MLB Player News

No real surprises here for Baltimore, but the name that stands out is Guzmán, who has reportedly been touching the upper-90’s this spring in bullpen sessions as he continues his transition to a full-time pitcher.

It was kind of the Marlins to have Alcantara pitch on six days’ rest tonight against the hapless Pirates instead of on four days’ rest Sunday against the Rays. It led to his best line of the season, with just three hits and one walk allowed. If nothing else, back-to-back quality starts against the Rockies and Pirates has to be great for Alcantara’s confidence. Now 3-7 with a 7.14 ERA, he’s due more of a test next time out against the Phillies. If he performs well again then, maybe he can go back to being counted on in mixed leagues.

The first two batters of the inning reached on a HBP and a single, but Faucher retired Adam Frazier, Henry Davis and Ke’Bryan Hayes afterwards. With Jesús Tinoco on the IL, Faucher is the obvious favorite for saves in Miami at the moment. Chances probably won’t be all that plentiful, but he’s an option for those in need.

Obviously, there’s a lot more focus on how unlucky Paul Skenes has been to be 4-6 with a 1.88 ERA, but it’s equally ridiculous that Keller is 1-9 with a 4.15 ERA. He’s given the Pirates quality starts 10 times in 14 tries and gone 0-7 in the nine starts in which he’s allowed two or three runs. He’ll take on the Cubs this weekend.

Stowers is 6-for-49 with one extra-base hit and a 17/2 K/BB in his last 14 games, dropping his OPS from .958 to .812. It looks like he’ll be doing some sitting against left-handers until he heats back up.

The 416-foot shot off Ronny Henriquez was the farthest Hayes has hit a ball since 2023. While Hayes has been one of the game’s weakest hitters the last two years — probably the result of chronic back woes — he’s still just fine in terms of exit velocity. It’s just that way too much of his hard contact comes on the ground or in the air to the opposite field.

Stanton also drew a walk, reaching base safely in three of his four plate appearances. The 35-year-old veteran slugger figures to be ready to rejoin New York’s lineup by the end of June. He’ll likely need at least another week or two of rehab games to get back up to speed following an extended layoff.

Abbott gave up a walk and a single in the ninth, but there was a double play ball in between them. With two outs, Carlos Santana hit a high fastball to deep left, but it was caught at the wall. Abbott’s velocity was up about one mph from his season average tonight and closer to two mph in the earlier innings before fading some; he hit 94 mph 13 times in the first two innings and then never again. It seems like a trend; that he averaged around 91 mph in his April starts didn’t hold him back, but it definitely worried us some and it’s really encouraging that he’s been up to 93 mph lately. He’s still an extreme flyball pitcher working in one of MLB’s top home run parks half of the time, so he’s not going to come close to maintaining his current 1.87 ERA the rest of the way. Still, Nick Martinez’s ability to generate soft contact seems to have rubbed off on him. He’ll probably make his next start against the Twins on Tuesday. The Reds could bring him back on normal rest Sunday, but that seems less likely after the 110-pitch outing tonight.

Cecconi has fanned 16 in his two starts against the Reds since coming up last month, and he has a solid 28/8 K/BB in 25 1/3 innings overall. Tonight’s start was also the first in which he didn’t allow a homer. Still, he dropped to 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA. He’ll probably make his next start next Tuesday against the Giants.

Steer’s liner to right was his lone hit in four at-bats, but since Will Benson had just doubled, it was a big one. Steer could be in danger of losing significant playing time with Christian Encarnacion-Strand back and Austin Hays and Jeimer Candelario also close. He likely still has a fair amount of fantasy upside, but he really needs a hot streak right about now.

Marsh appeared to injure his left arm on an awkward slide into second base earlier in the contest. He managed to stay in the game for a couple additional frames before being lifted in the sixth inning after going 2-for-2 with a stolen base and a run scored.