MLB Player News

Witherspoon provides Seattle with some emergency outfield depth at Triple-A Tacoma after spending the last six years between Tampa Bay and Detroit’s systems. The 27-year-old outfielder posted a .760 OPS with 10 homers and nine steals in 306 plate appearances last year between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo.

Gausman retired the first six Cleveland batters before Juan Brito led off the third inning with a double and scored on a pair of groundouts. He pitched into the seventh, giving up a solo homer to David Fry and recording two outs in the frame. Gausman’s day would be done at 91 pitches, 63 for strikes. He collected three strikeouts. The 35-year-old right-hander has been excellent over the first month, posting a 2.57 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and a 38/6 K/BB ratio across 35 innings. He’ll take on the Twins in Minnesota on Thursday.

Cantillo kept the Blue Jays off the board through three frames until Kazuma Okamoto took him deep for a solo blast to lead off the fourth. He tossed a scoreless fifth, then allowed the first two batters to reach in the sixth, ending his day at 89 pitches. Both inherited runners would come in to score, diminishing an otherwise solid day on the mound. He scattered six hits in all and issued one walk with four strikeouts. The 26-year-old left-hander will take a 3.56 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and a 34/13 K/BB ratio across 30 1/3 innings into a start against the Athletics in Sacramento on Friday.

Rodríguez blistered a two-run shot off Matthew Liberatore into Big Mac land in the first inning. That’s just the second homer of the season, and the steal was his third. Rodríguez is a notoriously slow starter — as notorious as a 25-year-old can be, anyway — but the three-hit night improves his slash to .250/.336/.333 over 28 games.

O’Brien came in to protect a two-run lead in the eighth inning, but he gave up a two-run single to Connor Joe to blow his second save of the season. He gave up another two runs after exiting the game on a bases-loaded single from Leo Rivas. O’Brien has been outstanding to begin the year — these were the first earned runs he’s allowed this year — but fantasy managers definitely take a hit for his poor performance Saturday. He also threw 39 pitches, so he definitely won’t be available Sunday if a save chance arises.

Muñoz allowed a leadoff walk to Nolan Gorman, but he was able to strike out the next batter and initiated a double play to end the inning without any damage. The right-hander has now save five-of-six chances, and his ERA lowers to 6.55. That ERA is almost entirely based on a five-run scuffle against the Padres. He’s an elite closer.

Liberatore allowed three homers, and amazingly — for a variety of reasons — he still outpitched Bryan Woo in this one. That’s not really a compliment, as Liberatore was consistently in trouble and was bad from the jump; allowing a two-run homer to Julio Rodríguez in the first inning. Liberatore was good against the Astros last weekend, but hasn’t shown a lick of consistency in the first month of the season. His final start of the month comes against the Pirates on Thursday.