MLB Player News

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.

Alvarez was reponsible for one of the Astros’ two runs on the night, with his solo homer off Yusei Kikuchi in the fifth inning providing the final run in the defeat. Alvarez is just 1-for-8 in his first two games to start the season, but has seen three of his at-bats come against lefty pitching. The Angels and Astros are off on Saturday and will conclude their opening series on Sunday.

Trout hit his second homer in as many games in the fifth inning to push the Angels’ lead to 5-2. Trout is off to a blazing start through the first two games of the season, going 4-for-6 at the plate while also drawing four walks. It’s only two games, but Trout’s early power display after failing to homer in 41 spring at-bats is encouraging.

Lowe broke things open for the Angels in the second inning when he took Mike Burrows deep for a three-run shot, putting the Angels up 4-1. Lowe, who also doubled in this one, hit just 11 homers in 396 at-bats last season but does have one 20 homer season on his resumé. He could have some fantasy upside in deeper leagues, especially if he sees some base-stealing opportunities.

Burrows allowed a leadoff double to Zach Neto to begin this one, and gave up a single to Mike Trout on the next at-bat. A double play by Nolan Schanuel on the following AB scored Neto from third, but Burrows was able to end the inning with a swinging strikeout of Jorge Soler. Burrows would again run into trouble in the second inning, as a walk to Yoán Moncada and a Jo Adell single served as the prelude to a three-run homer by Josh Lowe, while a Mike Trout solo blast in the fifth would be the last run Burrows surrendered on the evening. Burrows allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in each of the six innings he appeared in, which inevitably made for a tough outing. We’ll see if he can get right in his next start on Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Kikuchi threw 86 pitches in this one, with 53 of them (61.6 percent) going for strikes. The veteran lefty was lit up all night, but the Astros were unable to string together enough hits to keep pace with the Angels. A wild pitch by Kikuchi in the first inning allowed Jeremy Peña to score from third, but the only other run Kikuchi allowed on the night came courtesy of Yordan Alvarez, who hit a solo homer in the fifth. Kikuchi allowed opposing hitters to hit .261 off him list season while going 7-11 with a 3.99 ERA. Given how this outing went, he’ll be hard to trust in his next start, which is set for Wednesday at the Cubs.

On a night where the Royals were stifled by Chris Sale and the Braves’ bullpen, Witt was responsible for two of the team’s five hits. Despite the two-hit performance, Witt also hit into a double play in his first at-bat of the season and struck out in his following at-bat with a runner on first.

Goodman was the only player on the Rockies to tally more than one hit in Friday’s loss to the Marlins. The 2025 All-Star was robbed of his first RBI on the season when a single to right field that nearly scored Jake McCarthy from second resulted in McCarthy being thrown out by Austin Slater. Goodman broke out for 31 homers and 91 RBI last season while slashing .278/.323/.520 and is among the top fantasy catchers this season playing in the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field.

Giménez put the Blue Jays up 2-1 in the fifth inning when he floated a ball into left center that was misplayed by two defenders and rolled to the back of the wall for a triple. After a game-tying homer by Shea Langeliers in the ninth inning, Giménez again came up clutch for the Jays, when he squeezed snuck a grounder past second base to drive in Kazuma Okamoto from third for the walk-off win. Not often known for his bat, we’ll need to see a few more outings like this from Giménez before we consider him a fantasy viable option this season.

Langeliers ended a scoreless tie in the fourth when he connected on a Kevin Gausman splitter that sailed 388 feet into the left field stands. It was the first homer of the season for Langeliers, who came up clutch again in the ninth inning when he took Jays closer Jeff Hoffman deep to tie the game at 2-2. Langeliers hit second for the A’s on Friday and is coming off a season in which he belted a career-high 31 homers.

Gausman held the Athletics scoreless through 3 1/3 innings until Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers took him deep on a solo homer to put the A’s up 1-0. It was the only hit and baserunner Gausman would allow all game, as the veteran righty was nails all night. Gausman threw 60 of his 83 pitches for strikes and relied almost exclusively on his fastball and splitter to get the job done. It was a strong first start of the season for Gausman, who will make his next start on Wednesday against the Rockies.