MLB Player News

From 2016-21, Plutko had a 5.39 ERA in 37 starts and 51 relief appearances as a major leaguer, most of them coming with Cleveland, but he’s been excellent in Korea, having gone 26-8 with a 2.40 ERA the last two years. Merrill Kelly’s success coming back from Korea might help Plutko’s chances of landing a rotation spot somewhere.

A single, a sac fly or a walk would have done just fine, but Smith connected on Carlos Estévez’s final meatball and sent it 386 feet out to right. It was his lone hit tonight. He’s slated to serve as the Braves’ DH against righties until Sean Murphy returns from the IL and puts himself into the mix.

López wasn’t intentionally holding back while averaging just 91.3 mph with his fastball this spring, but there was talk that he figured something out in his most recent bullpen session and that was clearly correct; he came in at 94.4 mph with his fastball tonight, leaving him 1.2 mph shy of his 2025 average. We still wouldn’t really want to count on him staying healthy, but the boost tonight makes him an option in mixed leagues in which he was passed over on draft day. He’ll face the Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Wacha got 17 whiffs tonight, and his 37.5% CSW was a full 50% better than his 2025 mark of 24.9%. His strikeout rate took a hit last year, dropping from 22% in 2023 and 21% in 2024 to 18% in 2025. A rebound there would go a long way towards making him a viable mixed-league option this season. He’ll face the Brewers next week.

If you watched Estévez this spring, you had a pretty good idea this was coming. The 2025 AL saves leader averaged 91.2 mph with his fastball tonight, down 4.7 mph from last year. His hardest pitch, at 92.3 mph, was actually the one Dominic Smith hit for the game-ending grand slam. Smith gave up four hits, all on hard-hit balls, and walked two while getting just one miss on 10 swings. He simply can’t serve as a major league closer until he gets some stuff back, and unless the Royals are blinded by loyalty, they should turn to Matt Strahm and Lucas Erceg, in either order, in the eighth and ninth. We’d grab Erceg first, but best not to write off Strahm. Both pitched scoreless innings tonight, with Strahm getting the seventh and Erceg working the eighth.

Harris had a 111-mph leadoff single with the Braves down 2-0 in the eighth, only to let the team down by getting picked off afterwards. Fortunately, he made up for it an inning later, though his rocket groundball up the middle might well have been a game-ending double play if it hadn’t caught Carlos Estévez in the leg and bounced high in the air for a single. Harris, who hit seventh versus Michael Wacha tonight after batting ninth against a lefty in the opener, is 4-for-8 with a homer and three RBI through two games.

Wheeler, coming back from thoracic outlet surgery, threw 38 pitches. His velocity was down 2.5-3 mph from last year, which might or might not be a concern. If he was trying to throw as hard as he could and only came in at 92-94 mph, that would be a problem. But if he was just easing into things, being down 2-3 mph sounds about right. We will just note that last year, Wheeler averaged 95.9 mph with his fastball in his first spring outing, which was practically a match for the 96.1 mph he averaged during the season. Wheeler is due to make two more rehab starts before being reevaluated.

Gaddis, like pretty much every pitcher placed on the 15-day IL prior to the start of the season, will be eligible to return on Apr. 6. He’s been on the shelf since the beginning of the month due to forearm tightness.

If his arm bounces back on Sunday, he’s likely to make his next start as scheduled Tuesday against the Dodgers. Of course, that is a tough assignment, and since the Guardians are off Thursday, it’s likely to be Bibee’s only start of the week. It probably makes sense to sit him in mixed leagues.

Robert played the hero in the 11th inning in a game where runs were at a premium. Down by one run with two runners on, he took Hunter Barco deep for a three-run blast to walk it off. He also drew a walk in the game. The 28-year-old outfielder is making a good first impression with his new club, going 3-for-8 over his first two games with two walks to one strikeout.

Reynolds reached base with a single in the seventh inning, then scored a run in the tenth as the runner starting on second, the first run of the game for Pittsburgh. He then knocked in a run with his second hit of the game in the 11th. The 31-year-old outfielder is looking to bounce back after posting a career-low .720 OPS last season.