MLB Player News

Fraley got the day off on Sunday and is right back in the lineup today. The veteran is 5-for-19 to start the season with one run scored. He’s not making strong enough contact early in the season and could be at risk of losing playing time to Jonny DeLuca.

Vierling started the game with a solo home run off of Red Sox opener Jovani Moran and then added a single later in the game. Since Moran is a lefty, Vierling was at the top of the order, but the 29-year-old is hitting .221/.279/.390. It remains to be seen if the return of Zach McKinstry from the injured list will impact Vierling’s playing time against right-handed pitching going forward.

For the first time this season, the Red Sox used an opener ahead of Brayan Bello this season. However, Jovani Moran struggled in that role, so when Bello entered the game in the second inning, he began with the ninth hitter and then immediately faced the top of the order. Perhaps it was more about facing a Tigers team that was downtrodden after losing their ace pitcher. Whatever it was, this was easily Bello’s best outing of the season. He threw 70 percent strikes and attacked lefties with more four-seam fastballs and fewer cutters. He also went to the sweeper more than usual against righties, and it had a 21 percent swinging strike rate on the day. The strikeouts are a bit unsustainable considering he only had 10 whiffs all game, so we wouldn’t go ahead and say that Bello is “fixed,” but he may be on the radar in the deepest formats this weekend against the Rays.

Lee’s exit velocity numbers remain pretty weak and he’s striking out more than usual (though still a bit less than the league average) this year, but he’s thus far produced a nice .270/.323/.435 line anyway. His .302 BABIP wouldn’t be particularly notable for most, but he’d come in at just .254 in 189 games over his first two seasons. Statcast thinks it’s actually this year’s mark that’s the bigger fluke, given his modest hard-hit rates.

Bradley’s velocity was up about one mph in this one, and he wound up generating 16 whiffs and finishing with a 36 percent CSW. He’s allowed two runs or fewer in all but one of his eight starts to open the year 4-1 with a 2.87 ERA. He’ll try to keep it going against the Guardians on Sunday, likely in a battle with Gavin Williams.

Cavalli, who entered with a 38/14 K/BB in 30 2/3 innings, struck out just two and walked three tonight. He also hit a batter for the fifth time in eight starts. The defeat leaves him 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA. Cavalli’s talent is obvious, but some inconsistency had to be expected, given that he entered the season having pitched a total of 82 innings over the last three seasons.

Keaschall is batting .313 with four doubles, six walks and three steals in his last 10 games. It’s been just enough to push his OPS up to .600 for the first time all season. The bat should continue to come around, which would make him pretty valuable if he keeps running; he’s 8-for-8 stealing bases so far.

Harry Ford is off to an awful start in Triple-A, so the Nationals probably aren’t ready for a catcher shakeup just yet. Still, Ruiz has been a disaster offensively, hitting .182/.203/.303 in 69 plate appearances. At least his defense is grading out a little better than usual, for what that’s worth.

Alonso did enough damage in the back-and-forth slugfest to allow Baltimore to pull out a late victory. He hammered a two-run double down the left-field line against Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara in the opening frame as part of a multi-hit effort where he also drew a pair of walks, reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances. The 31-year-old middle-of-the-order threat is hitting .364 (8-for-22) with two homers and five RBI over his last seven games.

Hicks drilled a two-run single to right-center field against Orioles starter Chris Bassitt with two outs in the second inning before taking reliever Grant Wolfram deep for his eighth round-tripper of the season. The unheralded 26-year-old backstop should be able to find enough at-bats between first base and catcher to be a fantasy-relevant option in all leagues the rest of the way. He’s off to a really strong start this season, hitting .321 through 33 games. He’s currently tied with Matt Olson with a major-league leading 32 RBI during that span.

Basallo scalded an RBI double in the opening frame before putting Baltimore ahead with a two-run single to right-center field in the third inning. He capped off an impressive three-hit effort with an RBI triple to right field in the fifth. The 21-year-old backstop has found his stride at the dish recently, hitting .333 (17-for-51) with two homers and 10 RBI over his last 15 games.