MLB Player News

Third base became awfully crowded at Kinston with the decision to promote Jared Goedert and Hodges now back healthy after missing a couple of weeks, but Hodges should continue to see the bulk of his time at the hot corner, with Goedert giving second base a try. Hodges is batting .299/.374/.537 in 134 at-bats.

Beer last appeared in the big leagues for the Diamondbacks when he got into 43 games from 2021-2022. The 28-year-old former first-round pick spent last year in the Pirates’ system, posting a .277/.354/.431 triple-slash line with 12 homers in 99 games between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis.

This is getting ridiculous. Kurtz has gone deep a whopping six times in just 10 games to open the minor-league season. His latest tape-measure blast was an opposite-field moonshot that traveled 455 feet, per Statcast. The 22-year-old slugger, who was the 16th-ranked prospect in Rotoworld’s latest dynasty rankings update, pairs an advanced approach at the plate and strong contact skills with upper-echelon over-the-fence power. That combination makes him a potential four-category fantasy force once he reaches the big leagues, especially since he’ll get a chance to rake at hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. He’s worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats on the chance that the Athletics front office is forced to give him an opportunity in the majors in the coming weeks, if not sooner.

This was Mahle’s second straight impressive start. He battled the cold and wind at Wrigley Field to stymie the Cubs’ lineup and complete seven innings for the first time since his complete game shutout on June 14th, 2022. That was a lifetime ago and more than anything else, it’s great to see Mahle healthy, effective, and working his way up to a season-high 94 pitches. His fastball lived in the top of the zone and while not forcing many swings-and-misses, the Cubs were under it all game and hit a heap of lazy fly balls. It should be noted his velocity was inconsistent over the course of this game, but the weather could’ve had a lot to do with that. He’ll look to keep building momentum in his next scheduled start against the Angels.

Seager has yet to really get going so far this season. Maybe this game will give him the jolt he needs. He caught a break with his first inning blast, as it barely landed in the grate just beyond the ivy in left-center field. Lucky for him, that batted ball would have only been a home run in Wrigley Field. Nevertheless, these two homers raised his .534 OPS to a .712 OPS in just one game, reminding us about how small the sample size still is and how little we should be worrying about slow starts from stars like Seager.

Few players in the league are hitting the ball with more authority than Suzuki right now. He laced his triple 108.6 mph into the right-center field gap and had another lineout at 106.6 mph. Of his last 10 games, he’s had multiple hits in seven of them and seems to be taking well to becoming the Cubs’ full-time designated hitter with a .970 OPS on the young season.

After cruising through four innings, Imanaga fell apart in the fifth. He allowed a two-run home run to the eight-hitter Jonah Heim and then the top of the Rangers’ order came back around for the third time, hit the ball very hard, and ended Imanaga’s outing. His fastball velocity fell down to the upper 80s at times on a cold afternoon in Chicago and should be monitored moving forward. He’s scheduled to face the Padres in his next start.

Sometimes, people throw out the phrase, “he had everything working” for a pitcher that may not have literally had “everything” working. However, Fried literally had everything working in this game. He forced five swings-and-misses over the first two innings with five different pitches. He wound up forcing 15 whiffs in total with six different pitches notching one each and four with multiple. This was the sixth time in his career where he’s struck out at least 10 batters and now has a miniscule 1.56 ERA over his first three starts with the Yankees. He’s lined up for a favorable two-start week coming up against the Royals and Rays.

Williams entered this game after having not pitched since Sunday and needing some work with the Yankees up 4-0. He proceeded to give up two singles, two walks, and a wild pitch that eventually put the tying run on second base before being pulled from the game for Mark Leiter Jr. to earn the unlikely save. Williams’ now has an ugly 12.00 ERA through his first few appearances as a Yankee.

Is this the league’s next great power hitter? Is this the Yankees’ official lead-off hitter? Could he be both? Rice is now up to three home runs with a 1.086 OPS through his first 11 games of the season. He smoked his homer at 108.1 mph and it traveled an estimated 419 feet and has all of the underlying batted ball metrics to support this power surge. Also, he’s hit either first or second in each of his last six starts and seems to officially be a fixture up there in the talented, deep Yankees’ lineup. The sky’s the limit for Rice right now.

The Tigers’ offense was completely silent in this one until a furious, two-out rally in the ninth inning against Devin Williams nearly brought them all the way back. McKinstry had the big hit in that inning – a two-run single – that pulled them to within one run and chased Williams from this game. It’s been a hot start to the season for McKinstry who has a hit in seven straight games and started in nine of the Tigers’ last 11 games overall at three different positions.