MLB Player News

There’s no reason to read much into it, but it’s still hilarious that the Rockies, finally having broken away from the old guard on the baseball operations side, are starting off the Paul DePodesta era by signing the son of their long-time GM Dan O’Dowd. Jack never hit as a second baseman and utilityman at the University of Texas, but he excelled in indy ball last season, batting .333/.449/.642 for Billings in the batter friendly Pioneer League. The 24-year-old has also been doing a little catching, though it’s unclear whether the Rockies will go forward with him there.

With Bryan Baker having thrown on back-to-back days, the Rays turned to Cole Sulser to protect a one-run lead on Tuesday, and he did without allowing a baserunner to pick up his second save of the season. What’s interesting here is that Garrett Cleavinger hadn’t thrown since Saturday, and the Blue Jays started the inning with a left-handed hitter and a switch-hitter. Perhaps they’re not ready for Cleavinger to step back into late-inning situations so soon after returning from the IL, or maybe Sulser has simply leapfrogged him in the peaking order, but the 36-year-old Sulser appears to be next in line behind Baker for saves.

It’s a zero-risk gamble for the Rockies after Romano was cut loose by the Angels last week. The 33-year-old veteran opened they year as Los Angeles’ closer but wound up being released just a couple weeks later after struggling to an catastrophic 10.13 ERA over eight innings. It would be a surprise to see him closing games for Colorado later this season, but stranger things have happened before.

Williamson knocked an RBI single to center field off of Tyler Rogers in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Rays a one-run lead they would not relinquish. Williamson has been a pleasant surprise for Tampa Bay this year, slashing .266/.330/.340 while playing multiple positions around the infield. He has just 11 RBI and three steals with no home runs, so he doesn’t bring a lot to the table in fantasy, outside of AL-only formats.

McMahon’s homer to right would have been an out or maybe a double in most parks, but it was the product of a very nice at-bat against Jacob deGrom. McMahon’s glove hasn’t been quite as strong as usual this year, and with his .637 OPS and Anthony Volpe being healthy, he’s under some pressure to pick it up. This was a nice start.

Rodriguez gave up six hits, walked four and struck out two. He left with the bases loaded in the fifth, but Brent Headrick was able to strike out Sam Haggerty to escape the jam. This leaves Rodriguez with a 5.19 ERA in his little two-start audition. With Carlos Rodón set to rejoin the rotation next time through, Rodriguez could be sent down prior to Wednesday’s game.

Bednar came into a 6-3 game with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth and struck out Corey Seager before getting Josh Jung to pop out to second. He gave up a triple and an RBI groundout in a four-run game in the ninth, but he was never in significant danger. The save was his 10th in 11 tries this year. He also pitched Sunday and threw 26 pitches tonight, so the Yankees might want to hold him out Wednesday. If so, perhaps Camilo Doval could close.

DeGrom struck out seven but gave up two homers tonight. He allowed four runs through six, yet he was left in to start the seventh anyway and was charged with two more runs then after giving up two singles (the latter being a bunt) and leaving with one out and runners on first and second. It’s the first time that he’s allowed six runs in a game as a Ranger. He did so 10 times as a Met, most recently in 2019. He’ll take a 3.11 ERA into Sunday’s start versus the Cubs.

The homer came off Tyler Alexander in the eighth. One of the AL’s better hitters against lefties last season, Goldschmidt has struggled a bit there to start the year, going 3-for-21. Fortunately, he’s been a little better against righties and has a fair .748 OPS overall. Still, it’s lefties the Yankees want him playing against, and with Ben Rice performing so well, Goldschmidt’s time could be very limited once Giancarlo Stanton returns.

The Rangers can never again play the Yankees and not have Duran in the lineup. He’s now up to .462 with eight extra-base hits and 11 RBI in 57 plate appearances against his original organization. The triple tonight was a 409-foot shot to center off David Bednar in the ninth.

Giolito threw 78 pitches (50 strikes) in his latest rehab outing as he targets a mid-May season debut with the Padres. The 31-year-old is likely to make one additional rehab start this weekend before he’s back in the majors next week.