MLB Player News

Quite the barnburner of a catching competition in Pittsburgh this spring. Bart is 5-for-34 with 16 strikeouts and a .392 OPS. Henry Davis homered today, pushing him all of the way up to .138 with a .631 OPS in 36 plate appearances. Endy Rodríguez actually did hit this spring, going 8-for-26 with two homers, but the Pirates demoted him anyway. Rafael Flores Jr., who was the return in the David Bednar deal with the Yankees, has also been sent down after going 2-for-25. The Pirates will just keep rolling with Bart and Davis for now and will likely let the hot hand, should one ever emerge, dictate playing time.

Buehler’s first outing with the Padres was a shaky one, and shaky might be too complimentary. He allowed a solo homer to Harrison Bader, and then two run-scoring singles in the fourth; his final frame of the contest. The 31-year-old was only able to generate eight swings and misses over 72 pitches, with a 21 percent CSW. Buehler was once one of the best fantasy options in baseball. He’s now someone who can be safely ignored in all formats.

Roupp threw 54-of-88 pitches for strikes, and he was able to procure 13 swings and misses in an impressive first outing of 2026. The 27-year-old averaged 93.5 mph with his sinker; up a little under a mile over his 2025 offering. Roupp has not shown a ton of consistency in his time with the Giants, but there have been flashes that suggest he’s a competent offering in the back - -maybe even the middle — of a rotation. He’ll look to replicate this effort against the Mets next week.

Both homers came off Johan Oviedo, who was working in relief of Ranger Suárez. It’s his 15th career multihomer game and the seventh time that he’s scored four runs. One of the previous times he scored four runs was when he hit for the cycle against the Red Sox in 2023.

It’s quite the statement from McCullers, who hadn’t thrown seven innings since 2022. Still, the struggling Red Sox probably made him look a little better than he deserved. They almost got to him in the sixth. Wilyer Abreu’s double with two on that inning skipped over the wall, costing Boston a run. The next batter, Masataka Yoshida, barely pulled a two-run double foul, and if that had landed, McCullers probably wouldn’t have finished the sixth, much less the seventh. Still, it was an encouraging outing on the whole. We just wouldn’t be ready to trust him in mixed leagues quite yet. He’ll face the A’s next.

Suárez’s velocity was quite good tonight, but he still gave up two homers and five other hard-hit balls in a weak showing that saw him throw first-pitch strikes to just nine of 20 hitters. Maybe he’ll show up against the Padres this weekend, but between his Grapefruit League outings, his WBC performance and this outing tonight, it almost seems like he’s mailed it in since landing a $130 million contract.

Oviedo might have hit his spring dead-arm period at a bad time for Boston, as his velocity tonight was down 2-3 mph from last year. Alternatively, maybe he’s just not comfortable pitching in relief. Regardless, the Red Sox should take advantage of his option years and bring up a fresh arm. He’s going to need a few days off after throwing 72 pitches tonight.

Alvarez lost one homer to the roof at Daikin Park on Opening Day, but he’s up to two in five games anyway. One worries some about health, especially since the Astros seem poised to give him significant playing time in left field, but if he can start 150 games, he might make a run at AL MVP honors.

Of course they did. The Rockies were up 2-1 through five before erupting for seven runs in the sixth. They then piled on with five runs off catcher Tyler Heineman in the final two innings. Tovar is used to mostly batting first and second for the Rockies, but he’s opened the season in the cleanup spot, which really makes more sense given his total absence of plate discipline. His three hits all left his bat in excess of 101 mph, and his double off Heineman in the eighth would have been a homer in nine ballparks.