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The Athletics are officially promoting 1B Nick Kurtz to the rank of major leaguer, and like the winding journey into the heart of darkness we find in Apocalypse Now, things are about to get a little weird in Sacramento. Good weird though, like the early Rockies teams that leaned all the way into the collect-mashers advantage of playing half your games in Coors Field. I don’t know if you have to avoid the A’s the way you had to avoid trips up the mountain, but I’d rather not throw any of my starters in their park if I could avoid it. A lineup composed of Kurtz, Soderstrom, Rooker, Butler, Langeliers, Bleday and Jacob Wilson presents a lot of tough outs with nasty consequences for misplaced pitches. My AL Only squad is stoked to see him. They’re in first place despite losing Grayson Rodriguez and Luis Gil before the season started, and their only chance to hold the top spot is to mash like a mixed league club. 

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Thu 4/24
ARI | ATH | BAL | BOS | CHW | COL | KC | LAA | MIL | MIN | PIT | SEA | SF | TB | TEX | WSH | ATL | CHC | CIN | CLE | DET | HOU | LAD | MIA | NYM | NYY | OAK | PHI | SD | STL | TOR

Marlins RHP Adam Mazur (23, AAA) struggled as a rookie with the Padres last season and found himself and his 7.49 ERA on a flight to Miami. He’s been much better as a Triple-A pitcher this year than he was last year, posting a 1.29 ERA and 0.63 WHIP in three games covering 14.1 innings. He pitched to a 4.73 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 93.1 innings last year, so an off-season with a new organization has done him some good. Miami has Cal Quantrill and Connor Gillispie in the rotation right now, so you can’t exactly say Mazur is blocked. They’re actually playing .500 baseball right now in South Beach at eight-and-eight. Probably not wise to bet on that continuing, but I thought it might take them until May to collect eight wins. Griffin Conine, Kyle Stowers, Xavier Edwards and Matt Mervis are all playing well and creating some optimism in the Wins category for investors in fishy pitchers. 

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At the risk of overstating the reality, I’m happy to see the Zac Veen era is underway in Colorado. My bold predictions article says he’ll steal 40 bases this season, so that’s pretty much a lock at this point. Or perhaps he’ll be back in the minors a month from now. I’m betting against that, obviously. I think it’s more important for the organization to get Veen right than it is for them to, for example, get Jordan Beck right. 

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Diamondbacks 1B Tim Tawa (25, AAA) had three walks, three home runs, two steals and zero strikeouts in his first four games, a monster start in all of our Triple-A fantasy leagues. Have to take his Salt Lake outcomes with a grain of . . . skepticism . . . but Tawa has produced throughout his career, which you kind of have to do to make your way as a 5’11” utility type, and the organization has enough confidence in him to use him at the keystone in Ketel Marte’s absence. If he hits, they might try to find room for him off the bench. 

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College baseball is in full swing. Conference play is underway, games are hitting ESPN’s family of networks, and I can be found perusing ballpark exteriors sampling various hot dogs and sausages until my stomach turns into a hodgepodge of partially-cooked Southern meats. There’s almost too much baseball to take in this time of year, when the heart of the college slate meets the excitement of the start of the MLB season. But look no further than the Houston Astros’ Opening Day roster, which features 2024 draftee Cam Smith starting in the outfield on a regular basis. Smith played just two seasons at Florida State before becoming a first-round draft choice by Houston last summer, and is now positioned to be a regular fantasy contributor throughout the remainder of the campaign. We’ll see the same in 2026, 2027 and 2028. There is no question. College baseball is developing elite prospects faster and better than ever before and for this reason, a plethora of top-level players are making it to campus and getting their names called in their early twenties. We’ll dive into a handful of players that could fit that bill in this week’s collegiate corner.

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Guardians 1B Kyle Manzardo is at 0.4 WAR already thanks to a double, triple, homer and walk in his five plate appearances. Seems high for a day’s work, but that’s a good day. I still think they should’ve held onto Naylor, but it’ll sting slightly less if Manzardo becomes a capital-g Guy. 

Tigers OF Ryan Kreidler appears to be Detroit’s short term solution for center field while Wenceel Perez takes “at least a month” to convalesce. Bad backs can linger, as you probably know, dear reader, so Kreidler might have quite a bit of runway in front of him if he performs. On the other hand, the club traded for Brewer Hicklen Saturday, and he stole 44 bases last season, so we should keep an eye on him, too. 

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Astros OF Cam Smith has officially made the opening day roster after a slow speculative leak broke that news across a couple days. Wasn’t rocket surgery. Smith is making the Houston brass look pretty good given the context, and he’s earned it on the field. Fun story to follow. I suppose there’s a chance he can slump his way back to the minors, but I’m betting against that, envisioning something like .265 with 25-ish home runs. 

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Guardians 2B Juan Brito lost out in his bid for the second base job despite going five for his last ten at bats with zero strikeouts and two home runs. Tyler Freeman has been electric this spring, and though he’s been playing outfield this year after coming up as an infielder, he could probably slide back to the dirt if that’s his path to playing time. Gabriel Arias continues to exist and might be the opening day starter. I have never seen what Cleveland sees in him, but that’s irrelevant. Perhaps Cleveland will recall Brito at the first signs of distress at the keystone, but I’m not encouraged right now. 

UPDATE: Freeman has been traded to Colorado for Nolan Jones.  Unclear if this means anything to Brito’s chances, or if the Guardians are simply pursuing their quest to get Gabriel Arias as much playing time as possible.

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I got pretty excited to have baseball with my morning coffee this week. Sure, I’ve been watching a lot of “baseball” already, but spring training rings pretty hollow compared to the real thing. Even without Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers defeated the Cubs with ease. I don’t want to alarm anyone, but Los Angeles might be a problem this season. 

Rangers RHP Jack Leiter is throwing hard this spring and kicking his change up like all the cool kids are doing these days, and he’s finally getting some results after a pro career peppered by unexpected struggles. He’s all but locked up a spot in the season-opening rotation and could hold it all season if he can keep the ball in the strike zone and generate better outcomes than the 8.83 ERA he posted in 35.2 MLB innings last season. 

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Nationals OF Robert Hassell III is slashing .400/.447/.600 with a 15.8 percent strikeout rate and 174 wRC+ through 35 spring plate appearances. He’s been playing a lot of center field and might push Jacob Young, who has a 60 wRC+ through 26 PAs, for the opening day gig. Hassell III has been something of a . . . problem since he came over in the Juan Soto trade, just in terms of on-field outcomes, so there’s a vibes component to this decision. Would feel pretty good for everyone in the front office if Hassell III broke camp and played well early. 

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Yankees RHP Will Warren should break camp in the major league rotation following injuries to Luis Gil and Gerrit Cole, joining Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman to form a trio that’s good enough to keep the team in games. Warren struggled in 2024 but has been excellent this spring, striking out 11 batters and allowing one run and a 0.50 WHIP across eight innings. Stuff is not an issue here; he features two fastballs along with a plus slider and changeup, following the side-to-side pitching path paved in part by Clarke Schmidt. 

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