MLB Player News

Valdespin posted a cool .310/.340/.452 batting line this spring in the Grapefruit League, but the Mets want him to get regular playing time and it wouldn’t have been available in New York. The 24-year-old is an impressive athlete and even got tested in center field this spring, so he could be up at some point this year as a utility player.

Thanks to a big assist from Tim Hill, who bizarrely decided to try for an out at third on a comebacker in the 10th and ended up nearly breaking the hand of a sliding Luis Rengifo, the Brewers only needed Contreras to deliver an outfield fly to win this one, and he did so successfully. He’s 13-for-34 with a homer and 10 RBI in his last eight games.

Harrison walked four and threw 77 pitches to get 12 outs, so the Brewers decided to give the Yankees a different look in the fifth and turn to Chad Patrick. Thanks to a late comeback, Harrison avoided the loss after leaving down 2-0. He’s 3-1 with a 2.41 ERA, and he should be worth using against the Padres next week.

Patrick entered to begin the fifth, which might have put him in good position to get a win tonight. The Brewers, though, never took a lead until winning the game in the 10th. Patrick, perhaps the game’s top utility pitcher whether he likes it or not, has a 3.15 ERA in five starts and three relief appearances. He might get a start next weekend against the Twins, but it’s not something anyone can count on.

Ashby struck out three after coming into a tie game to begin the ninth. He has a 2.16 ERA while throwing 25 innings in the Brewers’ first 36 games. It’ll be interesting to see if he can stay healthy with his kind of usage, because he’s definitely had issues there previously. He’s been one of the Brewers’ MVPs to date.

Even though the Yankees used just one reliever last night, they tried to get through the seventh and eighth with Brent Headrick and Camilo Doval tonight and gave up a two-run lead. Schlittler was terrific despite taking a 108-mph comebacker off his leg in the first. It looked like he might not be able to continue both at the time and again at the start of the second, but things went well from there. His ERA stands at 1.35 with the Mets next on the schedule.

Goldschmidt homered off Kyle Harrison to open the top of the first and kept going from there. He’s at .236/.333/.509 in 63 plate appearances, and he probably should be in line for more playing time with Giancarlo Stanton out, even if it means a lesser role for Spencer Jones.

Jones started over Trent Grisham against lefty Kyle Harrison tonight, but after the poor showing, the Brewers decided to insert Grisham into his place against fellow lefty Aaron Ashby in the eighth. Jones’s ball in play tonight was a 250-foot fly to left. He’s 0-for-5 with a walk after two games.

Vargas launched a 410-foot home run in the third inning that left the bat at 106.5 mph, and then hit another one 404 feet at 112.9 mph later in the fifth inning. The 26-year-old now has nine home runs and 21 RBI on the season to go along with a .228/.369/.471 slash line. He’s adjusted his launch angle to not be as dramatic, so he’s hitting fewer fly balls, but he’s making much harder contact with a 13 percent barrel rate and a career high 44 percent hard-hit rate. The batting average should rise closer to .240, and he’s going to be a valuable fantasy asset in many leagues this season.

Kay also allowed three hits and two walks while striking out five and posting a below-average 26 percent CSW and eight percent swinging strike rate. It wasn’t a dominant day for Kay, but he made the big pitches when he needed to, posting a 46 percent PutAway Rate, which is well above his season-long average of 28 percent. His changeup was really his only pitch that missed bats, and has been his best pitch all season. We would avoid starting him against the Cubs next week.

The Padres also got a homer from Ty France in a game they won despite being outhit seven to five. Machado’s homer off Matt Svanson was his first hit in his last six games, pushing his average back up to .197.