MLB Player News

Verdugo struggled offensively after a fine start last season, coming in at .264/.324/.421, but he did play a better right field than expected after moving from left to make room for Masataka Yoshida. The Red Sox don’t need to move him, but since it doesn’t sound like they’re going to commit to him for the long haul, they might try to take advantage of the weak outfield market in free agency and extract some value from him now.

Williams has gone 3-for-11 to start the season with three strikeouts and three walks and has also stolen three bases without being caught. The Brewers are using David Hamilton and Luis Rengifo at third base right, which seems to be a signal that they’re holding the spot until Williams is ready. His speed is going to be a major asset when he finally takes over the job.

This was part of the speculation when Fuentes was sent down earlier today, but now we have clarity. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports that “Once [Fuentes] gets his pitch count up to 90 over the next couple weeks, there will be a greater chance to see him be part of Atlanta’s rotation over an extended period.” It may be hard to hold Fuentes on your fantasy rosters since we don’t know for sure when he will be up, but it seems like he’s going to get a shot in the Braves’ rotation before April is done.

Pérez had remained in minor league camp, but the Braves will add him to the roster, most likely, to start on Tuesday. It’s not a great matchup against the Athletics, but a decent outing could keep Pérez in the rotation for a bit longer.

This is just about usage and the Braves needing a fresh bullpen arm. Fuentes threw four innings of relief yesterday so he won’t be available to pitch for a few days. He has minor league options remaining so he will continue to build his pitch count with Gwinnett and likely return to the Braves as a starter in the coming weeks.

Tibbs impressed this spring and is off to an 8-for-13 starts with six extra-base hits in three games for Oklahoma City. The Dodgers might not ever need the twice-traded 2024 first-round pick (first from the Giants to the Red Sox in the Rafael Devers deal and later to the Dodgers in the Dustin May trade), but he could be a big part of another deadline deal this summer.

Both the single and homer left the bat at 106 mph, with the homer traveling 401 feet. Jones cleared waivers at the end of the spring after failing to make the Guardians, but this probably isn’t the end for him. The Guardians are going to be searching for offense all year, and while Jones is no certainty to provide it, he has more upside than a good two-thirds of the players on their roster.

Garrett was quite surprisingly sent down despite showing the best velocity of his career in averaging 92.6 mph with his fastball in two starts this spring. He wasn’t quite at that level tonight, coming in at 91.8 mph, but that’s still 1.0 mph better than his average as a major leaguer. Even as is, he’s almost certainly one of the Marlins’ five best starters, and it shouldn’t be too long before he gets a chance to show it.

Griffin’s doubles left his bat at 113 and 102 mph. He’s 5-for-10 with three walks and two steals in the very early going here. The Pirates could still give him a quick callup and be eligible to receive a draft pick in the event that he makes a Rookie of the Year bid, but given that they made their choice this spring, it’s quite a bit more likely that they’ll keep him in the minors until May or June.

The 26-year-old Arrighetti allowed just one hit and one hard-hit ball. He’s likely to join the Astros when they expand their rotation from five to six starters next week.

Tolle struck out six and gave up only four hard-hit balls, so it wasn’t so bad. Still, if he entered the spring on relatively even ground with Connelly Early, he’s well behind Early at the moment, and his odds of getting a quick recall to the majors don’t seem great.