Fantasy Sports

Flaherty authored a brilliant performance against his former club in the opening contest of Tuesday’s doubleheader, striking out seven straight batters to open the contest, falling two shy of Pablo López’s league record of nine consecutive punch outs, en route to his 12th career double-digit strikeout effort. He generated an astronomical 24 swinging strikes and finished with a sublime 46 percent CSW. He was saddled with a tough no-decision after Detroit’s bullpen coughed up the lead in the ninth inning to keep him winless on the. year. The 28-year-old righty will carry an outstanding 4.00 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 50/5 K/BB ratio across 36 innings (six starts) into a road matchup on Monday against the Guardians.

Darvish returns following a brief two-week absence due to neck tightness. The 37-year-old right-hander will take the ball on Tuesday night against the Reds. He holds an underwhelming 4.18 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 22/10 K/BB ratio across 23 2/3 innings (five starts) this season.

Rodríguez is going to wind up missing at least a couple turns in Toronto’s starting rotation, which presumably opens the door for either Alek Manoah or Zach Pop to get a look with the Blue Jays. Unfortunately, top prospect Ricky Tiedemann isn’t an option due to an elbow injury. Regardless of how it plays out, it’s not a situation fantasy managers want any part of. There should be some clarity on Rodríguez’s status and potential return timeline at some point in the coming days.

Black is one of the more intriguing prospects in the fantasy landscape, thanks to his combination of elite plate discipline and power/speed production in tandem with his ability to handle several defensive spots. The 23-year-old infielder gets his first look in the big leagues after batting .303 (30-for-99) with five homers and three steals in 25 games this season for Triple-A Nashville. He slashed a robust .284/.417/.513 with 18 homers and 55 steals in 558 plate appearances last year between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville. He’s absolutely worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats.

Snell hit the injured list last week with a left adductor strain, so it’s a positive sign that he’s ready to resume throwing already. The 31-year-old southpaw is aiming to return in early May without requiring anything beyond a minimum stay on the 15-day injured list. There should be an update on his potential return timeline at some point later this week depending on how he comes out of Wednesday’s throwing session.

It’s unclear when the injury occurred, but Yoshida is absent from Boston’s lineup for Tuesday’s series opener against the Giants and might wind up requiring a trip to the injured list. There should be some clarity on his status at some point later this week.

Not great. Rodríguez appears questionable to make his next start on Sunday against the Nationals after allowing two runs over 3 2/3 innings on Monday in an abbreviated outing against the Royals. The 27-year-old righty could wind up either heading to the injured list or merely having his next turn skipped this weekend. It would presumably be Alek Manoah, who is pitching on Tuesday night at Triple-A Buffalo, coming up to make a spot start if he’s unable to go. There should be some clarity on his status in the coming days.

Rangers general manager Chris Young told reporters Tuesday that Scherzer is dealing with some lingering thumb soreness in the wake of last Wednesday’s rehab outing for Triple-A Round Rock. However, there’s optimism he’ll be ready to take the ball later this week. The positive news here is the 39-year-old veteran isn’t experiencing any issues with his back following offseason surgery. Barring any additional setbacks, Scherzer should make his season debut at some point in early May.

Astros general manager Dana Brown told reporters Tuesday that the decision was mutually agreed upon to send Abreu to extended spring training in Florida to get some additional at-bats and work on his timing at the plate. The 37-year-old slugger, who signed a three-year, $58.5 million pact with Houston prior to last year, is batting .099 (7-for-71) with just one extra-base hit this season through 22 games. The move presumably clears up a spot for top prospect Joey Loperfido to get some extended run as Houston’s primary option at the cold corner.

Loperfido possesses stratospheric over-the-fence pop, earning his first trip to the big leagues after clubbing an eye-popping 13 round-trippers, while also chipping in five steals, in just 25 games this season for Triple-A Sugar Land. Unfortunately, the astronomical pop comes with some serious contact issues as he also struck out 30 percent of the time in 122 plate appearances. There’s some risk here that his lackluster plate skills prevent him from making an impact for fantasy managers. However, his immense power ceiling juxtaposed by veteran first baseman José Abreu’s ongoing cold spell at the dish make him worthy of at least a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.