MLB Player News

Blalock recorded a pair of strikeouts on the afternoon — victimizing Josh Naylor and Randal Grichuk. The only baserunner that he allowed came on a leadoff single by Eugenio Suarez in the second inning. The 24-year-old hurler needed just 20 pitches (15 strikes) to get through two innings on Friday, getting two swings and misses and posting a CSW of 35 percent. With a strong showing in Cactus League competition, he could push for one of the final spots in the club’s Opening Day rotation. Pitching half of his games at Coors Field though, it’ll be difficult for him to carve out any mixed league fantasy value even if he does break camp with the Rockies.

Crawford lashed a single with the bases loaded to give him his third RBI of the night and the Mariners a comeback win. The 31-year-old hit at the top of the lineup with Brendan Donovan (illness) unavailable, although Donovan did appear as a pinch-hitter in the ninth and drew a walk. Crawford has hit .217/.419/.261 since coming off the injured list last week.

Raleigh also drove in a run on a sacrifice fly for a three-RBI night. The 29-year-old backstop has “only” homered twice this year, and is well off the 60-homer mark he reached last year. Expect plenty more roundtrippers for Big Dumper going forward, and 40-plus homers are well within reason for a player with his pop.

Not only did Rodríguez get his first homer of the season with a 426-foot tank to center, it was a big one as it tied the game at 7-7. He also doubled for his first multi extra-base hit game of the season. Rodríguez has been a notorious — maybe the most notorious — slow starter in baseball, but there’s simply no denying that he’s among the best talented players regardless of position. Cal Raleigh also homered, and it appears the big boys for Seattle are starting to pick it up.

Muñoz should have been able to get out of the inning without allowing a hit, but Leo Rivas flailed on a play he should have made that turned into a double. He then walked two batters to load the bases for Yordan Alvarez, but he was able to get Alvarez to pop out to second base. It’s the second win of the season for Muñoz, and his ERA drops to 3.60 with the scoreless — albeit busy — inning.

McCullers got into immediate trouble, as he gave up a two-run homer to Cal Raleigh with no one out in the first inning. He settled down over the next three innings, but fell apart in the fifth, and he was charged for a run after Julio Rodríguez blistered a two-run that tied the game at 7-7 after he was handed a 7-2 lead. McCullers was excellent against the Red Sox, and has been anything but since. He’ll get the Rockies on Thursday in Houston.

Castillo did generate 13 swings and misses and struck out three before leaving, if you are looking for any positives. He allowed 10 hits and plenty of hard contract to make it hard to take any kind of positive. After dominating the Yankees in his first start, Castillo now has allowed 10 earned runs while not getting out of the fourth inning in his last two outings. Not great. He’ll have a chance to rebound Thursday in San Diego against the Padres.

He also doubled. Nimmo got things started for the Rangers with a leadoff homer off Emmet Sheehan, and Nimmo got Sheehan again for a two-run shot in the sixth. That’s now three homers for Nimmo to open 2026, and he’s slashing a sensational .364/.435/.618 after the three-hit night.