MLB Player News

The deal does not include an invitation to spring training. Watanabe was used almost exclusively as a starter in Japan, but he’ll try to make it up to the majors with the Red Sox as a submarining reliever. The 37-year-old posted a 4.62 ERA with a 9/9 K/BB ratio over 25 1/3 innings in 2013 for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Crews is now riding a five-game hitting streak with hits in six of his last seven games, which has seen him go 9-for-28 (.321) with one home run, one double, two RBI, seven runs scored, and one steal. This year, Crews is slashing .284/.388/.418 with two home runs, 14 runs scored, and four steals in 80 plate appearances.

Bleday also struck out three times, so it was a mixed bag, but he now has five home runs and 18 RBI in 88 plate appearances with a .338/.443/.635 slash line. With Rece Hinds going 2-for-17 with seven strikeouts in his first five MLB games since being promoted, the Reds could make a change soon.

Alcántara now has eight home runs and a .990 OPS in 77 plate appearances at Triple-A. Of course, he’s also hitting .227 with a 35 percent strikeout rate, so it hasn’t all been excellent. That being said, Alcántara has clearly shown that he has power that will play in any ballpark, and he could hit his way into the Cubs’ lineup if they have any outfield injuries.

Ingle, who’s 24 years old, has now safely reached base in all 13 games he’s played this year while slashing .357/.617/.786. He has four home runs and 12 RBI on the season with an absurd 9/18 K/BB ratio. With Bo Naylor slashing .156/.224/.244 in 49 plate appearances and playing league-average defense, you have to wonder if the Guardians would consider making a change at some point.

Valera, the first Red Sox’s fifth-ranked prospect, left his last start with elbow inflammation. But, as of now, it appears he has avoided any major injury. The current plan is for him to be shut down from throwing for two weeks and then begin to ramp back up. When he starts to throw again, we’ll have a better idea of whether or not the 19-year-old has really avoided any injury.

The prospect better known as “The Password” came over from Boston in the offseason in a trade for Johan Oviedo, who is also on the injured list. Garcia is also off to a poor start at Triple-A, slashing .158/.186/.175 in 59 plate appearances with a 29 percent strikeout rate. Perhaps the back injury has played a part in those struggles.

Sandoval felt some tightness in his biceps after his last rehab start in Triple-A, but the Red Sox don’t seem overly concerned about the injury. The current plan is to “hope a couple days of rest will do the trick,” so we’ll watch Sandoval’s next rehab start closely to see if there is any reason for concern.

Torkelson is hitting just .182/.333/.227 in 81 plate appearances this season. It’s nice that he’s walking more, and that’s clearly part of his plan since his overall swing rate has dropped eight percent; however, Torkelson is also taking far more called strikes, and his strikeout rate is actually up from last season. His hard-hit rate is still in line with what he produced last year, and his swinging strike rate is better, so the first baseman may need to simply tweak his approach to stop being as passive as he has been. Colt Keith will play first base and hit third on Monday with Hao-Yu Lee at third base and batting eighth.

Rafaela has started 11 of the last 12 games for the Red Sox, so this is a routine day off. Boston didn’t do anything in the off-season to solve their outfield logjam, and now they also have Masataka Yoshida hitting .300/.462/.400 in his first 39 plate appearances, which makes it hard for Alex Cora to get everybody into the lineup. Yoshida will DH on Monday with Jarren Duran in centerfield. Rafaela is having a solid start to the season, hitting .279/.362/.377 with one home run and a 39 percent hard-hit rate, but he’s hitting the ball in the air less and hasn’t yet stolen a base, so the fantasy goodness has not followed so far.

Harris has been hitting the ball hard since day one this season, but he wasn’t getting results before his trip to the paternity list on Apr. 11. Since returning Monday, he’s 8-for-18 with two homers and three walks, pushing up to .290/.338/.478 for the season. Statcast thinks he should be slugging up over .600, given his career-best exit velocity numbers. His hard-hit rate is 54 percent.