MLB Player News

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.

With the Blue Jays being really cautious about the early season workload for Trey Yesavage, who has still yet to throw in a big league spring training game, it seems most likely that Lauer and Yesavage will work in tandem for the final spot in the rotation. However, these comments, also make it possible that Lauer could simply take that spot with Yesavage beginning of the year in the minor leagues to continue ramping up. Regardless, Lauer is probably worth drafting in deeper formats right now.

The right-hander claims that he is “symptom-free and the plan is to resume throwing after a few days off.” However, given the nature of the injury and his declining performance, we don’t recommend drafting him in any fantasy leagues right now. Eric Lauer and Trey Yeasavage will likely work in tandem in the final spot of the rotation.

Dezenzo will be able to DH, and an MRI showed “everything fully intact structurally,” so this doesn’t seem to be a major issue; however, it could hurt the 25-year-old’s chances of making the Opening Day roster.

The 28-year-old fractured the ring finger on his throwing hand during the first week of March, so it’s a good sign that he’s already throwing. If his finger is able to withstand the force of hitting off live pitching, there is a chance that he could be ready for Opening Day. If not, it doesn’t appear that he will miss too much time.

Espada is a reliever who is currently on the 40-man roster, so he should begin the year in Triple-A. De León is one of the team’s top starting pitching prospects and a top 100 prospect in baseball, according to FanGraphs. He reached Double-A last year and posted a 3.30 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and 107/41 K/BB ratio in 87 1/3 innings across three levels. He should start the season at Double-A again with a chance for an early promotion to Triple-A if he pitches well.

Nori is fresh off a strong World Baseball Classic campaign, where he went 8-for-20 (.400) with two home runs, six RBI, and two steals. The 2024 first-round pick will likely begin the season at Double-A and could push for MLB at-bats in 2027. Reyes could also head to Double-A, but he did get six games at Triple-A last season after slashing .335/.365/.572 with 15 home runs and 13 steals in 95 Double-A games. Maybe the Phillies have seen enough of him at that level.

Sasaki pitched scoreless first and second innings before walking three in a row with one out in the third. He was pulled at that point, and Nick Robertson went on to strand the bases loaded. Sasaki came back out in the fourth and gave up a two-run homer to Luca Tresh before finishing the inning. He again returned in the fifth, but he was pulled after Starling Marte’s leadoff double. In all, Sasaki struck out five and walked four. His fastball averaged 97.9 mph and topped out at 99.5. The improvement in his stuff from last year provides hope that he’ll be of use in mixed leagues eventually. We wouldn’t want to count on him initially, though.

Falter was originally going to start the game, but the Royals changed their minds and had him pitch behind Aaron Sanchez, since he’s probably going to be a middle reliever once the season starts. The switch obviously worked out well, except for the rest of the Royals’ pitchers giving up 10 runs over six innings in the loss.

The double was a 109-mph laser to center. If Marte could still play quality defense in a corner, he’d probably be a solid enough regular at age 37. As is, it’s probably for the best that the Royals will mostly limit him to at-bats in left field and at DH against lefties. It shouldn’t be enough to make him helpful outside of deep AL-only leagues.

Freeland had a nice opportunity this spring with Tommy Edman out and Hyeseong Kim away. but after reaching on five-of-six plate appearances in his first two games, he’s gone 3-for-35 in his last 14 games. It seems like a given he’ll be opening up in Triple-A.