MLB Player News

This was all Dylan Moore’s fault, as he homered twice and singled off the Reds left-hander. Lodolo struck out six and allowed just two singles and one walk to the rest of the Mariners lineup. He’s still off to an excellent start with his 2.31 ERA, and he might be able to go the entire rest of the year without facing Moore. He’ll get the Orioles next.

Doyle roped a one-out triple (94.3 mph EV) off of Ben Brown in the top half of the first inning and scored the game’s first run on a ground ball off the bat of Hunter Goodman. The 27-year-old outfielder is having a strong spring at the plate, hitting .400 (8-for-20) with six RBI and one stolen base, though he’s still in search of his first home run.

The 32-year-old southpaw uncharacteristically racked up four strikeouts on the afternoon and didn’t walk a batter. The only baserunner against him came on a two-out double by Jefferson Rojas in his final inning of work. Freeland peppered the strike zone in this one, throwing 27 of his 34 pitches for strikes. His four strikeout victims were Matt Shaw, Dylan Carlson, Kevin Alcantara and Jonathan Long. For the spring, he holds a stellar 1.80 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a 6/3 K/BB ratio over five innings in his two starts. He’s still not a recommended option for fantasy purposes.

After striking out in his first at-bat, Shaw worked a walk to open the third inning before being erased on a double play. He drew another walk in the sixth inning, swiped second base and advanced to third on an error, but the Cubs were unable to cash him in from there. The 24-year-old is having a strong spring — hitting .323 (10-for-31) with a homer, two RBI and five stolen bases in 38 plate appearances. His fantasy value will ultimately come down to how much playing time he sees in his super utility role.

The 26-year-old hurler scattered two hits on the afternoon and did not allow a base on balls. The only scoring done against him came in the opening inning as Brenton Doyle smacked a one-out triple and scored on a ground ball off the bat of Hunter Goodman. Brown needed a strong showing on Saturday to keep in the mix for a roster spot, and he certainly delivered. For the spring, he holds a 3.38 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a sparkling 15/3 K/BB ratio across 10 2/3 innings.

Gusto became a little more important to the Marlins with Adam Mazur requiring season-ending surgery, but he’s still only a rotation candidate if someone gets hurt. He has a 4.66 ERA and a 7/2 K/BB in 9 2/3 innings this spring.

Not great is that his velocity today was the worst it’s been this spring. He averaged 95.6 mph with his fastball, down from 96.5 mph in his first three outings and 97.3 mph last year. Weirder than that, though, was that his two changeups today checked in at 89.5 mph and 88.8 mph. His changeups last year averaged 94.2 mph. It’s quite possible Fairbanks is still just easing into things, but given his injury history, it seems like something to watch.

Pallante’s rotation spot has to be pretty much locked up at this point, as he’s sporting a 2.57 ERA through 14 innings. He doesn’t offer any fantasy potential at all, but the Cardinals would be just fine with 170 innings of anything close to a league-average ERA.

Stowers played five innings in left field before leaving as scheduled. He’ll want to catch up on at-bats over the next 10 days to prepare for Opening Day, which is why he was leading off today.

It looks like the Cardinals intend for Winn to open the season in the leadoff spot with Lars Nootbaar almost surely IL bound. We’re not really sure why; he has a career .304 OBP and has been equally bad there against lefties and righties. He still has a chance to take a step forward — he’s just turning 24 this month, and his EV numbers did improve some last season — but it’s difficult to be especially optimistic in the short term.

The Mariners will keep an eye on him, but it sounds much more like a day-to-day type of injury than anything that’s going to shelve the 26-year-old outfielder for a considerable amount of time. Davis has done a nice job for the M’s this spring, hitting .353 (12-for-34) with four homers and six RBI as he attempts to land a spot on the team’s Opening Day roster.