MLB Player News

Hill returns to Detroit just a few weeks after being non-tendered. The 27-year-old righty struggled last year in nine relief appearances in the big leagues. He’ll function as organizational depth for the Tigers moving forward.

Vargas did most of his damage in the early stages of Monday’s eventual rout at loanDepot park, putting Chicago on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the third inning before walloping a grand slam down the left field line off Marlins starter Chris Paddack in the fourth. It was his first round-tripper of the season. He picked up an additional RBI with a sixth inning sacrifice fly to cap off one of the strongest performances of his career. The 26-year-old former top prospect remains a strong corner infield option for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues.

Hicks took White Sox starter Davis Martin out to right field in the fourth inning for his second long ball of the season. He also tacked on a run-scoring single in the eighth inning. The 26-year-old backstop was responsible for three of Miami’s four runs in the one-sided affair. He’ll continue splitting time with Agustín Ramírez behind the plate and figures to see the occasional start at DH and first base while Christopher Morel (oblique) is sideline for at least the next month.

Technically, it goes down as a save since Hicks came on to record the final out of the eighth inning with the potential tying run in the on-deck circle after Sean Newcomb loaded the bases with Chicago leading 9-4 at the time. The 29-year-old is highly unlikely to be pitching in a ton of high-leverage spots this season unless the White Sox are interested in boosting his hypothetical trade value.

Martin received a touchdown and a two-point conversion worth of run support from Chicago’s suddenly sizzling offense during his season debut. He gave a couple runs back in the fourth when Liam Hicks took him deep for a two-run shot, but he had enough of a cushion that he was able to cruise to a relatively easy win. He struck out six and only handed out a pair of free passes. He’ll square off against the Blue Jays on Sunday to close out a two-start week.

The fun part is that Paddack finally made his long-awaited Marlins debut more than a decade after being selected in the 2015 MLB Draft, having been traded to the Padres in the Fernando Rodney deal one year later. He fell behind early after giving up a run-scoring single to Miguel Vargas followed by a three-run blast from Austin Hays. Things went downhill even further when he coughed up a grand slam to Vargas in the fourth inning. The 30-year-old righty continues to be burned by the long ball after serving up 31 dingers between the Twins and Tigers last year. He’ll face a tough test his next time out with a road matchup against the Yankees on Sunday.

Remember a few weeks ago when it looked like Burns might open up in the minors? His 78 pitches tonight produced 15 whiffs. He averaged 98.3 mph with his fastball and maintained his velocity throughout. The Reds likely will employ quick hooks here from time to time, but Burns should be a strong fantasy starter, even if he lags behind in the wins department. He’ll face the Rangers on Sunday.

We thought it might be Graham Ashcraft tonight with Emilio Pagán and Tony Santillan nearly certain to be unavailable after working both Saturday and Sunday. Ashcraft did factor in, getting four outs in the seventh and eighth, but Phillips was called on to finish and did so successfully despite walking two batters. The Reds should have Pagán back closing on Tuesday.

It’s Ashcraft’s first career quality start, as the Pirates declined to let him go deep in his eight starts after moving from the pen to the rotation in the second half of last year. They won’t be so restrictive this season, at least not in the first half. He might not be allowed to make 30+ starts, but for now, he offers some value in deeper mixed leagues. He’ll make his next start at home against the Orioles.

Benson has started against both right-handers the Reds have faced so far. We rather thought that’d be happening mostly at Spencer Steer’s expense, rather than Noelvi Marte’s, but as long as Benson has that strong-side platoon role, he should offer value in deeper leagues. The 27-year-old had a 15-percent barrel rate and a 54-percent hard-hit rate in his 230 plate appearances last year.

Cruz is 2-for-15 with one walk and eight strikeouts so far. Four games don’t mean much, but considering that he’s coming off a .298 OBP last year, it’s hard to understand why he’s currently batting first. Switching him and Spencer Horwitz would make a lot of sense, especially since it’d free up Cruz to do all the basestealing he wants ahead of the bottom of the order.