MLB Player News

He broke the record set by Kenny Lofton in 1992. Ruiz also is the AL steals leader, going 67-for-80 this season. He might well have reached the century mark if he didn’t miss a month and the A’s didn’t reduce his role after he returned in August. Still, Ruiz wasn’t a very good player while batting .254/.309/.355 and struggling defensively in center field. The bat speed just isn’t there to make a quality hitter. If his legs made him a plus defender, it’d be worth living with the bat. As is, though, he seems of only limited use to a major league club.

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.

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.

All of the runs scored in the second before the Royals pulled Spence with two outs in the frame. He returned to retire Ian Happ in the third and then left for good. Spence, who was acquired from the A’s a month ago, has allowed eight runs over seven innings this spring. At this point, he seems more likely to wind up in the Triple-A rotation than in the major league pen.