MLB Player News

A lot can change between now and the regular season, but this was also the same sentiment offered by Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes earlier in the offseason. Lux is coming off a torn ACL and MCL and was unable to play in any games in 2023 at any level. The 26-year-old slashed .276/.346/.399 in 129 games in 2022 with six home runs, 66 runs scored, 43 RBI, and seven steals. He still has a lot to prove at the MLB level, but he was the Dodgers’ top prospect for a couple of years and has the upside to be a difference-maker in fantasy baseball if he can hold onto the starting job.

Weathers’ velocity was down on a a rainy, 42-degree day at Yankee Stadium, but the Royals still had no fun trying to hit him. Weathers had 14 whiffs on 43 swings, and the slider that he’s barely used this year finished off three strikeouts and had a 55 percent CSW on the 20 times he threw it. The win is Weathers’ first with the Yankees. He has a 3.18 ERA and a 36/8 K/BB in 28 1/3 innings over five starts. He’ll face the Astros on Saturday.

He’s the first pitcher to walk eight in a game since James Paxton on Apr. 14, 2024. Considering that he gave up three homers in addition to all of those walks, this really could have been even worse. Ragans’ velocity was down just a tad today, but that should have been expected on a 42-degree day. There were no good quotes from him or the manager after the game on what they think went wrong. It’s worth wondering if his thumb might be causing issues after he took a comebacker off it and left his Apr. 8 outing. We wouldn’t panic just yet, but it’s been ugly so far. He’ll take an 0-4 record and a 6.00 ERA into his next start against the Angels.

Instead of going with their righties, the Yankees started both Grisham and Ben Rice against Ragans today and both took the southpaw deep. It was the third time Grisham has started in the Yankees’ eight games against lefties this season, though one of the previous two starts was just against a lefty opener. He’s 2-for-14 against southpaws, but that comes with a nice 4/4 K/BB.

No runs scored or RBI for Witt today. Elias Díaz tried to score from first on Witt’s double in the sixth, but he was thrown out pretty easily with the Royals down 7-0 in the game.

In addition to those two hits, Vargas also drew a pair of walks. The 26-year-old has gone deep three times, but even with a four-reach game, his slash of .173/.315/.360 leaves much to be desired. The 26-year-old should continue to see those numbers bump up, even if that’s partially due to the fact that it’s hard to imagine them getting much worse.

Murakami clearly enjoyed playing in Sacramento. He homered in all three games against the Athletics, with this one a deep shot to right off Jeffrey Springs; one of four roundtrippers Springs allowed. The 26-year-old has been the three-true-outcome player many expected, as he’s now slashing .208/.376/.542 over the first 22 games with eight homers and 16 RBI.

Dominguez did allow a walk while throwing 11-of-19 pitches for strikes, but he was able to keep that runner at bay and protect a three-run lead. That’s the fourth save of the season for the 31-year-old, and it’s likely he’ll remain in the closing spot for the White Sox for the foreseeable future. That’s not quite the compliment as it would be for most teams, but saves are saves.

Winn’s double was a grounder down the third base line that Brice Matthews had no chance to play with the infield in. It gave Winn both his first three-hit and three-RBI games of the year. He’s hit in six straight games, raising his average from .154 to .222.

Liberatore left with a three-run lead, but that was blown in the eighth. It means he’s still winless in spite of a 3.67 ERA after five starts. Still, while he’s unfortunate to be winless, he’s probably lucky to have that ERA; he has a 16/10 K/BB with five homers allowed in 27 innings, which makes for a 5.46 FIP. Liberatore will take on the Mariners next time out.

O’Brien took over from Jojo Romero with two on and two outs in the eighth and gave up a two-run single to Isaac Paredes that tied the game. He then picked off pinch-runner Brice Matthews to end the eighth, and he struck out two in a perfect ninth. He got the win after the Cardinals scored three times in the top of the 10th. The save went to Gordon Graceffo, who got the final out after Justin Bruihl retired two of three batters in the 10th. O"Brien has now pitched two straight days, so Romero or Ryne Stanek might need to close Monday.