MLB Player News

LaHair is intrigued by the interest, but hopes to remain in the major leagues. “Not coming from a lot of money, when you hear offers, you have to consider it,” said LaHair. “But the dream is to be in the major leagues. And this is where I want to be.” LaHair, 28, won the Pacific Coast League MVP this season by batting .331/.405/.664 with 38 home runs over 523 plate appearances. He is 11-for-24 (.458) with one home run and four RBI since being called up to the majors earlier this month.

Oveido allowed just one hard-hit ball, that being a 96.7-mph groundball single to George Springer. He also walked none after giving up three in his spring debut last week. Oviedo is the current favorite to open up as Boston’s fifth starter with Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval seemingly due to spend the first of April on the IL.

Not a great day for Ponce, who had more hard-hit balls allowed (six) than called strikes (one) and whiffs (four) in the 32-pitch outing. We like Ponce as a late-round pick in mixed leagues, but his margin for error for sticking in Toronto’s rotation for the long haul has gotten smaller with the Max Scherzer signing. He should be in there initially, at least.

That’s some rare territory right there. Of the 673 players to take a major league at-bat last season, only 13 hit a ball at least 117.3 mph. Gonzales looks the part, having checked in at 6-foot-6 and 277 pounds in camp this spring. Gonzales hit .281/.363/.390 in a 2025 season spent mostly in Low-A ball. He needs to work at getting the ball into the air, but he offers exciting power potential and hasn’t struck out much so far (16% of the time last year).

His slam off Patrick Halligan was projected at 399 feet. Barger was in the cleanup spot today. He’ll likely open up hitting either second, fourth or fifth against righties; presumably either he or Daulton Varsho will bat between George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the top and then it’s a matter of whether the Jays would prefer Alejandro Kirk fourth or fifth. Barger also now stands a better chance of playing against lefties with Anthony Santander down. Davis Schneider will almost certainly platoon with Jesús Sánchez in left, and then the Jays can pick their spots on whether Myles Straw should start over Barger against certain lefties.

The first batch of cuts from Cardinals camp includes one of the more unique talents in Cijnte, a switch-pitching prospect acquired from the Mariners in the Brendan Donovan trade over the offseason. The 22-year-old ambidextrous phenom is significantly better from the right side where his fastball sits in the mid-to-upper 90’s with a plus sider. The fact that he can still operate from the left side is a nice wrinkle to have at his disposal but he’s probably going to wind up pitching exclusively from the right side at the highest level.

Pallante struck out two and had a successful outing even though his velocity is down by about two mph at the moment. He’s certain to be a part of the Cardinals’ rotation to begin the year, but he has a lot to prove after finishing 6-15 with a 5.31 ERA last year.

Blewett’s fastball averaged 93.4 mph while he was posting a 5.48 ERA in 44 1/3 innings for the Twins, Orioles and Braves last year. However, he was up to 94.7 mph in his first two outings this spring and 96.5 mph today. Even more impressive, he averaged 89.5 mph with his six sliders, a 5.5-mph gain from last year. He’s quickly becoming someone to watch in a St. Louis pen lacking an experienced closer.

Mazur hasn’t allowed a hit in three innings this spring. He’s yet to show much upside in striking out just 14% of the batters he’s faced in 14 major league starts, so he’s a fallback option for the Marlins at the moment.

Wetherholt’s drive to center in the third inning was hit 106.8 mph with a 35-degree launch angle, earning it a 430-foot projection from Statcast. The wind, though, howled “not today, rook.” Wetherholt is now 3-for-10 with six walks this spring.

We’re inclined to believe Nightengale on this one since Skubal is unlikely to approach the century mark in an abbreviated outing at this early stage of his ramp-up process. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner will head back to rejoin the Tigers following his lone outing during the international showcase.