MLB Player News

Kim will not travel with the club to Japan for next week’s season-opening Tokyo Series against the Cubs. There were rumblings earlier this spring that the 26-year-old might require some time in the minors to continue working on his swing mechanics. The decision leaves Tommy Edman as Los Angeles’ primary second baseman to open the regular season with veterans Miguel Rojas, Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernandez in bench roles. It doesn’t come as a surprise to see Miller heading to Triple-A after he was hit in the face by a line drive earlier this spring and will need some extra time to ramp-up. Rushing is the highest profile prospect included in the Dodgers’ latest batch of cuts. He figures to reach the big leagues at some point this season and will make an impact in deeper mixed leagues.

Renfroe delivered a bases-clearing three-run double off of Kyle Freeland in the second inning that extended the Royals’ early edge to 5-0. He then put the exclamation mark on the victory with a two-run triple in the sixth inning. The 33-year-old outfielder is having a very strong spring for the Royals, hitting .348 (8-for-23) with a homer, nine RBI and a stolen base. He’s still an afterthought in most fantasy drafts, going well after the top 450 picks overall.

He still struck out four batters in the contest, but this was a brutal outing overall for the 27-year-old southpaw. Despite the constant parade of baserunners, the Rockies only scratched out two runs against him — one on an RBI single by Jacob Stallings in the third and another on a solo blast by Sean Bouchard in the fourth. Ragans got 11 swings and misses on 83 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 24 percent. On the spring, he now holds a 5.79 ERA, 1.86 WHIP and a 21/5 K/BB ratio over 14 innings. He’s currently being drafted as a fringe top 10 option among starting pitchers with an ADP just after pick 40 overall.

It wasn’t a cheap one either, as Bouchard victimized Royals’ ace Cole Ragans for his solo shot in the fourth inning, pulling the Rockies to within six runs at 8-2. He finished the afternoon 1-for-3 and is now hitting .378 (14-for-37) with three homers and seven RBI on the spring.

On the day that it was announced he would start on Opening Day for the Rockies, Freeland turned in his worst outing of the spring, though he did still manage to record five strikeouts. All of the scoring came during a mammoth uprising in the second inning that featured five hits a walk and a hit batsmen. After this debacle, Freeland now holds a 6.43 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a 16/3 K/BB ratio over 14 frames in four spring starts.

It was a traveling lineup for the White Sox and didn’t feature any projected starters, but Maton started in left field and batted second on Sunday. He smacked a double off of Jack Leiter in the opening inning and scored the game’s first run on an RBI triple off the bat of Bryan Ramos. Maton then connected on a 381-foot (102.5 mph EV) solo shot off of Shawn Armstrong in the sixth inning that extended the White Sox’ lead to 6-2. He’s now hitting .346 (9-for-26) with three long balls and four RBI on the spring and is inching closer to securing a spot on the team’s Opening Day bench.

The 27-year-old right-hander racked up five strikeouts on the afternoon and didn’t walk a batter. All of the damage done against him came in the opening inning as Josh Smith smacked an RBI triple and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Adolis Garcia. Wilson settled in beautifully after that, retiring nine of the final 10 batters that he faced — five of them via the strikeout. He got nine swings and misses on 48 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of 29 percent. For the spring, he sports a 4.09 ERA, a troublesome 1.64 WHIP and an 11/6 K/BB ratio over 11 innings in his first four outings (two starts).

The versatile 27-year-old infielder started at first base for the Rangers in this one. He got the Rangers on the board in the first inning with an RBI triple off of Bryse Wilson. He then trotted home with the tying run on as Adolis Garcia hit a sacrifice fly. That would be his only hit in three at-bats on the night. For the spring, Smith is now hitting .242 (8-for-33) with a homer and three RBI. While he doesn’t have a regular spot in the Rangers’ lineup, he’ll be a super utility player and should still find his way in there several times a week — and will be the regular fill-in when (or if) Corey Seager or Josh Jung ultimately land on the injured list.

That’s up nearly two full mph over where he sat during the 2024 season. Leiter struggled despite the velocity though, allowing two runs and four hits over his four innings of work. The 24-year-old righty also issued three walks while striking out four batters on the afternoon. The damage done against him came in the opening inning on an RBI triple by Bryan Ramos and a run-scoring double by Matt Thaiss. For the spring, Leiter now boasts a 3.07 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a 17/9 K/BB ratio over 14 2/3 innings. With the injuries to Jon Gray and Cody Bradford, Leiter should get an opportunity to pitch out of the Rangers’ rotation to start the season, making him an intriguing late-round flier in fantasy drafts.

Frelick opened the scoring in the ballgame with a long two-run blast to right field off of right-hander Ben Lively in the third inning. He then chipped in an RBI single in the seventh inning that increased the Brewers’ edge to 7-0. With his two-hit attack, Frelick is hitting a scalding .389 (14-for-36) with a pair of long balls, eight RBI and four stolen bases in what has been an extremely impressive spring.

Making his first appearance against big league hitters since the 2023 season, Woodruff issued a one-out walk to Tyler Freeman. Freeman then stole second base before the right-hander battled back to strike out Kyle Manzardo. He then retired Jhonkensy Noel on a ground ball to get out of the inning. There’s a good chance that he’ll open the season on the injured list as he continues to build his pitch count up, but this was a strong first step for Woodruff.