ESPN FantasyMar 24, 2026, 01:31 PM ET
Everything that happens in and around MLB has some additional context when viewed from a fantasy baseball perspective. From lineup changes to minor league call-ups to injuries and so much more, the news cycle will constantly affect player values in fantasy baseball.
Our fantasy baseball buzz file, with contributions from our ESPN fantasy writers, aims to provide fantasy managers with the intel they need as news breaks around MLB.
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March 24: AL East teams make rotation decisions
Tristan H. Cockcroft: Both the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays delivered unexpected news regarding their rotations on Tuesday, boosting a pair of sleepers worth adding in larger-than-standard leagues.
The Rays announced that Ryan Pepiot, their team leader in innings pitched last season, will begin the season on the IL due to right hip inflammation. It's an unexpected setback for a pitcher potentially set to take a big step forward with the team's return to pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field this season, although the team indicated that the right-hander's absence shouldn't be lengthy. He might miss only three turns in the rotation and could be ready to return by mid-April. Since that's still early in the season and there's less likelihood of your IL slots getting bottled up, Pepiot clears the bar as a pitcher you should retain until his return.
Joe Boyle will assume Pepiot's rotation spot on Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, which would be a favorable matchup on paper except for the probability that it will be a "piggyback assignment" with Ian Seymour. The wiser move is to stash Seymour, who had a 2.70 ERA and a 28.8% strikeout rate in six spring relief appearances. He could use this opportunity to solidify a more permanent rotation spot, likely at the expense of Nick Martinez. Martinez, by the way, had his first start of 2026 pushed back to Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field -- a much worse matchup for him -- due to a minor hamstring issue.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, awarded rookie Connelly Early their fifth and final rotation spot ahead of Johan Oviedo, per MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo. Oviedo will begin the year in their bullpen, while Early will make his first start on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds in Great American Ball Park, which is a suboptimal matchup for the left-hander. Nevertheless, as Early has a six-pitch repertoire that helped him post a 31.5% career minor league strikeout rate, he's a highly intriguing prospect. That's potentially even true for ESPN standard leagues, so long as you mind his matchups initially.
Early should be one of your top pickups, ranking slightly behind similar upside pitchers like Shane Baz, Kris Bubic and Edward Cabrera, but ahead of pitchers like Joey Cantillo, Parker Messick and Chad Patrick. Seymour would place somewhere among the latter group, but he's a priority add exclusively in AL-only and 15-team-plus mixed leagues.
