MLB Player News

Bergert needed just 26 pitches (17 strikes) to get the job done on Thursday, including punchouts of Gabriel Moreno and Nolan Arenado. The right-hander generated five swings and misses on the day, registering a solid CSW of 27 percent. After showing a spike in velocity in his spring debut, he was much closer to his 2025 average with his fastball at 93.9 mph (+0.5 mph) in this one. He would make for an interesting late-round option for fantasy purposes if he can wiggle his way into the club’s Opening Day rotation.

Along with the three baseballs that flew over the wall, gone tonight was Gallen’s spring velocity boost. He averaged 94.7 mph in his first three outings this spring, but he was right back at his 2025 average of 93.5 mph tonight. One of the surest signs of a truly poor outing is finishing with more hard-hit balls against than called strikes+whiffs, which is something Gallen did tonight (11 hard-hit balls, 10 CSW in 66 pitches). Hopefully, it’s just a blip. Gallen will face the Dodgers on Opening Day, making him a subpar play in mixed leagues.

Taking the mound just a few hours after being named the Brewers’ Opening Day starter, Misiorowski pitched a scoreless first and then was pulled after retiring only two of six batters in the second. It turned out to be a six-run inning for Arizona. Misiorowski returned for the third and was fine afterwards, retiring seven of the final nine batters he faced. Although his average fastball velocity was down 1.2 mph from last year, Misiorowski still touched 100.1 mph tonight. He’ll face the White Sox in next week’s opener.

Henderson, who missed the past couple of weeks with an elbow issue, fanned three tonight and showed slightly better velocity than his 2025 norms. He needs to get stretched out again, but once he does, he could rejoin the Brewers and perform well enough to be helpful in mixed leagues.

Frelick raised his spring average from .163 to .217 tonight and collected his first extra-base hit since Feb. 28. He took enough of a step forward last year that there’s no question about his status as a regular entering 2026. Still, the power isn’t going to be there to make him of much use in shallow leagues.

Yamamoto got 14 whiffs on 32 swings in his 68-pitch outing. He closes out the spring with a 2.79 ERA in his three starts for the Dodgers, and he’ll next face the Diamondbacks on Opening Day.

The Padres brought only one regular for this split-squad affair, and Laureano did his part, collecting a homer off Edwin Díaz on a fly down the right field line that didn’t actually register as a hard-hit ball (it was 94.6 mph off the bat). Laureano is now 10-for-35 with six extra-base hits this spring. He has, however, struck out in 16 of his 42 plate appearances, and that’s not going to cut it during the regular season.

Whitcomb, 27, always faced an uphill battle at securing a bench spot on the Astros’ Opening Day roster. He wound up hitting .263 (5-for-19) with zero homers, four RBI, two stolen bases and a 7/2 K/BB ratio across 21 plate appearances during Cactus League play. He should get an opportunity with the big league club at some point during the 2026 campaign.

McLain joins Shea Langerliers as the spring leaders with seven homers. He’s also tops with 17 runs scored while primarily working as the Reds’ No. 2 hitter, a role he’s now certain to carry into the regular season.

Back from Tommy John, Williamson has earned a spot on Cincinnati’s roster with his 1.65 ERA this spring. It sounds like he’ll be paired with Chase Burns for now, with one or both throwing four or five innings at a time.

He got his work in, and that’s really all that matters. While his fastball velocity is simply holding steady, Boyd was all of the way up to 85.8 mph with his slider tonight. That’s up from 79.5 mph in 2024, 82.0 mph last year and 83.5 mph in his previous starts this spring. It’s obviously not an accident. Boyd’s slider was his best pitch in 2018 and ’19, when he was a middling starter for the Tigers. Since then, it’s been pretty average, while his fastball and changeup have done more of the heavy lifting and made him a better pitcher overall. Boyd’s next outing will come on Opening Day against the Nationals.