MLB Player News

With Rob Refsnyder no longer on the team, the Red Sox don’t have a clear platoon partner for Abreu. Isiah Kiner-Falefa may make some starts in the outfield against lefties, but he’s playing second base today with Marcelo Mayer sitting. This is great news for Abreu’s fantasy value, and he could be in for a real breakout season. The rest of the Red Sox’s Opening Day lineup is: Roman Anthony LF, Trevor Story SS, Jarren Duran DH, Willson Contreras 1B, Caleb Durbin 3B, Wilyer Abreu RF, Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2B, Carlos Narvaez C, and Ceddanne Rafaela CF.

Tibbs impressed this spring and is off to an 8-for-13 starts with six extra-base hits in three games for Oklahoma City. The Dodgers might not ever need the twice-traded 2024 first-round pick (first from the Giants to the Red Sox in the Rafael Devers deal and later to the Dodgers in the Dustin May trade), but he could be a big part of another deadline deal this summer.

Both single and homer left the bat at 106 mph, with the homer traveling 401 feet. Jones cleared waivers at the end of the spring after failing to make the Guardians, but this probably isn’t the end for him. The Guardians are going to be searching for offense all year, and while Jones is no certainty to provide it, he has more upside than a good two-thirds of the players on their roster.

Garrett was quite surprisingly sent down despite showing the best velocity of his career in averaging 92.6 mph with his fastball in two starts this spring. He wasn’t quite at that level tonight, coming in at 91.8 mph, but that’s still 1.0 mph better than his average as a major leaguer. Even as is, he’s almost certainly one of the Marlins’ five best starters, and it shouldn’t be too long before he gets a chance to show it.

Griffin’s doubles left his bat at 113 and 102 mph. He’s 5-for-10 with three walks and two steals in the very early going here. The Pirates could still give him a quick callup and be eligible to receive a draft pick in the event that he makes a Rookie of the Year bid, but given that they made their choice this spring, it’s quite a bit more likely that they’ll keep him in the minors until May or June.

The 26-year-old Arrighetti allowed just one hit and one hard-hit ball. He’s likely to join the Astros when they expand their rotation from five to six starters next week.

Tolle struck out six and gave up only four hard-hit balls, so it wasn’t so bad. Still, if he entered the spring on relatively even ground with Connelly Early, he’s well behind Early at the moment, and his odds of getting a quick recall to the majors don’t seem great.

We still have some faith in CES, but it can’t bode overly well that the Reds have him batting sixth in Louisville’s lineup. He’s 4-for-13 with a homer through three games.

The Yankees aren’t going to add an outfielder unless someone gets hurt, but Jones might have the very early edge on Jasson Domínguez there. He’s 4-for-12 with two extra-base hits so far. All three of his hits Sunday had exit velocities in excess of 104 mph.

It was actually kind of concerning to see Hancock’s velocity drop tonight. He averaged a much-improved 94.9 mph with his four-seamer last year and was up to 95.4 mph this spring, but he was down to 93.5 mph tonight. Nevertheless, the Guardians simply couldn’t touch him. Their one hard-hit ball turned into a double play. The remaining seven balls in play against him were five other groundouts and two popups. Between the velocity drop and the most 24% CSW, it’s hard to be too excited about the showing tonight. Still, he’ll always be a streaming option whenever he’s starting at home. Unfortunately, he’ll be on the road against the Angels next weekend, and he might be in line for only a couple of more starts before Bryce Miller returns.

Criswell entered in the seventh with a no-hitter intact, but let’s face it, if the Mariners really wanted a no-hitter tonight, they would have gone to someone else. Instead, Criswell did exactly what the team was hoping for after coming into a 6-0 game, saving the rest of the pen by finishing the game with zero stress. He could be interesting in deep leagues in arguably the game’s best situation for pitchers; this probably won’t be his last three-inning save, and he’s going to vulture some wins as well.