MLB Player News

Casas has been hitting all spring and recently started running the bases. He’ll probably begin a rehab assignment at some point in April and then the Red Sox will have to decide in May whether to try to squeeze him on to the roster or option him to Triple-A.

Arozarena also singled and recorded an RBI on a HBP. The Mariners had good reason to drop him to fifth in the lineup after the Brendan Donovan acquisition, but they could consider revisiting that with everyone ahead of him struggling at the moment. He’s batting .271/.407/.396 for a team that’s hitting just .190/.297/.311 on the whole.

Hancock was given three runs to work with the first, but he quickly coughed up the lead in a three-run second. Fortunately, he was fine afterwards, and the Mariners got him some more help in the fifth. Hancock wound up with 12 whiffs and a fine 34-percent CSW with his fastball velocity up once again. He’s averaged 95.1 and 95.7 mph in his last two starts after coming in at 93.5 mph in his no-hit bid against the Guardians to open the season. He’s slated for a home start against the A’s and a road outing versus the Cardinals next week, making him an intriguing mixed-league option.

Muñoz successfully protected a three-run lead after Yordan Alvarez’s three-run homer in the eighth brought the Astros to within shouting distance. He needed 25 pitches to get his three outs, but considering that he had five days off coming into this one, he’ll probably be available Saturday anyway.

The bottom of the first started walk, walk, single, walk and HBP before Imai finally got his first out on a grounder. Another walk followed, and Imai was done after 37 pitches. Imai now had 13 strikeouts and 11 walks through 8 2/3 innings as a major leaguer. He’ll probably have more good starts than bad this season, but since he’s still working to adjust to the MLB baseball and a new pitching schedule, he’ll be considerably more interesting in fantasy leagues next year than he is right now.

The homer turned the Astros’ deficit from six runs to three in the eighth and caused the Mariners to use Andrés Muñoz, so perhaps that might pay off Saturday? Alvarez is batting .341/.516/.750 with five homers and 13 RBI in 14 games, and it’s going to be so fun to see what he can do if he can stay completely healthy this year.

Winn was diagnosed with a bruise on his right fibula head, just below his knee. While he was moving around alright after Friday’s game, he was dealing with some soreness and swelling and still had it wrapped up. It’s possible he could get an extra day off on Saturday to be on the safe side, but he shouldn’t be looking at any sort of extended absence.

It looked like Langford may have suffered the injury — or at least tweaked it — while rounding the bases after smacking a solo homer off of Tyler Glasnow in the fifth inning. He’ll head for further evaluation. Be sure to check back on Saturday as the Rangers should have a full update on his status.

Four innings after homering off Tomoyuki Sugano for the first run of the game, Sheets, the Padres’ first baseman against right-handers, won it off Juan Mejia in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth. He had been homerless in 12 games to start the year, but he’s gone 4-for-9 against the Rockies the last two days to raise his OPS from .553 to .785.

With his fastball up about one mph from his first two starts, Buehler allowed only three hits, all of them singles. He walked none and struck out four. It’s definitely an encouraging development, but he’s still a long way from being a fantasy option. He’ll get the Mariners next week.

Miller came into a tie game and retired the side on 13 pitches. He’s faced 24 batters this year and struck out 19 while allowing one hit and one walk. It’s time to make things interesting and give the first team to score off him an automatic postseason berth.