MLB Player News

Morosi mentions the Red Sox and Angels as teams with extra outfielders. Maybe the worst decision made by any potential contender going into last season was the Royals choosing not to upgrade their outfield, and they ended up getting a .639 OPS from their left fielders, a .645 OPS from their center fielders and a .615 OPS from their right fielders. They need to add at least one starter this winter and maybe two, and they still have to figure out whether Jac Caglianone, who belongs at first base, can be adequate in right.

Semien’s double was a 104 mph shot to lead off the game. He would later come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Bo Bichette. Semien would then walk in his second at-bat and score on a single by Francisco Alvarez. The 35-year-old is looking to have a bounce-back season in his first year with the Mets, and if he keeps getting on base like this, he has an outside shot at 90 or more runs scored.

Tong also struck out three and didn’t walk a single batter in the outing. Obviously, the five hits are not what you’d like to see, but Tong had a 63 percent strike rate and also racked up a 27 percent whiff rate. His cutter, in particular, was effective for him on Tuesday. The issue was that he threw first-pitch strikes to just five of the 12 batters he faced, which caused him to try to get into many hitter-friendly counts that led to those base hits. He’ll look to remedy that his next time out.

Garrett Stubbs tripled in the only run of the game today. Stock averaged 95 mph with his fastball as a Triple-A starter last spring, but he’s been up at 96.5 mph in his two appearances this spring and his cutter has been reliably in the low-90s. He’s going to be a long shot to make the Mets out of spring training, but he could see time in middle relief later on.

Kahnle’s velocity was fine today, with his fastball down about one mph from last year but his trusty changeup up 0.5 mph. The 36-year-old was somewhat disappointing with the Tigers last year, but he still has a 3.26 ERA in 146 innings over the last three seasons. He should be able to find work after the WBC.

Garrett pitched two innings in his spring debut last week, so it was a little surprising he exited after just 26 pitches today. He again pitched well, although his velocity wasn’t quite as good as last week; his fastball averaged 92.3 mph, which was down from 93.0 on Thursday but still up 1.2 mph from when he was last seen in 2024.

Mangum hit at the top of the lineup and was able to drive in a pair in the process. The 29-year-old was acquired in the three-team trade that sent Brandon Lowe to Pittsburgh as well, and he’ll likely see playing time at all three outfield positions; albeit not necessarily as a starter to begin the season.

Escarra has his first homer of the spring with the two-run jack. The 30-year-old seems likely to be the backup backstop to Austin Wells, but he’s one of the catchers who wouldn’t be a plug-in-play fantasy option if something caused him to become the everyday option.

It’s a nice bounceback for Urquidy after he struggled in his spring debut against Minnesota (three runs allowed in 1 1/3 innings). The right-hander is attempting to win one of the final spots in the Pittsburgh rotation, and this will certainly not hurt. Hunter Barco and Carmen Mlodzinski will have something to say about it, however.

Fried had no issue handling the Panama lineup in the exhibition bout. He wasn’t dominant as he allowed three walks, but he worked around those free passes to keep the WBC club off the board. Fried will likely be stretched out to four innings next week as he works his way to pitching at the top of the New York rotation to open 2026.

Rangel struggled to throw strikes with a pair of walks. The right-hander was an up-and-down option for Philadelphia in 2025, and it’s tough to see him being any more than that this spring/summer.