MLB Player News

Valentine said he sees Nick Punto in a utility role, while rookie Jose Iglesias could push Aviles for playing time. This is a fantasy position to monitor throughout the spring, as it’s an open competition. Aviles may have the edge at this moment, but Iglesias, or even Punto, could overtake him with a strong camp. Iglesias, the thinking goes, isn’t ready for the majors with only 671 plate appearances in the minors. But Boston must think highly of him, or Aviles’ potential for production at baseball’s most important defensive position, after trading Jed Lowrie and Marco Scutaro this winter. Aviles has a bit of raw power and has value in AL-only fantasy leagues, but make sure to keep an eye on this position battle until Opening Day. He batted .255/.289/.409 with seven home runs and 39 RBI in 91 games last season between the Royals and Red Sox.

You may not have noticed that Civale left the game due to a hamstring issue as he had surrendered five runs over three innings against the Bombers and could have been pulled due to ineffectiveness. The Brewers are already dealing with a heavily depleted starting rotation, so losing Civale for any length of time would be a crushing blow.

It’s a tough break for the 30-year-old right-hander, as he was brilliant in a long relief outing against the Cardinals on Sunday — allowing just one run on two hits and a pair of walks over 5 1/3 innings. He wasn’t going to be available for the next few days though and the Twins need a fresh arm to supplement their depleted bullpen. Given the $4 million remaining on his salary, it’s unlikely that another team will come calling on waivers, so expect that Dobnak will wind up accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A St. Paul.

Paris homered off Cam Booser to break a 2-2 tie that had been in effect since the first inning. Paris started in center today as a result an injury to Jo Adell. It was his first start anywhere this year, though it’d probably make sense for the Angels to play him at second or short with Zach Neto out.

A 64-pitch quality start. The groundball will be key for keeping Kochanowicz in the majors, but he actually got more outs in the air today. He also struck out four, which is pretty good for him; he fanned a total of 25 batters in 11 starts as a rookie last season. Kochanowicz will face a major league offense in his second start next weekend against the Guardians.

Pitching in a one-run game, Jansen gave up a leadoff double to Andrew Vaughn, but he was able to escape from there, with a double-play ball from Brooks Baldwin ending the game. Jansen and Ben Joyce both pitched for a second straight day today, so the Angels might want to stay away from both on Monday. That could lead to a save opportunity for Brock Burke.

Martin had a nice day despite giving up 11 hard-hit balls and had just three missed swings on his 91 pitches, but it worked out against a mediocre Angels lineup. He’s set to take in the Tigers next weekend.

Maton never found a home in the majors last year, but now he’s the White Sox’s leadoff man against right-handers, even if he probably wouldn’t be on the roster at all if not for the late injuries to Josh Rojas, Brandon Drury and Mike Tauchman. It’s not something that figures to last for an overly long time.

Naylor singled and drew three walks in his first four plate appearances, ultimately scoring a run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. He then delivered a go-ahead RBI double as part of the team’s eight-run uprising in the seventh inning then swiped third base and scored on an RBI single by Ryne Nelson (yes, the relief pitcher). The 27-year-old slugger is off to a nice start with his new club, hitting .400 (6-for-15) with three runs scored, three RBI and a stolen base.

The Diamondbacks had just cut their deficit to two runs on a two-run double by Geraldo Perdomo when Gurriel strolled to the dish against Eli Morgan. He jumped on a first-pitch fastball, pulverizing a 416-foot (107.5 mph EV) two-run shot that tied the game at 6-6. The 31-year-old outfielder also singled in the ballgame, finishing the afternoon 2-for-5. He’s now hitting .211 (4-for-19) with one long ball and three RBI on the season.

The left-hander struck out five opposing hitters on the afternoon while issuing three walks. All of the damage that was done against him came via the long ball, with Dansby Swanson crushing a solo shot in the second inning and Seiya Suzuki adding the dagger with a two-run blast in the sixth. Rodriguez generated eight swings and misses on 85 pitches on the day — six of them on his changeup — while recording a CSW of 26 percent. He’ll try once again to get in the win column when he does battle against the Nationals in Washington on Saturday.