MLB Player News

The Angels led 4-1 for most of the ballgame, but that lead was erased when Will Smith clobbered a two-out, three-run homer in the seventh inning. The 36-year-old backstop answered right back in the next half inning, victimizing Anthony Banda for a 401-foot (104.5 mph EV) solo shot that put the Halos ahead to stay. That blast was his first home run of the 2025 season. He finished the afternoon 2-for-3 plus a walk and is now hitting .200/.250/.317 with three RBI in his first 64 plate appearances.

Dobbins also struck out seven and walked one while throwing 62 of his 91 pitches for strikes. The 26-year-old, who was acquired from the Red Sox in the offseason, is still working his way back from a torn ACL that ended his season last year. He has looked good to start the year, allowing four runs on eight hits in 10 1/3 innings while posting a 10/3 K/BB ratio. A couple more good starts and he could push for a call-up to join the Cardinals’ rotation.

Crooks now has four home runs and nine RBI on the season while slashing .375/.516/.917 with a 7/6 K/BB ratio and a 59 percent hard-hit rate. Meanwhile, Pedro Pages is hitting .182/.280/.318 and has minor league options remaining. No move is imminent, but if the performance disparity remains this stark by the end of the month, it could become more likely.

Romero now has a nine-game hitting streak going to begin the Triple-A season and is slashing .342/.395/.553 with one home run, nine RBI, and a 5/2 K/BB ratio. It’s a tremendous start for the 2022 first-round pick, who also has a 62 percent hard-hit rate to begin the year. Last year, Romero played second base, shortstop, and third base, so he could be an interesting option in Boston if any of their infielders gets hurt or struggles for an extended period of time.

Weiss referred to this as “spring training” for Murphy, so don’t expect it to be a short rehab assignment. The goal is to get him “a couple dozen at-bats,” which could mean double-digit games, and he also will not play in back-to-back games from the start. That means it could be late May before we see Murphy back with the Braves. That will cut into Drake Baldwin’s playing time a little bit, but Murphy should be the clear backup at this point.

This deal was rumored before Griffin was even promoted, but it is now official. Part of that is likely because a prospect cannot sign a multi-year extension before debuting if they want to be eligible for Prospect Promotion Incentives, which could get the team a draft pick based on end-of-season award voting. This contract is the largest in Pirates history, beating out Bryan Reynolds’ $106.75 million deal in 2023, and is also right in line with the contract last year’s number one prospect, Roman Anthony, signed at eight years, $134 million with the Red Sox. Griffin is 3-for-17 with three RBI and a 4/2 K/BB ratio in his first five MLB games, so there may be a small learning curve early in his MLB career, but a bright future lies ahead of him.

The lone run came in the sixth. In spite of that, the Dodgers sent him back out for the seventh, only to watch him give up a double and a bunt single to begin the inning. Fortunately, Alex Vesia stranded both runners after taking over. Yamamoto. who struck out six, picked up the win and improved to 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA. He’ll likely make his next start next Tuesday against the Mets.

Díaz allowed a single and a walk, but he struck out the other three batters he faced with the Dodgers up 4-1. It’s his fourth save in four tries to start the year. He’ll probably be available again Wednesday after throwing 23 pitches tonight, but if not, Tanner Scott could close.

This would have been a quality start and maybe a win against another team, but not versus the Dodgers and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Gausman fell to 0-1 in spite of his 2.08 ERA. Maybe the Blue Jays will start to get it together before Gausman’s next tough matchup against the Brewers on Monday.

Hyeseong Kim and Freeland scored all four runs in Tuesday’s win, which is just how the Dodgers drew it up in January. Freeland was 3-for-24 coming into tonight, but his EV numbers were already quite good. There’s little reason to pick him up in mixed leagues at the moment, but he might well turn into a quality starting second baseman in time.

Ohtani got a little scare in the game, as he was in some pain after getting hit on the back of his left elbow by catcher Brandon Valenzuela’s followthrough on an attempted pickoff at first base. It was probably just a funny bone issue, though. Valenzuela was also left with some sore fingers, but both continued without incident.