MLB Player News

Shaw elected free agency after the White Sox designated him for assignment. The 36-year-old veteran will start in the Angels’ farm system as a depth piece for their bullpen.

One of the hits was a popup to shallow center that second baseman Ty France (?) misplayed, giving Thomas an RBI. Thomas should have a spot on Kansas City’s roster locked up as a starter against lefties, but we’ll have to wait and see how much time he’ll get against right-handers. There’s a scenario in which he plays just well enough to start regularly and winds up stealing 25-30 bases, but it doesn’t seem like a particularly likely outcome.

Bubic allowed two hits and walked one in his first win of the spring. His velocity is right where it ought to be after last year’s shoulder strain, and he projects as a useful mixed-league starter, even if the changes at Kauffman Stadium did make him a somewhat weaker bet.

Márquez certainly isn’t overpowering anyone at this point of his career, so the free baserunners just can’t happen. Tonight, he put five guys on, including one that he hit with a pitch, and paid a very obvious price. He seemed like a good bet to be the Padres’ fifth starter when he signed last month, but the team should be able to do better.

Hernández started the scoring in the home half of the first, smacking an RBI double off of Nick Lodolo. He then came around to score on Freddie Freeman’s run-scoring double. He followed that up by clobbering a 379-foot (101.6 mph EV) two-run shot off of Tejay Antone in the fifth that made it an 8-3 ballgame. The 33-year-old outfielder has been on another level this spring, hitting .464 (13-for-28) with a homer and eight RBI.

Muncy reached on a fielder’s choice in the opening inning and scored on Santiago Espinal’s two-run double. He then tagged Reds’ starter Nick Lodolo for a 395-foot (106.9 mph EV) two-run shot in the third inning that increased the Dodgers’ lead to 6-3. The 35-year-old slugger has been sizzling as the dish, hitting .333 (7-for-21) with a pair of homers and four RBI in Cactus League play.

The 32-year-old southpaw struck out one batter on the night. The Reds put plenty of traffic on the bases against Irvin, but he was able to limit the damage to just one run as he walked Rece Hinds with the bases loaded in the second inning. Overall, Irvin threw just 29 of his 57 pitches for strikes, getting three whiffs and posting a miserable CSW of only 19 percent. He now holds an unsightly 9.00 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and a 4/5 K/BB ratio over eight innings during Cactus League play. He should be ticketed for Triple-A Oklahoma City to open the season.

Myers led off the second inning with a walk and then came around to score the Reds’ first run as Rece Hinds worked a walk with the bases loaded. He then singled in the third inning and ultimately dashed home on a wild pitch. The 30-year-old is making a strong case for a reserve role on the opening day bench, hitting .350 (7-for-20) with a homer and five RBI in Cactus League play.

The 28-year-old hurler struck out three batters on the evening and did not allow a base on balls. The Dodgers jumped on him for four runs in the opening inning on run-scoring knocks from Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman and Santiago Espinal. Lodolo then served up a two-run blast to Max Muncy in the third inning. He got five whiffs on 61 pitches in the ballgame, posting an underwhelming CSW of 23 percent. It’s been a rough spring overall for Lodolo as he sports a 7.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP and an 11/2 K/BB ratio over nine innings of work. The stuff still looks good though, so hopefully he’ll be able to right the ship before the regular season begins.

With a 2.13 ERA in four starts, Cecconi, who was already the favorite to serve as the Guardians’ third starter, should have his rotation spot pretty much locked up at this point. He wasn’t above average in generating either strikeouts or grounders last year, and there’s little in the numbers to recommend him for fantasy purposes. Still, Cleveland pitchers have quite the history of outperforming projections.

The run was a product of a walk, a wild pitch and a single in the first. Hall ended up with a nice 44% CSW in the 34-pitch outing. Unlike Aaron Ashby, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be stretched out enough to open the season at the back of the rotation, but he should make the Brewers as a middle reliever.