MLB Player News

Díaz got the scoring started in the first inning, taking Zach Eflin deep for a solo homer. He knocked a base hit in the third, then led off the seventh with a walk before scoring on a single by Logan Driscoll. Díaz would reach for a fourth time in the eighth, driving in a run with a single. The 33-year-old first baseman is slashing .279/.337/.417 with 14 homers and 64 RBI across 567 plate appearances.

Called on for the spot start without many expectations, Alexander was fantastic in this one. He attacked the Reds’ hitters with repeated cutters and fastballs up in the zone and had pinpoint command with each pitch. Together they forced four pop-ups and a handful of lazy fly balls. The kicker is… his stuff looked good. His fastball had legitimate life, his cutter was lethal, and his changeup had plus run. He also threw 83 pitches, which was far more than expected after throwing 47 in relief last weekend. The Brewers are starved for pitching depth and Alexander would become mildly interesting in deep leagues should he stick in the rotation. Him lasting for 83 pitches is also a good sign that he’ll be trusted to start again.

Megill finally earned his first save as the Brewers have quickly climbed to .500 after their disastrous opening series against the Yankees. He leaned on his excellent fastball and evaded a one-out single to set the Reds down. Despite the lack of early usage, he should still be considered a trustworthy source of saves.

Turang has been a revelation at the plate so far this season. The home run was his second in a week, which constitutes a power surge for him, and he’s had at least one hit in every game he’s played. That consistency has pushed Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy to move Turang to the lead-off spot as most of the rest of their lineup has stumbled out of the gate. Ironically, Turang only has one stolen base. He’d stolen nine bases before hitting his second home run last season and a whopping 19 before hitting his third. Baseball is a funny sport sometimes.

Hit-less as a team through seven innings and scoreless as a team through 35 innings until the late in this game, Encarnacion-Strand did all he could to break the dam for the Reds. He smacked four hard-hit balls, including three hit harder than 100 MPH, but to no avail. He, like the rest of his teammates, is having a tough start to the season at the plate. There’s still so much power in his bat though and is someone worth stashing as long as he continues to play every day despite being mired in a 0-for-19 stretch.

Martinez didn’t have his A-game in this one. His command was shotty and he threw ball one more often than strike one. Being behind so many hitters forced him into long, laborious at-bats and he was lucky to allow just three runs. Still, his cutter and sinker are so difficult to square up that it often helps him to avoid serious damage. He’ll look to get on track in his next scheduled start against the Giants out in San Francisco.

The right-hander winced as he was delivering his final pitch on a walk to Bo Naylor in the sixth inning, prompting a visit from the training staff. He’ll likely head for further evaluation to determine exactly what’s going on there.

This version of Mahle looked eerily similar to the one we saw strikeout 210 batters in 2021. His fastball had excellent life and he located well at the top of the zone. Its velocity oscillated a bit, but held relatively firm around 93 MPH. That pitch set up his slider and splitter beautifully as the Rays were completely helpless against him. It was night and day compared to Mahle’s previous start where he threw 61 pitches, walked four batters, and couldn’t get out of the second inning against the Red Sox. He was pulled with just 83 pitches in this one despite cruising as the Rangers will continue to play it safe with him after years of injuries. He’ll have a chance to build on this momentum in his next scheduled start against the Cubs.

Go figure Jackson would lead the league in saves after a week of play. He’s now had four consecutive clean outings since his opening day implosion against the Red Sox, rewarding manager Bruce Bochy’s confidence in him. Could this be another Kirby Yates situation. It’s doubtful since Jackson doesn’t have nearly the same caliber of stuff, but we know Bochy likes to find his closer and roll with them indefinitely. Jackson is that guy right now and should get plenty of save opportunities in the near future.

Smith started the Rangers’ big rally in this game with a hard-hit single before they went on to score five runs in the third inning off Rays’ starter Zack Littell. Then, he hit a solo home run in the seventh to add valuable insurance. He’s been a regular at third base since Josh Jung went on the injured list with a sore neck. He’s worth a flier in deep leagues until Jung is back, which will likely be soon.

The Rays’ offense did very little damage in this one. They were stymied by Rangers’ starter Tyler Mahle and scored both of their runs on wild pitches from reliever Shawn Armstrong. Misner did put them in position for both of those runs though, doubling Christopher Morel to third base before they each scampered home. The 27-year-old rookie has been impressive as the Rays’ outfield depth has been tested early and exhibited a legitimate power, speed combo in the upper minors. However, he’s had consistent strikeout issues as well and is yet to draw a walk this season. Keep an eye on him in deeper leagues, just set realistic expectations when doing so.