MLB Player News

Not quite the reward he was hoping for after striking out six over four scoreless innings Wednesday against the Cardinals, but Clemens was Triple-A bound all along. The 24-year-old right-hander was ranked as the organization’s No. 5 prospect over the winter by Baseball America and should get a look at the major league level once the Astros decide to give up on some of their veterans. The Astros also sent Jonathan Singleton, Lance Pendleton, Jake Goebbert, Brandon Barnes, Diory Hernandez, Rene Garcia and Chris Wallace to minor league camp.

It was a single-car accident blamed on wet pavement. He was taken to the hospital afterwards and subsequently released. Fortunately, no serious damage was done, but we’ll have a better idea Thursday if there’s something that might impact Winn’s baseball availability for the near future. If he needs an IL stint, the Cardinals could give his at-bats to Ramón Urías and José Fermín and call up Cesar Prieto to fill the open roster spot.

India blew this one wide open with a sixth-inning slam off Twins reliever Zak Kent to give Kansas City a 12-1 lead at the time. It was his first big fly of the season. The versatile 29-year-old has started four of five games at second base to open the season with Michael Massey (calf) on the injured list.

Keaschall has gotten off to an extremely slow start through five games, batting .158 (3-for-19) with three RBI. It’s way too small of a sample size to overreact. The 23-year-old second baseman helped jump start Minnesota’s late rally by smacking a two-run double to left field in the seventh inning. It’s only a matter of time before he gets rolling.

The biggest question for Caglianone entering the season was whether his BABIP would normalize after he posted an outlandishly low .172 mark over 62 games during his rookie campaign last year. The 23-year-old slugger put three batted balls in play with exit velocities over 100 mph in this one, resulting in a trio of hits, including a 110.1-mph double against Twins ace Joe Ryan. One of the more popular late-round sleepers in fantasy drafts this spring, Caglianone is still searching for his first homer, but is hitting .357 (5-for-14) through five games.

Erceg was forced into action to clean up a ninth-inning mess after Bailey Falter allowed three runs and brought the tying run to the on-deck circle with one out, despite Kansas City entering the frame with a seven-run cushion. He retired Austin Martin before getting James Outman to ground out to end the contest. The hard-throwing 30-year-old will have some runway to establish himself as the Royals’ primary closing option with Carlos Estévez on the injured list with a foot contusion.

Cameron got plenty of help from Kansas City’s offense, which lit up Twins ace Joe Ryan for five runs over four innings to open the contest, enabling the young southpaw to cruise to a victory in his season debut. The soft-tosser generated only seven swinging strikes and gave up nine hard-hit balls, but managed to avoid any major damage. He’ll square off against the Guardians on Monday in a road tilt.

Ryan ran into an absolute buzzsaw in his second outing of the year as Kansas City tagged him for nine hits and forced him from the contest after just 77 pitches (49 strikes) over four frames. He finished with three strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter during a rain-soaked outing at Kaufmann Stadium. The concerning development for Ryan here is that he surrendered six hard-hit balls, including three with exit velocities over 106 mph that went for extra bases. Not great. He’ll aim for better results his next time out when he faces the division-rival Tigers on Monday in his next outing.

Ramírez gave Cleveland a commanding four-run lead with a towering two-run homer to left in the eighth inning, hammering a high fastball from Dodgers lefty Tanner Scott. The 33-year-old fantasy stalwart has gotten off to an unexpected frosty start at the plate, hitting .143 (4-for-28) with one homer, five RBI and two steals through seven games.

Pages was responsible for Los Angeles’ lone extra-base hit of the contest until Freddie Freeman went deep with two outs in the ninth inning. The 25-year-old center fielder has been one of the early bright spots for the Dodgers, hitting .429 (9-for-21) with one homer and five RBI in six games, which is a pleasant surprise since he looked completely lost at the dish during last year’s postseason run.

Freeman took Cleveland stopper Cade Smith deep with two outs in the ninth inning, crushing a gargantuan 407-foot moonshot to straightaway center field to break up a potential shutout. The entire top half of Los Angeles’ loaded lineup has inexplicably gotten off to an ice-cold start to the season. Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts, Freeman and Will Smith went a combined 1-for-18 in this one. They’re far too talented to continue flailing and it’s only a matter of time before they get back on track.