MLB Player News

McKenzie qualifies as a low-risk lottery ticket for San Diego’s pitching apparatus as a reclamation project after posting a calamitous 11.12 ERA across 5 2/3 innings for the Guardians before being designated for assignment by late April. The 28-year-old former impact stater went unclaimed on waivers and spent the rest of last season in minor league purgatory. He’ll be an interesting name to watch in spring training to see if the Padres can unlock something.

Buxton appeared to get hit on the back elbow during the fifth inning. He stayed in to run afterwards and then came out in favor of Pete Crow-Armstrong the following inning. This probably won’t prove to be anything significant.

Norby did his damage off of Mets’ starter Sean Manaea in the opening inning, belting a 360-foot (97.3 mph EV) solo shot that would prove to be all the offense that the Marlins would need. He also singled and struck out in the contest. With the two-hit attack, the 25-year-old infielder is now hitting .211 (4-for-19) with one homer, one RBI and one stolen base through his first seven spring contests.

Hernández drew a walk to start the fourth inning and swiped second base, but the Marlins couldn’t cash him in from there. He then provided an insurance run with his 356-foot (99.0 mph EV) solo shot off of Bryan Hudson in the sixth inning. The 26-year-old outfielder is having a strong spring so far, hitting .286/.375/.786 with a pair of homers, three RBI and three stolen bases.

Meyer scattered two hits on the night and didn’t allow a base on balls. Both of the hits that he allowed in the contest were singles and the Mets never mounted a serious scoring threat against him. The 26-year-old right-hander generated five whiffs on 39 pitches on the night — three of those on his slider — while posting a strong CSW of 33 percent. He has been terrific through his first two appearances this spring, posting a 0.50 WHIP and a 6/0 K/BB ratio over his first four innings of work. He’s locked into a spot in the Marlins’ rotation and as a post-hype sleeper he makes for an intriguing fantasy option in the endgame stages of drafts.

The 37-year-old right-hander allowed just one baserunner in the outing — a leadoff walk to Heriberto Hernandez. He rebounded nicely though, retiring the next three hitters in order, including punchouts of Connor Norby and Maximo Acosta. Kimbrel’s velocity was still down in this one, averaging 91.9 mph (-1.6 mph) on his fastball. He’ll probably have to get that back up and string together several good outings if he’s going to crack the Mets’ Opening Day bullpen.

The 34-year-old southpaw walked one and struck out one on the evening. The lone blemish on his night came on a solo shot by Connor Norby in the bottom of the first inning. Unfortunately for Manaea, that did him in as the Mets couldn’t scratch out a single run for him. Manaea got just one swing and miss on 33 pitches in the contest, posting a miserable CSW of only 12 percent. As long as he continues to perform and stay healthy, Manaea should have a spot in the Mets’ rotation — at least to open the season.

Edwin Díaz finished things off in the ninth, striking out three of the four batters he faced. Puerto Rico got all of its runs in the fifth, with a Gio Urshela error providing an assist. The game featured just one extra-bae hit, a double from Willi Castro that made it 4-0 in the fifth. Puerto Rico actually didn’t have a hit aside from that inning.

Everything went south after Quintana’s outing, as Puerto Rico scored all of its runs in the fifth. Quintana had made just one appearance this spring after signing in mid-February, but he’s definitely on track to be ready to open up in Colorado’s rotation. His velocity today was up about one mph from last year.

Grisham got the Yankees on the board first with a two-run single off of Joe Boyle in the second inning. That would prove to be all of the run support that Cam Schlittler and company would require in this one. Grisham went down on strikes in each of his other two plate appearances in the ballgame. For the spring, he’s hitting a paltry .118 (2-for-17) with a 6/2 K/BB ratio in the early going.

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out four batters on the night. Schlittler got himself into a jam in the opening inning, issuing a one-out walk and a pair of singles to load the bases with two outs, but he was able to get Hunter Feduccia to bounce into a fielder’s choice to quell the threat. From there, it was smooth sailing. He saw a significant spike in his velocity in this one, with his fastball sitting at 98.7 mph (+0.7 mph) and his cutter checking in at 94.9 mph (+3.0 mph). He sure looked to be over the back issues that plagued him early in spring camp.