MLB Player News

Tuesday was Garcia’s first career multi-homer game and his third game with four or more RBI. Garcia has raised his average from .284 to .318 over his last five games. He’s plated eight runs during that stretch. The 21-year-old doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify but if he did, his .481 slugging percentage would be the fourth-highest in the South Atlantic League.

Schlittler struck out the side in an electric opening frame and lived consistently in the mid-to-upper-90’s with his fastball, cutter and sinker in this one. It’s encouraging to see him out there hitting the upper-90’s consistently after dealing with a back issue early on in camp. The 25-year-old righty should be a top-30 range starter in fantasy drafts this spring and offers some significant strikeout upside based on what he showed in the upper minors and with the Yankees in his big-league debut last year.

Johnston is a name to know for fantasy managers in extremely deep mixed leagues and NL-only formats since he projects to open the year as Colorado’s starting first baseman with Blaine Crim potentially hitting the injured list with an oblique injury. The 28-year-old was claimed off waivers from the Marlins last November after finally getting his opportunity at the highest level last year. He’s one of the few cold corner options with some decent stolen base potential and should benefit from hitting at Coors Field’s high-octane environment.

It’s not quite time to panic but Robles has gotten off to an ice-cold start at the plate this spring, hitting .083 (2-for-24) through eight games. The 28-year-old missed most of last season after suffering a dislocated left shoulder in early April. He’s the type of streaky hitter that tends to pile up hits and stolen bases in bunches but right now he’s in the middle of a cold spell.

Dollander recorded only one strikeout and was tagged for seven hits in his latest spring outing. The 24-year-old former first-round pick continues to flash elite fastball velocity, averaging 98.2 mph and topping out at 99.3 mph in this one. He certainly has the talent to stand a fighting chance at Coors Field but we’re advising more of a wait-and-see approach before trusting him outside of deeper mixed leagues when he’s pitching on the road against weaker lineups.

One of the few Mariners that doesn’t seem to be at the World Baseball Classic, Castillo shook off an early homer by Rockies infielder Adael Amador to work into the fourth inning of this one. He struck out three and only issued one walk. The 33-year-old veteran will pitch at the back-end of Seattle’s rotation this season and projects as a low-upside SP5 for fantasy purposes.

McLain has been one of fantasy’s biggest spring storylines, batting an absurd .607 with five homers and 12 RBI through 10 Cactus League games. He also added his first stolen base of the spring in this one, just for good measure. The case for a bounce-back fantasy campaign is relatively straightforward as McLain spent the offseason adding muscle to his frame and is even further removed from shoulder surgery, which theoretically should result in more consistent hard contact. He’s a prime sleeper candidate at second base, going off the board right around pick 200 overall, on average, in most drafts this spring.

Abbott served up a homer to – on a cutter that he’s been working on this spring. He generated six swinging strikes and finished with a respectable 30 percent CSW in his latest spring tune-up, building up his pitch count to 69 (42 strikes) in the process. The 26-year-old southpaw will take the ball on Opening Day for the Reds against the Red Sox at Great American Ball Park on March 26.

Gasser struck out four and didn’t issue a walk, but he surrendered three home runs in this one, leaving him with an inflated 9.95 ERA across three starts this spring. The 26-year-old lefty remains in the mix for the final spot in Milwaukee’s season-opening rotation but could wind up pitching out of the bullpen in a swingman-type role if the club elects to go with Brandon Sproat over him.

Ramirez’s slam was a 387-foot fly off of Mitch Spence. The 21-year-old Ramirez, who was added to the Cubs’ 40-man over the winter, is 8-for-22 with two homers and just one strikeout this spring. He’s also 4-for-5 stealing bases. He split time between second and third last year while hitting .280/.346/.386 for Double-A Knoxville. His path to playing time at third base for the Cubs seems thoroughly walled off for the foreseeable future, but he could be a factor at second in 2027 if Nick Hoerner isn’t re-signed.

Mitch Squires, Elias Díaz and Luca Tresh all homered off him. Based on his performance last year, Rea would seem to be the obvious next-man-in to the Cubs rotation if anyone gets hurt, but Javier Assad, who faces Italy tonight, looked really good for Mexico last time out and has the better career numbers for the Cubs. Maybe we won’t actually find out who the choice would be, since the Cubs are hoping to get Justin Steele back within the first two months.