MLB Player News

It’s relatively easy to envision Pepiot benefitting tremendously from relocating to pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field after spending last year in a minor league ballpark. The 28-year-old righty has put together an excellent spring, compiling a microscopic 0.90 ERA despite a 7/9 K/BB ratio across 10 innings.

The hard-hitting backstop plated a run with an infield single in the fifth inning that increased the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2. He then clobbered a 418-foot (104.8 mph EV) two-run shot off of Taylor Clarke in the seventh that made it an 8-2 ballgame. Smith remains one of the most solid and consistent performers at the catcher position.

The Dodgers entered the home half of the fifth inning facing a two-run deficit until Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez set the table with a couple of singles. Pages then followed with a mammoth 400-foot (100.6 mph EV) three-run shot that changed the entire complexion of the game and put the Dodgers ahead to stay. He also singled in the eighth inning. Pages appears to be back in the Dodgers’ good graces after being benched down the stretch of their run to the World Series.

Tucker started out his Dodgers’ tenure with a fielder’s choice, a ground out to first base and a line out to left. He finally got into the fun in the seventh inning, smacking a double up the gap in left center that plated Shohei Ohtani with the Dodgers’ fifth run. He then raced around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Mookie Betts. He’s in perhaps the best lineup spot in all of baseball sandwiched between Ohtani and Betts and should produce stellar fantasy results across the board as long as he manages to stay healthy.

Yamamoto racked up six strikeouts on the evening and didn’t allow a base on balls. The only blemish on his night was a two-run blast off the bat of Geraldo Perdomo in the fourth inning. Aside from that, he was in complete command. The 27-year-old right-hander piled up 16 swings and misses on the night — half of them on his splitter — while registering a strong CSW of 33 percent. He’ll look to keep the good times rolling when he squares off against the Guardians on Wednesday.

Perdomo singled with two outs in the opening inning but was then picked off by Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He then opened the scoring in the contest when he crushed a 398-foot (102.0 mph EV) two-run shot off the Dodgers’ ace. The 26-year-old shortstop was one of the breakout stars of the 2025 campaign and his 2026 season is already off to a roaring start.

The 30-year-old right-hander struck out two batters on the evening while issuing a pair of walks. He actually blanked the Dodgers through the first four innings, but the wheels fell off for him in the fifth. There, he allowed a pair of singles to start the inning, then served up a three-run homer to Andy Pages. He then allowed a single to Miguel Rojas and walked Shohei Ohtani before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Gallen got nine swings and misses on 76 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 26 percent. He’ll look to bounce back when he does battle against the Tigers on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old right-hander is said to be progressing nicely. The next step for him will be to pitch in a minor league spring training game, though a date for that assignment has not been set yet. Even when he is fully recovered, it’s going to take an injury or ineffectiveness for him to earn a shot in the Royals’ rotation.

Eight of the 11 balls in play against Sánchez today were hit hard, but only three turned into hits, with Andrew McCutchen’s 398-foot double being the lone extra-base hit. Sánchez can afford to give up the hard contact because so much of it is on the ground and because he hardly walks anyone. He issued no free passes today, Last year, he walked one or none in 19 of his 32 starts. Sánchez will face the Nationals next week.

Those rostering Duran can thank Kyle Backhus for turning a 5-0 game in the ninth into a save situation. Duran allowed an RBI single after coming on, but he then got Evan Carter to ground out to end the contest. His three fastballs came in at 100.6, 99.8 and 99.8 mph.

Eovaldi had a great spring and still appeared strong today with his eight strikeouts and his velocity up by one mph from last year. Unfortunately, he gave up two homers anyway and both came with men on. Last year, he allowed multiple homers just twice in 22 starts. Probably not a coincidence is that those outings came back-to-back not long before a shoulder injury got him shut down for the final five weeks. Still, we’d expect him to bounce back nicely next week versus the Orioles.