Ponce is headed to the injured list with Lazaro Estrada coming up to take his roster spot. Schneider added that Ponce is facing an extended absence, but the club remains hopeful he’ll pitch again this season and will await additional medical opinions before determining next steps. The 31-year-old journeyman left his Blue Jays debut on Monday night with right knee discomfort. His prolonged absence puts additional strain on Toronto’s rotation which is already without Trey Yesavage (shoulder), Shane Bieber (elbow) and José Berríos (elbow).

Raleigh was given a day off initially, but he came off the bench to deliver his best moment of the young season. He laced an inside fastball from Paul Blackburn with a runner on third into right, and it gave Seattle a 2-1 lead. Raleigh has gotten off to a slow start, but it’s far too early to panic, and Monday is an example of what the man they call Big Dumper can do.

Harrison generated a career-high 16 swinging strikes and needed an economical 87 pitches (64 strikes) to navigate five frames in his Milwaukee debut. A leadoff homer by sizzling-hot Rays slugger Yandy Díaz accounted for all of the damage against him. The 24-year-old former top pitching prospect continues to impress, aided by increased fastball velocity and the addition of a new kick changeup. He should be rostered in all fantasy formats based on his recent performance and strikeout upside. He’ll face the Royals on the road to close out a two-start week on Sunday afternoon.

Cabrera was staked to a six-run advantage by the fourth inning of his Cubs debut and had little trouble cruising to an easy win, scattering one hit and one walk over six relatively stress-free frames. Chicago’s big-time offseason trade acquisition generated 15 swinging strikes, topped out at 98.1 mph with his fastball and allowed just two hard-hit balls in this one. He’ll close out a two-start week with a favorable road tilt against the Guardians.

Acuña picked up his first steal of the season, but was also caught for the only negative to the contest. The 28-year-old scuffled in the series against Kansas City, but those two hits along with two free passes improves his slash to .214/.353/.286 over the first four contests.

He’ll undergo further evaluation and imaging to determine the severity of the injury. It’s an ominous injury designation after Ponce was carted off during his Blue Jays debut following an awkward attempt to field a grounder up the first-base line in the third inning of his first major-league appearance since 2021. The 31-year-old journeyman spent the previous four seasons overhauling his arsenal in Korea and Japan before returning stateside on a three-year, $30 million deal with Toronto. An extended absence would be a significant blow to an already injury-ravaged rotation that’s without Trey Yesavage (shoulder), Shane Bieber (elbow) and José Berríos (elbow). An update on his status should arrive in the coming days, but he’s in clear jeopardy of missing his next scheduled start against the White Sox on Sunday.

Bibee completed a 26-pitch bullpen session over the weekend without any issues and has been cleared to take the ball against the two-time defending World Series champions in Los Angeles. It’s such a daunting matchup that fantasy managers were likely strongly considering alternatives to begin with this week. The positive news is that Bibee won’t require a trip to the injured list after exiting his season-opening start against the Mariners last week with shoulder inflammation.

Raleigh will get a chance to reset mentally, instead of facing Yankees southpaw Ryan Weathers, after going an ice-cold 2-for-15 with one RBI and 10 strikeouts during a four-game series against the Guardians to open the regular season. There are obviously zero concerns fantasy-wise when it comes to the 29-year-old slugging backstop on the heels of a 60-homer campaign where he rewrote the offensive record book for catchers. It’s only a matter of time before he heats up. It’ll be Mitch Garver handling the catching duties on Monday night in his place.

Nightengale adds that the long-term agreement, if it gets across the finish line, will be worth more than $50 million and contains a pair of club options worth roughly $15 million per-season. It’s a significant, virtually unprecedented, financial commitment for a highly touted prospect that has played just 123 games above High-A. The 21-year-old projects as Milwaukee’s shortstop of the future and could ascend to the big leagues at some point later this year, especially if the Brewers decide to move defensive wizard Joey Ortiz into a utility role. He’ll settle in as one of the club’s future franchise building blocks alongside fellow top middle infield prospects Jesús Made and Luis Peña.

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.