MLB Player News

McLain was called up early enough in the 2023 season to qualify as a Super Two player this year, and he’ll make about three times the minimum despite missing 2024 and struggling throughout last season. He should remain the Reds’ starting second baseman this year, but if he continues to falter offensively, the Reds have Gavin Lux and Sal Stewart as alternatives. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.

De La Cruz has a homer, a triple and three doubles in nine trips to the plate this spring. Fully healed from the quad tear he suffered last July and played through the rest of the way, he should get back to looking like he did in 2024. He’s worthy of a selection in the back half of round one in drafts.

The run came on a 333-foot homer that left Rodolfo Durán’s bat at 94.1 mph. It would have been out of just one major league ballpark. Otherwise, Burnes was pretty much untouchable. He generated 14 misses on 23 swings in the 48-pitch outing. On the nine swings against his slider, he got eight whiffs and one foul ball.

Ashcraft has a chance of emerging as the Reds’ best reliever this year, but one wouldn’t know that based on today’s results. He gave up four hits, including a Manny Machado homer, and two walks before being pulled. In 65 1/3 innings last season, he didn’t give up a single homer to a right-handed hitter and only two to lefties.

Pivetta showed pretty good velocity in his spring debut and pitched around a first-inning triple from Elly De La Cruz, but the Reds worked two walks and got two hits against him in the second.

Machado is typically pretty quiet most springs — he hasn’t had more than two homers or six RBI in an entire Cactus League season since joining the Padres in 2019 — but he certainly made his presence known today. He’ll soon join the Dominican team in the WBC, and he figures to get most of the playing time at third base with José Ramírez absent initially and Junior Caminero likely to DH.

Black doubled off of Kumar Rocker in the opening inning but wound up being stranded at third base. He then singled in the third inning and scored as Luis Lara worked a bases-loaded walk. The 25-year-old infielder added to the Brewers’ lead in the fourth inning with a two-run triple that made it a 4-0 ballgame. He has been sizzling at the plate to open the spring, hitting .667 (8-for-12) with a homer, triple, two doubles, eight RBI and three stolen bases in his first four games. He could be an intriguing late-round option for fantasy purposes if the Brewers ever committed to giving him regular playing time.

Lockridge was plunked by a pitch in the third inning and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Gary Sanchez. He also singled in the fourth inning and raced around to score on Tyler Black’s RBI triple. Lockridge then drew a walk in the sixth inning to finish his day. He’s off to a blistering start this spring, hitting .545 (6-for-11) with two homers and a stolen base.

Ashby allowed a pair of two-out singles in the first inning but battled back to get Danny Jansen to ground out to end the threat. He then allowed a single and a walk in the second inning but was able to evade damage on the strength of a caught stealing and a double play ball. The 27-year-old hurler showed diminished velocity in this one, averaging 94.9 mph on his fastball (-2.0 mph). Given their crowded starting rotation, Ashby is likely to find himself in a bullpen role to open the regular season, which saps him of most of his potential fantasy value.

Duran got the Rangers on the board in the fourth inning of this one, plating Danny Jansen with a one-out RBI single off of DL Hall. That would be the extent of their offense in the ballgame. The 26-year-old utilityman is hitting .222 (2-for-9) with a pair of RBI and a 3/4 K/BB ratio to open the spring season.

Rocker struck out one batter in the contest and didn’t allow a base on balls. Despite allowing three hits in the first two innings, the 26-year-old righty was able to pitch around any damage, helped out by a caught stealing in the second. He wasn’t as fortunate in the third though as the Brewers used a hit batsman and a pair of singles to push a run across while another of those runs scored after Rocker exited. He got three whiffs on 40 pitches in the contest, posting a CSW of just 18 percent. He looks to be on the outside looking in for a spot in the Rangers’ Opening Day rotation.