MLB Player News

It’s reportedly worth $1 million. DeJong hit .227/.276/.427 in 482 plate appearances for the White Sox and Royals last season, which was easily his best showing since his lone All-Star season with the Cardinals in 2019. Last year’s line was good for a 95 OPS+, but that still leaves him at 79 over the last five seasons. Fortunately, he remains a fine defensive infielder. The Nationals should be looking at him as their primary backup at short and a fallback option elsewhere.

Matos is 9-for-20 as he works to secure a bench spot in San Francisco. If he makes the team, the 24-year-old should be in line for some starts against lefties. However, it might be best for his career for him to land on waivers (he’s out of options) and join a rebuilding team that would have a bigger role for him.

Mahle worked around three walks in the contest. He averaged 92.7 mph with his fastball today after coming in at 92.6 mph last week in his spring debut. Both marks are better than the 92.0 mph he averaged with the Rangers last season.

In adding Mahle and Adrian Houser, the Giants didn’t leave any room in their projected rotation for McDonald or their other youngsters. Still, McDonald is one of the candidates to be the first man added after impressing in two starts and one relief appearance at the end of last season (1.80 ERA, 14/2 K/BB in 15 IP). He’s yet to allow a run and has amassed a 7/1 K/BB in six innings this spring.

Abbott gave up flies with projected distances of 454, 448 and 444 feet today, though only one turned into a homer. His spring ERA is sitting at 12.27 after three outings, but that still doesn’t seem like any reason for concern. He should, however, give up more homers this year and prove worse for fantasy purposes.

The dynamic 27-year-old outfielder evened the score at one run apiece as he smacked an RBI single into center in the home half of the first inning. He then swiped second base before being stranded there. Baddoo also drew a one-out walk in the seventh inning and rode home on Mike Boeve’s two-run blast. He’s hitting an impressive .353 (6-for-17) with a homer, four RBI and two stolen bases so far in spring training and could make the Brewers’ Opening Day roster in a reserve role.

Lockridge drew a start in right field and hit second for the Brewers in this one. He drew a one-out walk off of Mitch Bratt in the opening inning, swiped second base and scored the Brewers’ first run on a two-out RBI knock off the bat of Akil Baddoo. He looks to be fully recovered from the rotator cuff contusion that sidelined him earlier in the week.

On the plus side though, he managed to record five strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter. The Diamondbacks scratched out a run against him in the opening inning, then Manuel Pena clubbed a solo shot in the second. Patrick got a whopping 10 swings and misses on just 52 pitches in the ballgame — three each on his cutter and slurve — while posting a stellar CSW of 37 percent. He has proven to be a viable fantasy asset when given an opportunity in the Brewers’ rotation and is a name for fantasy managers to keep in mind toward the tail end of drafts.

Young probably won’t play against lefties, won’t steal a ton of bases and will be held back by his home ballpark, so his fantasy ceiling is rather low. Still, he has a chance be a fine platoon second baseman for Seattle at just 22 years old. He held his own last year thanks to his excellent plate discipline, and there’s definitely more power on the way, as he’s demonstrating this spring. All four of his balls in play today were hard hit.

Anderson, the third overall pick in the 2025 draft, isn’t going to open this season in the majors, but he might finish it in Seattle. He threw 25 of his 34 pitches for strikes today. Last year, he had a 180/35 K/BB in 119 innings for LSU.

Leiter struck out four and walked none, so that’s good. However, he gave up eight hard-hit balls in all, including Brennen Davis’s 116.7-mph homer that was one of the hardest hit balls this spring. In three spring outings, Leiter has given up 16 hard-hit balls on 24 events. That’s too much loud contact from a pitcher who is worse than average in terms of both walks and inducing grounders.