MLB Player News

Robert played the hero in the 11th inning in a game where runs were at a premium. Down by one run with two runners on, he took Hunter Barco deep for a three-run blast to walk it off. He also drew a walk in the game. The 28-year-old outfielder is making a good first impression with his new club, going 3-for-8 over his first two games with two walks to one strikeout.

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.

Sugano was pulled with a 2-1 lead in the fifth before the Rockies were able to blow this one open in the sixth. He allowed just two hits, walked two and struck out four. Sugano’s velocity is up a tad from last year, which might give him a chance of being something close to an average starting pitcher. But since he signed with the Rockies, that really doesn’t matter for fantasy purposes.

It was either a win or a save, since he finished the game after entering with a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Tomoyuki Sugano allowed only one run in 4 2/3 innings as the starter, but they left him ineligible for the win, of course. In this case, though, MLB’s archaic policy backfired. The league likes seeing these kinds of wins go to relievers, since starters get paid for victories in arbitration and relievers just don’t. Dollander, though, won’t be a reliever once he’s eligible for arbitration. Still, this wasn’t exactly an encouraging outing for the 24-year-old. Andrés Giménez, Davis Schneider and Kazuma Okamoto all took him deep, and he’s up to 21 homers allowed in just 102 innings as a major leaguer.

Little had a 3.03 ERA in 79 appearances last season, and it looked like he might be even better this year during the spring, when he struck out 11 in six scoreless innings with his velocity up by about two mph from last year. Instead, he’s already given up seven earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. He’ll probably turn things around, but one more disaster outing might force the Blue Jays to send him to Triple-A for a couple of weeks.

The Jays have already demonstrated that they’re really fond of Nathan Lukes, so it’s very important that Sánchez get off to a hot start here if he wants to play most of the time against righties. That he’s opened 4-for-9 with a homer, three RBI, two walks and no strikeouts is much more significant than it would be if were still playing for the Marlins.