MLB Player News

Unfortunately, one of the Astros he struck out reached as it was on a wild pitch that scored two of the three runs against him. Baz threw seven sliders -- his first time using the pitch since June 4, 2025 -- and only allowed three hard-hit balls. If he can work the slider into his arsenal, he’ll have an interesting ceiling case this year on what should be an improved Orioles team.

Gusto became a little more important to the Marlins with Adam Mazur requiring season-ending surgery, but he’s still only a rotation candidate if someone gets hurt. He has a 4.66 ERA and a 7/2 K/BB in 9 2/3 innings this spring.

Not great is that his velocity today was the worst it’s been this spring. He averaged 95.6 mph with his fastball, down from 96.5 mph in his first three outings and 97.3 mph last year. Weirder than that, though, was that his two changeups today checked in at 89.5 mph and 88.8 mph. His changeups last year averaged 94.2 mph. It’s quite possible Fairbanks is still just easing into things, but given his injury history, it seems like something to watch.

Pallante’s rotation spot has to be pretty much locked up at this point, as he’s sporting a 2.57 ERA through 14 innings. He doesn’t offer any fantasy potential at all, but the Cardinals would be just fine with 170 innings of anything close to a league-average ERA.

Stowers played five innings in left field before leaving as scheduled. He’ll want to catch up on at-bats over the next 10 days to prepare for Opening Day, which is why he was leading off today.

It looks like the Cardinals intend for Winn to open the season in the leadoff spot with Lars Nootbaar almost surely IL bound. We’re not really sure why; he has a career .304 OBP and has been equally bad there against lefties and righties. He still has a chance to take a step forward — he’s just turning 24 this month, and his EV numbers did improve some last season — but it’s difficult to be especially optimistic in the short term.

The Mariners will keep an eye on him, but it sounds much more like a day-to-day type of injury than anything that’s going to shelve the 26-year-old outfielder for a considerable amount of time. Davis has done a nice job for the M’s this spring, hitting .353 (12-for-34) with four homers and six RBI as he attempts to land a spot on the team’s Opening Day roster.

The run came on a Daulton Varsho homer in the fourth. Back from the World Baseball Classic, Skubal remains in line to start on Opening Day. He threw 44 of his 61 pitches for strikes today, and he has a 12/1 K/BB in 9 2/3 innings in his three spring starts for the Tigers.

There’s probably another timeline out there in which Scherzer, not Justin Verlander, was the returning hero signed to fortify in the Tigers’ rotation over the winter, but not this one. Scherzer sort of got the better today of Tarik Skubal, who allowed one run while also getting 14 outs, but he had a little bit easier of an assignment against Detroit’s road lineup and the Tigers did end up winning anyway. Scherzer has looked really good this spring even without accounting for the fact that he only signed 12 days ago. There’s probably no way he’s giving the Blue Jays or fantasy teams six good months, but it looks like he’ll be quite valuable initially.

Vierling’s doubles came on liners hit 108 and 105 mph. He’s 11-for-31 with six extra-base hits this spring. 2025 was pretty much a lost year for him because of a season-opening shoulder injury and a season-ending oblique strain, but he’d still seem to be locked into a role with the Tigers as a starter somewhere against lefties, and if he excels, there could be some additional outfield time available versus righties.

Crawford’s second spring steal actually featured him as the trail runner behind Christian Cairo on a double steal. After a nice start to his spring, Crawford is 4-for-21 with no extra-base hits or walks in seven games since the calendar flipped to March. The Phillies, though, still seem poised to give him a long look at the beginning of the season.