MLB Player News

Japan’s offense was stifled by Australia’s pitching in this one, as it took them until the seventh inning to scratch out a run. Suzuki strolled to the dish with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning and worked a walk to force in a run, increasing Japan’s lead to 4-1. That run would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. The 31-year-old slugger is already having a terrific tournament after blasting a pair of home runs in Saturday’s victory over Korea.

Jordan Lawlar led off the top of the first with a homer, but Glasnow retired 13 of 15 batters afterwards, getting four strikeouts with his curveball. There’s an argument that Glasnow is a little overrated for fantasy purposes at this point, as he’s still an injury risk and probably doesn’t have quite as much upside as he used to. He’s looking strong right now, though, with his velocity right at his 2025 norms.

Pfaadt’s nine sweepers today got all of four of his strikeouts. Dodgers hitters swung at seven of them and missed six times, with the exception turning into a groundout. In all, Pfaadt allowed just two hits, a double from Freddie Freeman in the first and a single from Mookie Betts in the third.

The oft-injured Loáisiga is throwing well this spring, having given up two runs in four innings, and seems like a good bet to make the Diamondbacks. He might well prove to be their best reliever while healthy, which could lead to save chances early on.

Lawlar and Ryan Waldschmidt collided in the outfield during the game, with Lawlar’s inexperience in the outfield and center, in particular, likely the cause, but both were fine afterwards. It’s not official yet, but all indications are that Lawlar has locked up center field in Arizona while hitting .333/.455/.815 in 33 plate appearances this spring.

Mederos won’t break camp in the majors after being hit hard in a handful of Cactus League outings. The 24-year-old made five appearances (three starts) for the Angels last year and will continue serving as emergency depth on the doorstep of the big leagues.

Rooker is up to three round-trippers this spring after taking White Sox starter Shane Smith deep in the third inning. He also scalded a two-run double in this contest, just for good measure. He’s a back-end OF1 option in fantasy drafts this spring.

Kurtz has been relatively quiet this spring, hitting just .179 (5-for-28) through 12 exhibition contests. He’s drawn nine walks and only struck out six times during that span. The 22-year-old fantasy force delivered one of the best rookie campaigns in recent memory and is neck-and-neck with Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr., vying to be the top first baseman off the board in fantasy drafts this spring.

Friedl took Colorado reliever Jimmy Herget deep with two outs in the fourth inning for his first big fly of the spring. The 30-year-old centerfielder remains Cincinnati’s primary leadoff option ahead of middle-of-the-order forces Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez heading into the regular season, which makes him a decent OF5 option in shallow mixed leagues.

Seager’s first-inning homer came off Cubs starter Cade Horton and was his first of the spring. The 31-year-old shortstop has topped 125 games just once in four seasons with the Rangers but he’s still managed to reach the 30-homer mark three times during that span. He’s a back-end starting shortstop for fantasy managers in shallow mixed leagues based on leaps by younger alternatives like Geraldo Perdomo and Jeremy Peña at the position.

Rocker is one of the more challenging pitchers to evaluate for fantasy purposes since he seems likely to open the year back at Triple-A Round Rock and has been all over the place from a performance standpoint in the big leagues over the past two years. The 26-year-old former top prospect looked outstanding in this relief outing, piling up 11 swinging strikes and averaging 96.4 mph on his sinker. It’s possible he’ll break camp in the big leagues as a swingman capable of gobbling up multiple innings but that would certainly limit his fantasy appeal.