MLB Player News

MLB.com’s Peter Gammons was told by a general manager that the Dodgers were willing to give the Cuban defector a contract in the five-year, $50 million range, which would likely be enough to sign him. Rosenthal evidently believes they might not be willing to go to that length, though. The Braves, Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, Phillies, Blue Jays, Twins, and Marlins have also been connected to Gonzalez.

Perhaps the rumors of Arenado’s demise were a tad overblown? He clocked a 411 foot, go-ahead three-run home run off Brandon Sproat which wound up being the difference for his Diamondbacks. That gave him five home runs and 17 RBI with a .284 batting average and .787 OPS so far this season. Just be advised, he’s still not hitting the ball very hard despite these quality counting stats.

It was frustrating for Rodriguez to labor through the fourth inning after his lineup jumped out to a big lead in the top of the frame. After they put up a four-spot, it took him nearly 30 pitches to get through it and those struggles seemed to force manager Torey Lovullo to have a quick hook on him after a two out walk in the fifth. Not getting the win was a shame, but he didn’t have anything close to his best stuff or command here. He’s lined up to face the Pirates and Mets in a two-start week coming up.

Turang just keeps on chugging along. Two more doubles here gives him 13 extra-base hits on the season and somehow looks like a certified power hitter at this point. He’s further improved on his much improved batted ball metrics from last year and has the profile of someone that could wind up as the number one second baseman by season’s end.

Recently, it’s felt like Sproat was getting over the hump. He’d pitched into the sixth inning in consecutive starts and allowed just four runs in the process. Then, he struck out the first four batters he faced in this game and the excitement grew. Just as it began to seem real, the wheels fell off in the fourth inning. Adrian Del Castillo golfed a sinker for a solo home run with one out and three batters later Nolan Arenado hit a three-run shot on nearly the same pitch, but from the perspective of a right-handed batter. He only threw seven sinkers all game, and two left the yard. Well, he’s lined up for a two-start week coming up against the Cardinals and Yankees.

The run came in the first on a very odd play. Singles from Bobby Witt Jr. and Carter Jensen put runners on the corners with one out. Salvador Perez then broke his bat on a soft liner to short that Jacob Wilson either dropped intentionally or got spooked by a bat shard. Wilson picked the ball up and threw to second for an out, but Witt scored just ahead of the relay home. Severino went on to strike out eight and walk two in his second win of the year. It’s just his fourth quality start in 18 tries in home games in Sacramento since he signed with the A’s a year ago. He’ll pitch in Philadelphia next week.

Joel Kuhnel got five outs between the eighth and ninth tonight, but since it was 5-1 when he entered, he wasn’t in line for a save. Leiter came in with one on in a 5-2 game in the ninth and walked Isaac Collins before striking out Jac Caglianone to end the game. It’s his third save, but he has a 6.23 ERA and seems to be only a minor part of the Athletics’’ closer-by-committee situation at the moment.

Wacha probably wouldn’t have gotten through five if the A’s hadn’t made three outs on the basepaths and given away another on a sac bunt. That said, Wacha was really unfortunate to give up eight hits. He allowed just two hard-hit balls and three with xBAs over .500. This leaves him 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA with the Guardians next on the schedule.

Butler is up to .187/.260/.308 in 100 plate appearances. He’s been sitting against left-handers, which seems like the right move for the A’s but one that cuts into his fantasy value. Maybe he’ll wind up with 20 homers and 20 steals anyway, but he’s probably not going to be of much help in the other categories in the process.

This was an impressive start. Cavalli forced multiple swing-and-misses with all five of his pitches and his knuckle-curve was especially sharp, forcing eight. That pitch is his make-or-break offering and when it’s on, he is nasty. Cavalli did get to relax with his lineup spotting him a two-run lead in the first inning and eight-run margin in the fourth. After they blew the game open, he threw 24 consecutive strikes to finish off his outing and complete six innings for the second time this season. That’s sensational in-game awareness. He’s also struck out 10 batters in consecutive starts and will try to stay hot with a two-start week on deck against the Twins and Marlins.

Now this is how to pour it on in a blowout win. Mead didn’t have a hit in eight days, but was in the lineup here with the left-handed pitching David Peterson on the mound and certainly got his. Just as a reminder as to how small the samples still are this early in the season, Mead entered this game with a .175 batting average and .652 OPS. After it, he left with a .226 batting average and .798 OPS.