MLB Player News

Adams was a notable pitching prospect last decade with the Yankees before struggling at the major league level and eventually being traded to the Royals prior to the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. The 28-year-old righty hasn’t pitched professionally since the 2021 season and will get another shot with the Rockies. He’s at least an interesting gamble.

Fraley looked every bit the dynamic player that fantasy managers had hoped he would be in 2024, crushing a solo homer off of Keegan Thompson in the fourth inning and deftly swiping second base after delivering an RBI single in the sixth. He should once again be penciled into the Reds’ lineup against all right-handed pitchers in 2025 and his dazzling blend of power and speed continues to make him an intriguing late-round option in deeper mixed leagues.

The 27-year-old right-hander punched out three opposing hitters on the afternoon while issuing one free pass. The damage done against him came in the second inning as Jon Berti drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a single by Vidal Brujan. Travis Jankowski then grounded into a fielder’s choice but narrowly beat out the double play which allowed Berti to score. His three strikeouts came courtesy of Justin Turner, Miguel Amaya and Ian Happ. With a couple of injury concerns in the Reds’ rotation to begin the season, there’s a chance that Spiers could find himself on the Opening Day roster with a strong showing in Cactus League action.

Happ led off the home half of the first inning with a double off of right-hander Carson Spiers, but the Cubs were unable to cash him in. After striking out in the third inning, Happ worked a walk with the bases loaded in the fourth to trim their deficit to two runs at 5-3. He’s off to a strong start on the spring overall, hitting .400 (6-for-15) with one RBI.

On the plus side, Boyd did record four of his seven outs via the strikeout while issuing just one walk. The Reds scratched out a run in the opening inning as Jeimer Candelario worked a two-out walk and scored on an RBI double by Tyler Stephenson. Boyd then seemed to tire in the third inning, as the Reds had three consecutive one-out hits to push two runs across and chase him from the game. Through his first two Cactus League outings he holds an uninspiring 6.23 ERA and 2.08 WHIP to go with a 6/3 K/BB ratio over 4 1/3 innings.

Thompson will be shut down completely for that timetable before being re-evaluated. Even if he’s cleared to resume throwing at that point, it’s going to take Thompson a while before he’s built back up and ready to contribute, so don’t be surprised if he misses at least the first month of the regular season as well.

Picking up where he left off in the Dominican Winter League, Caminero is 4-for-14 with three homers and eight RBI. His draft stock is already quite a bit higher than it was at the end of last year and deservedly so. It’d be too aggressive to draft him in the fourth or fifth rounds of mixed leagues, but it might soon be difficult to get him much later than that.

Statcast says Baz threw a fastball 100.6 mph in this one, but considering his next fastest pitch was a full three mph slower, we’re not buying it. Even so, it was a nice spring debut for the 25-year-old. He struck out two and walked one.

Junior Caminero ruined Paddack’s day with a pair of two-run homers. Paddack showed good velocity today, averaging 94.1 mph with his fastball. He still might be a trade candidate with the Twins possessing seven viable starters, but he should be in the rotation if retained.

We prefer the potential of Zebby Matthews and David Festa, but Woods Richardson would seem to deserve a chance to keep his rotation spot after posting a 4.17 ERA in 28 starts as a rookie. He’s allowed one run in four innings this spring.

Larnach took Kevin Kelly deep. The Twins are making it pretty clear that their current plan is for Larnach to bat cleanup against righties. He’ll probably do some sitting versus lefties, but he should be worth using in mixed leagues most weeks early on.