MLB Player News

Smith singled in the first inning and was moved to third on an RBI single by Adolis Garcia. He and Garcia would later attempt a successful double steal with two outs, with Garcia swiping second and Smith coming in to score. Smith’s two-hit night was much needed. He entered the day with no hits in his last 14 at-bats, but will hopefully round back into form after a strong night at the dish.

Díaz’s one ball in play was pushed 372 feet down the right field line. It’s his first spring homer since 2024, as he went without one in 40 at-bats last year. Díaz hit second today after leading off in his spring debut. He’ll almost certainly occupy one of those two spots on Opening Day, but which will probably come down to whether the team thinks it has anyone worth hitting ahead of him.

Boyle got the weaker split-squad, as Royce Lewis was the only regular the Twins brought with them today. Still, that Boyle went without a walk was nice. He allowed one hit and struck out two. As a result of the Nick Martinez signing, it will probably take an injury to open up a spot for either Boyle or Ian Seymour in the Rays rotation.

Feduccia was really disappointing after being acquired from the Dodgers at last year’s deadline — he hit .151 with no homers in 102 plate appearances — but since the Rays declined to upgrade over the winter, he’s probably going to make the team alongside Nick Fortes. That Feduccia is a lefty could allow the Rays to go with a true platoon behind the plate, but it seems likely that Fortes will get the majority of the playing time initially.

Roden is 3-for-4 with a grand slam in two games, good for a .750/.833/1.500 line. Last year, he hit .407/.541/.704 in Grapefruit League action to win a roster spot on the Jays. Not much good happened after that, though. Roden is at a disadvantage as he contends with James Outman for a spot on the Twins bench, since Outman is out of options and is the superior center fielder. Roden might be a better left field option than Trevor Larnach, but Larnach is locked into a job and Roden’s left-handed bat wouldn’t make a ton of sense behind two left-handed corner outfielders in Larnach and Matt Wallner, at least not unless the Twins decide to stick Larnach at DH primarily.

Jackson started this game at second base, which is notable considering Jackson Holliday is currently working back from hamate bone surgery. Jackson re-established his MLB credentials last season, slashing 276/.328/.447 with five homers and 21 RBI in 183 plate appearances with Baltimore, and could be an option to start at either second base or third base for Jordan Westburg (oblique) when the season begins.

Mayo had two singles, including an RBI in the first inning. He also added a 102.7 mph flyout that fell just short of a home run at 348 feet. The 24-year-old is battling for a starting spot with Jordan Westburg (oblique) sidelined to start the season. There are some batting average concerns, but Mayo has the power and pulled fly ball approach to hit 25 home runs if he gets a full season of at-bats.

Outman came over to the Twins at the deadline last year and is now fighting for a spot on the Opening Day roster. The 28-year-old has struggled in his big league at-bats since 2023, but he hit .281/.369/.576 in 390 minor league at-bats in 2025 with 23 home runs and 17 steals. He is a solid defender in the outfield as well, so there is still a chance he can not only earn a spot but perhaps push Trevor Larnach for starts.

Yorke came to the Pirates at the end of the 2024 season in exchange for Quinn Priester, but he has not yet delivered in Pittsburgh. Last season, he had a .232/.264/.319 slash line in 74 MLB plate appearances. However, he also hit .287/.348/.406 in 440 Triple-A plate appearances with seven home runs and 17 steals. Right now, he is slated to play second base only against lefties when Brandon Lowe sits, but perhaps Yorke could push for the third base job and push Jared Triolo to shortstop or to the bench.

Contreras’ home run was a 385-foot shot that left the bat at 106.1 mph. The 33-year-old is set to begin his first season in Boston this year after coming off a year in which he had a near-identical wRC+ to Alex Bregman, who he is essentially replacing in the rotation. Despite being 33 years old last year, Contreras still had 95th-percentile bat speed and is moving into a nice home ballpark for a player with a 41% career pull rate. Contreras also spiked the highest fly ball rate of his career last year and the highest barrel rate he’s ever posted. The Red Sox have already announced that he will hit clean-up for them, which means Contreras could be a 25 HR bat with a .270 average on a good team that will give him solid counting stats.

Not a bad way to get your first two hits in MLB spring training. After going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in his first two games, Griffin got the scoring started by taking a hanging curveball from Ranger Suarez and hitting it 374 feet for a two-run home run. He then followed that up with a 440-foot solo home run off Seth Martinez that left the bat at 112 mph. Through three games, we’ve seen both the pure talent of Griffin and also the steep learning curve that is going to come for a 19-year-old who has just 98 plate appearances at Double-A. It remains to be seen how aggressive the Pirates want to be with him, but more days like this will force their hand.