MLB Player News

He struck out four, walked one, and seven of the eight hits were singles, so Jackson easily could have come out of the outing with less damage to his ERA. That he’s given up 27 hits in 17 1/3 innings has held him back, but Jackson does have an impressive 14/2 K/BB ratio. He may not have much value in NL-only formats until he gets a little more seasoning in the minors, but he can be used against the Royals later this week.

Crawford isn’t much of a shortstop these days and the power outbursts are rather few and far between, but at least he does get on base at a nice clip. That’s especially been the case this year, as his 22 walks in 28 games have left him with a .367 OBP. He’ll return to the bottom third of the Seattle lineup after Brendan Donovan returns, so there isn’t much fantasy potential here.

Gilbert didn’t allow any runs besides the solo homers, so he became the 149th pitcher in MLB history to win after giving up four homers. The last was the Dodgers’ Tony Gonsolin last May. Three Seattle pitchers had accomplished the feat: Ryan Franklin in 2003, Joel Pineiro in 2005 and Bryce Miller in 2023. Gilbert is now 2-3 with a 4.30 ERA on the season. He’ll likely face the White Sox on Sunday.

Muñoz gave up a single to Dominic Smith with two outs, but he then got Drake Baldwin to ground out to end the game. It’s his seventh save in nine tries to open the year.

Ritchie walked four and allowed three hits over the first five innings, but he kept the Mariners scoreless until the sixth, when he walked two and then gave up a three-run homer to Luke Raley. That ended his evening at 93 pitches, only 47 of which were strikes. With a 13/12 K/BB through 17 1/3 innings, he certainly can’t be recommended in his next start Sunday against the Dodgers.

After falling barely shy of 30-homer and 100-RBI seasons the last two years, it doesn’t look like Olson intends to leave anything to chance this season. He’s already racked up 12 homers and 32 RBI in 36 games and is on the short list of NL MVP candidates to date.

The Dodgers made a late decision to reverse course here after initially saying that Ohtani would hit as well as pitch. Ohtani went 0-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored in the 8-3 win over the Astros on Monday.

Vargas has his seventh homer, and this one came off José Soriano to give Chicago a 5-0 lead. After getting off to a rough start, Vargas has improved his slash to .228/.360/.447. That’s a decent enough slash, but more impressive when you consider it was .153/.287/.306 on April 18.

Of course he did. Murakami also didn’t strike out, which is nice to see from a player who has already whiffed 50 times. It’s tough to be mad at that strikeout total when you’re hitting the ball over the fence as often as he is, and he took José Soriano deep for his 14th homer of the campaign. There are going to be moments where Murakami’s swing-and-miss makes him a borderline unplayable option, but he’s at the very least proven that power he showed in Japan can certainly play at this level. This has been very impressive. Obvious point is obvious.

We knew regression was going to come for Soriano, and unfortunately, it came relatively hard Monday. He allowed a pair of homers — one of them the 14th homer of the season for Munetaka Murakami — and he gave up eight total hits along with three walks. He also did finish with five strikeouts while generating 12 swings and misses and showing quality velocity, so it wasn’t an issue of stuff. He’ll look to get back on track while still holding an outstanding 1.74 ERA versus the Blue Jays in Toronto on Sunday.

It’s time to start taking Martin more seriously. He generated 19 swings and misses to procure the double-digit strikeout game, and he allowed only four hard-hit balls in the process. That’s now three-consecutive starts where he’s allowed no more than one run, and the Angels really didn’t challenge the 29-year-old as seen in just two extra-base hits. He now has a 1.64 ERA, 51-1 record and 43/8 K/BB ratio. He’ll try and continue to prove this is real Friday in a start against the Mariners at home in Chicago.