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Higgins is merely emergency organizational catching depth for the Reds entering his age 32 campaign. The well-traveled backstop has spent the past two seasons at Triple-A Louisville and hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2022 campaign when he got into 74 games for the Cubs. He adds some additional insurance behind Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino.

The 22-year-old infielder did his damage in the fourth inning of this one, launching an 0-2 fastball from Gavin Williams for a 367-foot (98.6 mph EV) go-ahead three-run homer. That proved to be all of the run support that George Kirby and company would require in this one. That was his only hit on the evening and his only knock through his first six at-bats on the season thus far.

Raley connected on a 390-foot (104.9 mph EV) two-run shot off of Colin Holderman in the sixth inning of this one, extending the Mariners’ lead to 5-2. He’s off to a strong start to the 2026 campaign, hitting .250 (2-for-8) with a pair of long balls and three RBI through his first two games. If he swats another home run over the weekend, he could end up drawing some serious free agent bids in leagues where he’s still available.

The 31-year-old outfielder drew a walk in the fourth inning and swiped second base before riding home on Cole Young’s three-run blast. He also walked in the sixth and scored on Luke Raley’s two-run bomb. After doing it for each of the past five seasons, Arozarena is now one step closer to yet another 20/20 campaign.

Kirby scattered just two hits on the evening while issuing a pair of free passes. The only blemish on his night came on a solo home run to Chase DeLauter in the opening inning, after that he was brilliant. Kirby got eight whiffs on 90 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll look to extend his winning streak to two when he takes on the Yankees at home on Wednesday.

After crushing a pair of home runs in his first regular season game on Thursday, DeLauter continued the power binge on Friday night, smacking the second pitch that he saw from George Kirby for a 360-foot (99.4 mph EV) solo shot in the first inning. That would wind up being the Guardians’ lone tally in the contest. DeLauter finished the evening 1-for-4 and is off to a blistering .444 (4-for-9) start to his big league career with three home runs and three RBI.

Williams couldn’t locate his pitches in this one, issuing six walks on the evening while racking up seven strikeouts. All of the damage done against him came in the fourth inning as the right-hander walked a pair of Mariners and then served up a two-out, three-run blast to Cole Young. He threw just 49 of his 89 pitches for strikes, generating 15 whiffs and posting a CSW of 26 percent. It’s not going to get any easier his next time out as he’s set to do battle against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

It looked as though the 21-year-old phenom had connected on his first big league home run in the second inning, only to see Jackson Merrill pull it back from over the center field wall. He still made his mark on the game though. McGonigle strolled to the dish with the bases loaded and two outs in a 2-2 game in the eighth inning. Padres’ skipper Craig Stammen turned to left-hander Wandy Peralta to try to get him out, but McGonigle battled him for 10 pitches, fouling off four two-strike offerings and working the count full before lining a go-ahead two-run single into right field that proved to be the difference. He’s off to a sizzling 5-for-8 (.625) start to his big league career with two runs scored and four RBI.

Torres drew a leadoff walk off of Michael King to open the sixth inning and ultimately scored the Tigers’ first run on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Spencer Torkelson. He also worked a walk during the team’s go-ahead rally in the eighth inning, racing around to score on Kevin McGonigle’s two-run single. He’s now 2-for-6 (.333) with four walks and three runs scored through the first two games of the 2026 campaign.

The 38-year-old right-hander wasn’t messing around in this one, needing just 11 pitches to strike out Gavin Sheets, Jake Cronenworth and Nick Castellanos in succession — each of them on swinging third strikes. He got five whiffs on his 11 offerings, including two each on his cutter and sinker. So far, so good for one of the most reliable bullpen arms in the league.

The 32-year-old southpaw struck out five batters on the evening while allowing just one base on balls. Three of the seven hits against him were infield singles — including a pair in the fourth inning that the Padres used to manufacture their first run. Valdez generated 11 swings and misses on 83 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 31 percent. He’ll look to keep the good times rolling when he does battle against the Cardinals in the Tigers’ home opener on Friday.