MLB Player News

The No. 3 overall pick in the 2009 Draft, Tate was a flop with the Padres due to injuries, suspensions and poor play. A career .229/.334/.324 hitter with just nine homers over 1,189 plate appearances, Tate is still just 25 but hasn’t played above A-ball. Still, it’s a no-risk gamble by the Dodgers.

No one had a multihit game for Italy, which got its eight runs with eight hits, eight walks and five steals. Pasquantino was rather stunningly aggressive in getting his two steals, considering he’s tried a total of three (all successful) in four years in MLB. Saving Italy today were Guardians prospect Dylan DeLucia, who pitched four scoreless frames after taking over in the third, and Greg Weissert, who got the final five outs to close the game out. Italy will face the winner of Japan versus Venezuela on Monday.

Weissert threw 28 pitches in all after bailing out Joe La Sorsa in the eighth. Boston’s setup man has struck out five in 3 1/3 scoreless innings during the tournament.

Two walks and three singles were enough to doom Lugo today. If the game had been played under spring training rules, perhaps Lugo would have come back out for the second and settled in just fine. As is, though, Puerto Rico figured it had little choice but to make the move, and the Royals were probably happy, given that Lugo had already thrown 25 pitches in the first. It was a rough day for Puerto Rico, but nothing changed about Lugo’s outlook in this one.

Doyle roped a one-out triple (94.3 mph EV) off of Ben Brown in the top half of the first inning and scored the game’s first run on a ground ball off the bat of Hunter Goodman. The 27-year-old outfielder is having a strong spring at the plate, hitting .400 (8-for-20) with six RBI and one stolen base, though he’s still in search of his first home run.

The 32-year-old southpaw uncharacteristically racked up four strikeouts on the afternoon and didn’t walk a batter. The only baserunner against him came on a two-out double by Jefferson Rojas in his final inning of work. Freeland peppered the strike zone in this one, throwing 27 of his 34 pitches for strikes. His four strikeout victims were Matt Shaw, Dylan Carlson, Kevin Alcantara and Jonathan Long. For the spring, he holds a stellar 1.80 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a 6/3 K/BB ratio over five innings in his two starts. He’s still not a recommended option for fantasy purposes.

After striking out in his first at-bat, Shaw worked a walk to open the third inning before being erased on a double play. He drew another walk in the sixth inning, swiped second base and advanced to third on an error, but the Cubs were unable to cash him in from there. The 24-year-old is having a strong spring — hitting .323 (10-for-31) with a homer, two RBI and five stolen bases in 38 plate appearances. His fantasy value will ultimately come down to how much playing time he sees in his super utility role.

The 26-year-old hurler scattered two hits on the afternoon and did not allow a base on balls. The only scoring done against him came in the opening inning as Brenton Doyle smacked a one-out triple and scored on a ground ball off the bat of Hunter Goodman. Brown needed a strong showing on Saturday to keep in the mix for a roster spot, and he certainly delivered. For the spring, he holds a 3.38 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a sparkling 15/3 K/BB ratio across 10 2/3 innings.

Gusto became a little more important to the Marlins with Adam Mazur requiring season-ending surgery, but he’s still only a rotation candidate if someone gets hurt. He has a 4.66 ERA and a 7/2 K/BB in 9 2/3 innings this spring.

Not great is that his velocity today was the worst it’s been this spring. He averaged 95.6 mph with his fastball, down from 96.5 mph in his first three outings and 97.3 mph last year. Weirder than that, though, was that his two changeups today checked in at 89.5 mph and 88.8 mph. His changeups last year averaged 94.2 mph. It’s quite possible Fairbanks is still just easing into things, but given his injury history, it seems like something to watch.

Pallante’s rotation spot has to be pretty much locked up at this point, as he’s sporting a 2.57 ERA through 14 innings. He doesn’t offer any fantasy potential at all, but the Cardinals would be just fine with 170 innings of anything close to a league-average ERA.