MLB Player News

Whitcomb, fighting for a roster spot that doesn’t appear to be there on a suddenly-deep Astros infield, made the most of his WBC experience with a pair of homers off Jeff Barto and Filip Capka. Korea moves to 1-0 in Pool C and will take on Japan on Saturday.

Espinal showed out in front of his former club. He got the Dodgers on the board with a sacrifice fly in the opening inning. Espinal then tagged Reds’ closer Emilio Pagan for a 433-foot (103.6 mph EV) solo shot in the third inning that pulled the Dodgers to within three runs at 6-3. He then crushed a 403-foot (105.8 mph EV) three-run shot off of Tony Santillan in the fourth inning that put the Dodgers ahead 8-6. He also tacked on a sacrifice fly in the fifth. It sounds like Espinal has already made the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster, now he’s fighting for at-bats at second base to open the season.

Irvin walked one and struck out one during the disappointing outing. His struggles stemmed from his inability to keep the ball in the yard, serving up two-run homers to Elly Da La Cruz, Will Benson and Matt McLain. The 32-year-old left-hander got just two swings and misses on 43 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 18 percent. His chances of cracking the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster were already slim and they took a hit with Thursday’s disastrous outing.

McLain singled in the opening inning and scored on Elly De La Cruz’s gargantuan two-run blast. He then clobbered a two-run shot of his own in the second inning — a 380-foot (104.2 mph EV) blast off of Cole Irvin that made it a 6-1 ballgame. He also singled in the fifth and scored on Nathaniel Lowe’s three-run shot. McLain is doing everything that he can to make fantasy managers buy back in after his disappointing 2025 season — slashing an insane .647/.700/1.412 with four homers and 11 RBI in his first six Cactus League contests.

The dynamic 24-year-old superstar did his damage in the opening inning of this one, following a Matt McLain single with a majestic 438-foot (114.5 mph EV) two-run blast off of Cole Irvin that gave the Reds a 2-1 advantage. He also singled in the fifth inning and rode home on Nathaniel Lowe’s three-run blast. De La Cruz is off to a blistering start this spring, hitting .444 (8-for-18) with a pair of homers and seven RBI — though he has yet to steal a base.

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out one batter on the afternoon. The Dodgers opened the top half of the first against him with a pair of singles, then used a ground ball and a sacrifice fly to move the runners around. Franco got three swings and misses on 49 pitches on the afternoon, registering an underwhelming CSW of only 18 percent. He’s expected to open the season in the rotation at Triple-A Louisville, but could be an option out of the bullpen at some point for the Reds.

With the wind wreaking havoc in this one, the Padres totaled eight homers and the Mariners had four. San Diego also had nine doubles. The 69 balls in play produced 37 hits, plus a couple of errors. Pretty much every Padres regular was pulled after the team went ahead 17-2 in the top of third, though Fermin stayed in to catch Walker Buehler in the bottom of the inning.

It was quite a surprise to see Buehler back on the mound in the third after a second straight lengthy layoff while the Padres were totaling 17 runs, but he held up fine. His velocity today was down about 1.5 mph from last year, which isn’t surprising after his late signing. He’ll probably need to go spend some time in Triple-A at the beginning of the year.

After a scoreless first, Castillo gave up four hits in the second and was pulled. He was supposed to come back out for the third at that point, but the Padres went on to score 12 runs in the inning, so Castillo instead finished his day by throwing in the pen. The wind made everything a mess in this one, so don’t worry about his ERA. At least he gave up only one of the game’s 12 homers.

The wind was a major factor in the Padres’ 27-6 win today, but Merrill didn’t need the help; his homer left the bat at 108 mph, and he also had a 111.3-mph single. The latter hit topped his 110-.9-mph max velocity from last season.

Of the five batters who did make contact against him, not a one hit the ball hard. Alcantara gave up three runs to the Nationals last time out and threw 28 pitches to get his three outs. Today, he needed 43 to get nine.