MLB Player News

No real surprises here as Colás figured to be edged out of contention for an Opening Day roster spot after an influx of talent during the offseason. Meanwhile, Quero and Bush represent a pair of top prospects on the verge of making it to the big leagues relatively soon. It’s a bit surprising to see Eder heading back to Double-A, but he’ll get plenty of innings there to open the year.

Severino was solid through the first 4 1/3 innings, but things turned disastrous in the fifth inning when a walk to Kazuma Okamoto and a double allowed to Ernie Clement put runners on second and third with one out. A misplayed ball by outfielders Denzel Clarke and Tyler Soderstrom resulted in a two-RBI triple for Andrés Giménez, which gave the Jays a 2-1 lead. Severino would make it out of the inning, but did not return in the sixth. It was an unfortunate ending for Severino, who allowed just three hits on the night. His next start is scheduled for Wednesday against the Braves, where he will oppose Chris Sale.

The 2025 NL Rookie of the Year got on the board in the third inning when he took Royals starter Cole Ragans deep for his first homer of the season. Baldwin DH’d on Friday and also fell victim to three ground ball outs, and is coming off a spring in which he slashed .349/.391/.674. Despite serving as DH on Friday, we would expect him to see a few starts at catcher with Sean Murphy (hip) on the 10-day IL.

Albies wasted little time getting on the board for the first time this season. The switch-hitting second baseman took an 83 MPH changeup from Cole Ragans into the left field seat in the bottom of the first to give the Braves an early 1-0 lead. Albies was surprisingly listed third in Thursday’s lineup, but the decision paid early dividends for manager Walt Weiss who made his managerial debut for the Braves. Albies would single to right in the third inning for his second hit on the night, but was caught stealing a few pitches later. Albies is looking to rebound from a disappointing .240/.306/.365 line in 2025 and is off to a strong start after hitting .188 this spring.

Sale had an up-and-down start to this one, striking out four batters through the first three innings while also walking three and allowing two hits. The veteran lefty would settle in for the final three frames, however, allowing just one hit the rest of the way while striking out an additional two batters to end the day with six punchouts. Sale got plenty of run support in this one, as three Braves homers gave them an early 4-0 lead, which proved to be more than enough to give Sale his first win of the 2026 campaign. Sale’s next start is scheduled to come on Wednesday at home against the Athletics.

Ragans retired the first two batters he faced to start this one, but gave up a solo homer to Ozzie Albies with two outs, and followed that by allowing a single to Matt Olson and a walk to Austin Riley. An Eli White groundout ended the early threat, but Ragans would fall victim to the homer again in the third inning when Drake Baldwin took him deep to extend the Braves’ lead to 2-0. Ragans would allow two more runs in the fourth inning courtesy of a two-run homer by Michael Harris, and did not return to start the fifth inning. It was an uncharacteristic outing for Ragans, who allowed just seven homers in 13 games last season. He’ll look to get back on track in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday at home against the Twins.

Fairbanks is officially one-for-one in save opportunities as a member of the Marlins. the veteran righty allowed just one hit in a scoreless ninth inning and ended the game with a line drive out to short. Fairbanks saved 27 games for the Rays last season and figures to be the regular closer for the Marlins in 2026 as long as he can stay healthy.

Caissie was scheduled to sit against lefty Kyle Freeland, but a late scratch to first baseman Christopher Morel thrusted Caissie into the lineup as the DH. Caissie’s first hit as a Marlin came in the bottom of the second when he doubled off of Freeland to score Xavier Edwards from first. Caissie would come around to score on the next at-bat when Javier Sanoja responded with a double of his own to put the Marlins up 2-0. Caissie had a chance to add to the Marlins’ lead in the eighth inning with two outs and a runner on third, but was called out on strikes to end the inning. We wouldn’t expect Caissie to see too many starts with lefties on the mound, but this was an encouraging outing for the 23-year-old in a spot-start situation.

It was easy to forget that Griffin had never played a game at Triple-A during all of the fanfare around him this spring. He wasted no time making an impact out of the leadoff spot with a first inning walk and stolen base before coming around to score just after. He smacked a 102 mph single through the hole later on as well and looks like he’ll be able to handle this level just fine.

Freeland walked two batters in the first inning but escaped unharmed. It would be the only two batters he walked on the evening. In the bottom of the second, however, three-straight hits surrendered to Xavier Edwards, Owen Caissie, and Javier Sanoja, plated two runs for the Marlins in the frame to give them the early 2-0 lead. Freeland again found himself in trouble in the third inning when he put runners on the corners with one out via a hit and a hit batter, but back-to-back groundballs ended that threat. He was pulled after allowing a groundball out to Jakob Marsee to start the fifth inning to, putting an end to his first start of the season. Freeland did his part to limit runners after a shaky first two innings. His next start is scheduled for Wednesday in Toronto.

Alcantara was efficient early, needing just 24 pitches to get through the first three innings while striking out two. Alcantara was on target all night and got some help from his defense when Austin Slater gunned down Jake McCarthy at home on a throw from right field to temporarily keep the Rockies off the board in the fourth inning. However, an error at third base with two outs extended the inning, while an infield single by Jordan Beck drove in the Rockies’ first run of the night to cut the Marlins’ lead to 2-1. Alcantara’s day came to an end after he struck out Brenton Doyle to end the seventh inning. He threw only 73 pitches on the day, with 49 of those going for strikes. Things couldn’t have gone much better for Alcantara, who looked every bit the ace we saw in 2022. He’ll look to build on this start on Wednesday when the Marlins play host to the White Sox.