MLB Player News

It’s been interesting to see the Orioles collect all of their infielders (Nick Maton, Diego Castillo, Tyler Nevin, briefly Livan Soto and now Wong) they’d seem to have absolutely no use for with all of their prospects ready to contribute and Ramón Urias and Jorge Mateo still around as insurance. Perhaps they’ll trade either Urias or Mateo prior to Opening Day, but even if they do that, they’d hardly seem to need this much depth. Wong might be nice to have around as a fallback if Jackson Holliday gets sent down, but that alone still probably wouldn’t make him the best second base option on the roster. The 33-year-old hit .183/.256/.263 in 250 PA for the Mariners and Dodgers last season.

Torres told reporters afterwards that he’s been dealing with the issue for the past few days and decided to make an early exit for precautionary reasons since it’s so early in the season. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him take some time off this weekend to allow the issue to resolve itself.

Scott got the save chance after Blake Treinen nailed his, and it didn’t go very well. The 30-year-old southpaw gave up three hits, including a game-tying single to Manuel Margot. Scott has looked good in his previous appearances and still should see save chances early on, but it’s a disappointing result in the early portion of the campaign.

Dingler blasted a solo shot off an otherwise-excellent Yoshinobu Yamamoto for his first roundtripper in 2025. He showed off his athleticism in the 10th with a two-run triple that gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead. The Dodgers scored five in the bottom of the frame to win it. A nice day for Dingler, but probably not someone you should expect many more fantasy fireworks from this season.

With the Dodgers trailing 2-0 and unable to solve former teammate Jack Flaherty, Freeman tied the game with a two-run shot off Flaherty, his first of the season. The former MVP homered 22 times in 2024, and is a good bet to best that total in 2025 as long as he’s able to stay on the field.

Brieske got the first save chance of the year, and it failed rather spectacularly. With a 5-3 lead, he gave up an RBI double to Michael Confort, a run-scoring single to Will Smith, and a three-run walk-off homer to Mookie Betts. Not ideal. Brieske should get more save chances especially with Jason Foley currently in Triple-A, but the 26-year-old is the best of a bad situation at the top of the Detroit bullpen.

Betts also singled, if you’re into that sort of thing. The 32-year-old superstar came up huge twice; first with a solo shot in the eighth to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead, and two innings after that inning was blown, Betts gave Los Angeles their fourth-straight win with a three-run blast off an awful Beau Brieske. Betts dealt with illness in the middle of this month. He looks ok now.

He struck out five and walked two. Flaherty was brilliant over the first five innings, allowing just the one hit over those frames. Unfortunately, he got only two runs of support, and he saw that lead go away when he gave up a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman in the sixth before exiting. Still, a solid start for Flaherty against his former team and one of the best lineups in baseball. The 29-year-old likely faces the lowly White Sox next weekend.

Yamamoto allowed five hits and two walks to go with the punchouts. Both runs allowed came off solo homers; one from Dillon Dingler, the other from Gleyber Torres. Minus those roundtrippers — and even with them — he was excellent with 17 swings-and-misses from his 91 offerings. His next start isn’t scheduled, but he’ll likely face the Phillies next weekend.

With the score tied at 3-3, Cronenworth launched a solo blast off Derek Lee to give San Diego the lead and ultimately the victory. He also singled and drew a walk, so all in all a pretty nice Friday evening for the 31-year-old.

Tatis Jr. wasted little time picking up his first homer of 2024, giving the Padres a 1-0 lead with a homer off Reynaldo Lopez. It was his only hit of the game, but why not make your only hit a homer if you’re gonna do it? Tatis Jr. should have plenty more by the end of 2025.