MLB Player News

Once again, there are no major surprises among this batch of cuts for the Pirates. Plassmeyer pitched very well in Grapefruit League action — hurling 3 2/3 innings of shutout baseball while registering a 1.36 WHIP and a 4/1 K/BB ratio over 3 2/3 innings. Expect him to get an opportunity with the big league club at some point during the 2024 campaign.

Drohan will make his major-league debut against his former club after being shipped to Milwaukee as part of a six-player swap back in February. The 27-year-old lefty spent a half-decade in Boston’s system after being taken in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft. It’ll likely be a one-and-done spot start for Drohan, who isn’t a viable streaming option outside of extremely deep formats.

Skenes took a no-hitter into the sixth, when Fernando Tatis Jr. singled with one out. Jake Cronenworth had already walked to lead off the inning, so the Padres had a threat going in a 2-0 game. Jackson Merrill, though, grounded into a double play to end it. Skenes lost the shutout when Xander Bogaerts homered with one out in the seventh and was removed immediately afterwards. Skenes has allowed precisely one run in both of his starts since his Oneil Cruz-fueled Opening Day disaster against the Mets. He’ll likely make his next start Monday versus the Nationals.

This would have been a Dennis Santana blurb, as he was certainly going to follow Soto and close tonight, but the Pirates busted out for five runs in the bottom of the eighth and then used Yohan Ramírez to finish a 7-1 win. Santana will now almost certainly be in line to close again tomorrow, since Soto has worked back-to-back days and Santana hasn’t worked since Saturday.

Pivetta has bounced back nicely from a poor Opening Day start, striking out eight in consecutive outings. He took the L tonight, leaving him 1-2 with a 5.54 ERA, but little has changed in his outlook. He gets the Rockies at home next time out on Sunday.

Morejon never had an outing quite this bad during his spectacular 2025, but he did allow four runs twice in May and had one in August in which he gave up three runs without retiring a batter. So, it can happen, even in a season in which the league hit .186 off him. Morejon’s velocity is as good as ever; he’s averaged 98.9 mph with his sinker this year, compared to 97.7 mph last year. This gives him a 10.80 ERA, but he’s still projects as one of the game’s best non-closing relievers.

Griffin’s first hit was pounded right into the ground, but that was his only ball in play that wasn’t hit hard tonight. He had a 98-mph flyout, a 106-mph double-play ball and then a 113-mph single to plate two against Adrian Morejon in the eighth. It was the hardest-hit ball Morejon has given up since 2023. Before tonight, Griffin’s only hard-hit ball was his double in his first at-bat Friday. He’d been 0-for-12 at the plate since.

The Padres decided at the end of the spring to go with Cronenworth as their leadoff man against righties, but that lasted just three games. He’s hit sixth, eighth, ninth and ninth in the Padres’ most recent games against right-handers, and he finished tonight with a .162/.262/.189 line and one RBI in 42 plate appearances. Still, there’s definitely no sitting him now, as Ty France is the closest thing the Padres have to a backup second baseman with the way the roster is currently constructed. Sung-Mun Song will eventually take over that role, but since he’s another lefty, he’s not someone who can platoon with Cronenworth.

It’s unclear whether this will develop into a potential injured list situation, but Cora noted that Slaten has been dealing with a right oblique issue recently. It’s possible he’ll be heading to the shelf if he’s unavailable leading into Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals.

Crow-Armstrong took Rays reliever Yoendrys Gómez deep in the seventh inning for his first round-tripper of the season. He also recorded a pair of singles, stole his fourth base of the year, and scored three times in the one-sided affair at Tropicana Field. The 24-year-old fantasy standout hasn’t exactly torn the cover off the ball in the early portion of the year, hitting .256 (11-for-43) with one homer, four RBI and four steals through 11 games.

Aranda broke up a potential shutout with an RBI double to center field against Cubs reliever Phil Maton in the eighth inning. The 27-year-old first baseman has gotten off to an encouraging start at the dish, batting .244 (11-for-45) with three homers and 10 RBI through 11 games.