career high for homers is 14, but he already has two this year. Even more fascinating is that he’s already tried two steals, converting one of them. While Donovan was a very good regular for St. Louis, the lack of homers and steals always left him with little fantasy value. Last year, he had 10 homers and three steals in 2025. In his best season in 2024, he had 14 homers and five steals. We wouldn’t necessarily expect him to best that homer total this year, but if he’s more aggressive on the basepaths, it’d be great for his fantasy value. It just might not be too good for the Mariners, since he’s been caught on 13 of his 29 career steal attempts.

Suárez’s homer off Greg Weissert in the sixth was projected at 431 feet. Two innings earlier, he had a 403-foot flyout that Statcast said would have been a homer in seven ballparks. Suárez is going to struggle to hit for average, and he’s already lost some fantasy value by getting dropped from fourth to fifth in the Reds lineup, but there still aren’t many better bets in terms of homers and RBI, especially if Matt McLain and Sal Stewart continue to hit like this.

Bregman took Jake Irvin deep twice for his first two homers as a member of the Cubs. The 31-year-old went just 1-for-9 in the previous two games, but as he’s done to many a lefty in his career, he was able to get things going. As long as Bregman stays healthy, he’s going to have enough moments like this to make him a strong fantasy option at the hot corner.

After Gore retired 15 of 17 batters to begin the game, the sixth opened single, walk, single to bring up Bryce Harper with the bases loaded and none out. Gore actually struck out Harper, but he then hit Alec Bohn was a pitch and was lifted. Cole Winn replaced him and allowed only one of the three runners to score on a sac fly before retiring Bryson Stott to end the threat. Gore wound up with the win in his Rangers debut. He got off to a very shaky start this spring, but he turned things around in the second half of March and he was obviously effective today in striking out seven. He’ll next pitch at home against the Reds.

Abrams was away from the team Saturday due to a death in his family. Nasim Nuñez will get the start at second base after filling in at short for that contest, and Luis Garcia begins Sunday’s contest on the bench.

DeGrom told reporters he was confident that he’d be able to to start Tuesday against the Orioles on Saturday, and the fact he was able to throw is a positive sign. He’s also a hurler with a significant injury history and it’s not even April yet, so it won’t be a surprise if he is skipped at least one turn. Fantasy managers should pay close attention for updates Monday, and be prepared for the worst.

Goodness gracious. DeLauter was struggling throughout this game; going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts before the tenth. Then he hit his fourth homer in the first three games of 2026, and it came on a 97 mph fastball on the outer-part of the plate from Andrés Muñoz for a two-run shot. There’s regression coming if only because baseball is too hard for a player to be this good, but it’s impossible to not be impressed — and intrigued — by these first three contests.

Well, that’s one way to celebrate your 31st birthday. With the Dodgers trailing 2-1, Smith smoked a two-run homer that had an expected batting average of .900 to give Los Angeles a 3-2 lead and ultimately the victory. It’s the second homer of the season for Smith, and he should again be one of the best fantasy backstops in baseball. It wouldn’t be a massive upset if he ended up in the top spot.

If you watched Estévez this spring, you had a pretty good idea this was coming. The 2025 AL saves leader averaged 91.2 mph with his fastball tonight, down 4.7 mph from last year. His hardest pitch, at 92.3 mph, was actually the one Dominic Smith hit for the game-ending grand slam. Smith gave up four hits, all on hard-hit balls, and walked two while getting just one miss on 10 swings. He simply can’t serve as a major league closer until he gets some stuff back, and unless the Royals are blinded by loyalty, they should turn to Matt Strahm and Lucas Erceg, in either order, in the eighth and ninth. We’d grab Erceg first, but best not to write off Strahm. Both pitched scoreless innings tonight, with Strahm getting the seventh and Erceg working the eighth.