MLB Player News

The 32-year-old catcher isn’t much with the bat these days — he hit just .202/.285/.257 in 123 plate appearances with the Cubs in 2023 — but he’s a former Gold Glove winner and is still terrific behind the dish. He’ll be a quality veteran backup wherever he winds up landing, but Barnhart can continue to be ignored for fantasy purposes.

Jansen is up to seven RBI with his homer and four doubles in 27 at-bats this spring. He and Kyle Higashioka project to divvy up playing time pretty equally behind the dish in Texas, but that could always change if one of the two exceeds expectations.

Gore didn’t give up much hard contact tonight, but the 3/3 K/BB wasn’t great. He actually had a 3/3 K/BB in 6 1/3 innings coming into the game, so no help there. Still, there wouldn’t seem to be much reason to be concerned.

Garcia has allowed three runs — two earned — in 3 1/3 innings this spring, but it comes with a 5/0 K/BB. He’d seem to be the current favorite to lead the Rangers in saves this year, though since he’s their best left-hander, it’d be beneficial if the club could play matchups with him. Hopefully, one of the Rangers’ young right-handed relievers will step up eventually.

Burke lowered his spring ERA to 4.97. He was throwing more sinkers in his early starts, which seemed to get him into some trouble, but he backed off that tonight. Five of his 78 pitches against the Rangers were sinkers, which is basically a match for the five percent of the time he threw it last year. He was at 16% sinkers through three outings.

The triple should have been caught, but Derek Hill appeared to lose the ball. Still, it’s good to see Jung back in action after more than two weeks off due to an adductor strain. He’s still in line to be the Rangers’ primary third baseman, though after hitting .252/.294/.390 in 131 games last year, he has a lot to prove as he enters his fourth full season.

Suárez’s homer off Aaron Nola put Venezuela on the board with the score 2-0 on the fourth, and the team rallied for three runs on a walk and then four straight two-out singles from Jackson Chourio, Ronald Acuña Jr., Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez in the seventh. Eduardo Bazardo, Andrés Machado and Daniel Palencia shut the door from there. It’s Venezuela’s first time in the finals of the WBC. They’re expected to start Eduardo Rodriguez against Team USA and Nolan McLean.

Eugenio Suárez took him deep in the fourth, but Nola against looked very good. His fastball velocity was up one mph from last year, and he was able to strike out three in the 59-pitch outing. We wouldn’t expect Nola to return to 2022 form, but he should be useful in mixed leagues, even if he’s not an asset in ERA.

Rodriguez made our relief appearances for the Brewers last season and figures to occupy a swingman-type role once he gets back to the big leagues. Williams was the big prize for Milwaukee in the Freddy Peralta trade back in the offseason and offers enough power/speed combo upside to make an impact in fantasy leagues once he reaches the majors. He isn’t too far away.

Wood recorded batted balls with exit velocities of 107.9, 103.4 and 113.9 mph, respectively, before crushing an opposite-field blast in the seventh inning to close the night. He also tacked on a 107.2 mph double in the ninth, just for good measure. The 23-year-old fantasy standout has struggled this spring overall, hitting .100 (3-for-30) with 10 strikeouts in 12 games. He’s going to strike out roughly 30 percent of the time, even when he’s in a groove at the plate. The important thing to note is that he’s still making extremely loud contact this spring.

Benge reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances out of the leadoff spot in this one, raising his spring OPS to a robust .972 in the process. The 23-year-old top prospect, who batted .281/.385/.462 with 15 homers and 22 steals over 116 games across three minor-league levels last year, is hitting .406 (13-for-32) with one steal in 11 games this spring, which is going to make it nearly impossible for New York to ship him to Triple-A at the end of camp. It’s challenging to forecast immediate fantasy stardom for Benge as he acclimates to life in the big leagues, especially since he’s likely to hit at the bottom of the lineup. Yet, he’s a well-rounded talent with few weaknesses in his offensive profile, which gives him a shot at 15-20 homers and double-digit steals in an everyday role.