MLB Player News

Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth in a tie game tonight. It should have been Brock Burke’s save, but Zach Neto bobbled a grounder and made a wild throw on what would have been the final play of the game. Strickland then took over and got Anthony Volpe to roll a ball to third to end it. A great surprise for the Angels, Strickland has yet to allow a run in 14 1/3 innings since being called up last month. Still, he’s probably not going to be in line for more save chances unless something happens to Jansen.

The 28-year-old right-hander is said to be progressing nicely. The next step for him will be to pitch in a minor league spring training game, though a date for that assignment has not been set yet. Even when he is fully recovered, it’s going to take an injury or ineffectiveness for him to earn a shot in the Royals’ rotation.

Eight of the 11 balls in play against Sánchez today were hit hard, but only three turned into hits, with Andrew McCutchen’s 398-foot double being the lone extra-base hit. Sánchez can afford to give up the hard contact because so much of it is on the ground and because he hardly walks anyone. He issued no free passes today, Last year, he walked one or none in 19 of his 32 starts. Sánchez will face the Nationals next week.

Those rostering Duran can thank Kyle Backhus for turning a 5-0 game in the ninth into a save situation. Duran allowed an RBI single after coming on, but he then got Evan Carter to ground out to end the contest. His three fastballs came in at 100.6, 99.8 and 99.8 mph.

Eovaldi had a great spring and still appeared strong today with his eight strikeouts and his velocity up by one mph from last year. Unfortunately, he gave up two homers anyway and both came with men on. Last year, he allowed multiple homers just twice in 22 starts. Probably not a coincidence is that those outings came back-to-back not long before a shoulder injury got him shut down for the final five weeks. Still, we’d expect him to bounce back nicely next week versus the Orioles.

Bohm’s homer off Nathan Eovaldi was only 97 mph off the bat, but it was hit just far enough to get over the wall down the right field line. He’s already off to a much better start than last year, when he didn’t homer until his 33rd game of the season on May 6. He also already has as many three-run homers as he did last year.

The Rangers were scoreless until Burger took Kyle Backhus deep in a 5-0 game in the ninth. Burger, though, had already had a pretty nice day by that point. It’s his first three-hit game since last Aug. 16. The 29-year-old needs to take a step forward against righties to be a useful regular for the Rangers, but as the likely everyday cleanup hitter for now, he should offer mixed-league value.

The 24-year-old infielder was a popular waiver claim throughout the off-season, but this time he made it through and will report to Triple-A Norfolk. If he can’t crack the big league roster with both Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg sidelined though, it doesn’t speak well to his chances of earning an opportunity with the O’s anytime soon.

The 29-year-old hurler had been designated for assignment on Wednesday, but he passed through waivers unclaimed and will continue to function as extra rotation depth for the O’s at the Triple-A level.

The Diamondbacks do not believe the injury to be serious and he’s considered day-to-day. Tim Tawa will take his place in the lineup as the Diamondbacks’ designated hitter and will bat ninth while Carlos Santana moves up to sixth and Jordan Lawlar moves up to seventh.

The 23-year-old rookie shortstop opened the scoring in the ballgame with a 425-foot (101.7 mph EV) solo shot off of Rays’ ace Drew Rasmussen. He then added a sacrifice fly during the Cardinals’ eight-run outburst in the sixth inning. He possesses a dynamic blend of power and speed and should be an impact contributor for fantasy purposes while hitting atop the Cardinals’ lineup.