MLB Player News

Kershaw gave up a homer to Mickey Moniak on an 87-mph fastball. The retired left-hander’s velocity today was down about two mph from last year, which doesn’t bode very well for him getting key outs in the WBC. Ironically, because Kershaw was pulled before completing the fourth inning today and Team USA took the lead for good in the top of the fifth, the victory in this one went to Rockies minor leaguer Carson Skipper, who Team USA borrowed in case any of its pitchers couldn’t finish their assignments.

The lone run came in the sixth. In spite of that, the Dodgers sent him back out for the seventh, only to watch him give up a double and a bunt single to begin the inning. Fortunately, Alex Vesia stranded both runners after taking over. Yamamoto. who struck out six, picked up the win and improved to 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA. He’ll likely make his next start next Tuesday against the Mets.

Díaz allowed a single and a walk, but he struck out the other three batters he faced with the Dodgers up 4-1. It’s his fourth save in four tries to start the year. He’ll probably be available again Wednesday after throwing 23 pitches tonight, but if not, Tanner Scott could close.

This would have been a quality start and maybe a win against another team, but not versus the Dodgers and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Gausman fell to 0-1 in spite of his 2.08 ERA. Maybe the Blue Jays will start to get it together before Gausman’s next tough matchup against the Brewers on Monday.

Hyeseong Kim and Freeland scored all four runs in Tuesday’s win, which is just how the Dodgers drew it up in January. Freeland was 3-for-24 coming into tonight, but his EV numbers were already quite good. There’s little reason to pick him up in mixed leagues at the moment, but he might well turn into a quality starting second baseman in time.

Ohtani got a little scare in the game, as he was in some pain after getting hit on the back of his left elbow by catcher Brandon Valenzuela’s followthrough on an attempted pickoff at first base. It was probably just a funny bone issue, though. Valenzuela was also left with some sore fingers, but both continued without incident.

Albies’ only hit of the game gave the Braves an insurance run in the eighth inning as he took Shaun Anderson deep for a solo homer to right field. It was the third home run of the young season for the 29-year-old second baseman. He’s slashing .277/.333/.468 with seven runs scored and four RBI across 51 plate appearances.

Iglesias entered in the eighth inning with one out and two runners in scoring position to protect a three-run lead. He stranded the runners with a pair of strikeouts before returning to close out the game in the ninth despite the Braves adding two more runs. Iglesias worked around two hits before securing the win and his second save of the season.

Kikuchi tossed a clean first inning, then surrendered a run on a pair of hits in the second. He ran into more trouble in the fourth, giving up three runs on a walk and three hits before getting out of the frame with a pair of strikeouts. Kikuchi returned for a clean fifth, striking out two batters to end his day with eight punchouts. The 34-year-old left-hander has allowed 11 runs over 14 2/3 innings across three starts, but a 16/6 K/BB ratio with a .404 BABIP suggests some bad hit luck in the early going. He’ll look for better fortune when he takes on the Yankees in New York on Monday.

Consider him day-to-day. If he can’t play Wednesday, then Rafael Marchan will do the catching.

Chapman continues to see the ball well as he collected three hits on Tuesday for his third straight multi-hit contest. He started with a pair of base hits in the first and third before knocking a double 111.7 mph off the bat in the fifth to drive in a run before scoring. The 32-year-old third baseman has just an 18 percent strikeout rate while hitting .304/.360/.478 with one homer, seven runs scored, and seven RBI across 50 plate appearances.