MLB Player News

O’Neill heads to the bench on Saturday afternoon with top prospect Heston Kjerstad getting his first start of the season against future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, who is making his Toronto debut. The 29-year-old slugger got on-base five times on Opening Day and is 3-for-6 with a homer and four RBI through two games.

MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer reports a source with knowledge of the situation says initial medical reviews revealed “modest” but “not zero” concern, and there’s optimism Gilbert’s UCL is still intact. There should be some much-needed clarity regarding his status following an MRI this weekend. The 27-year-old fantasy ace, who has never required a trip to the injured list since breaking into the majors back in 2021, was removed from Friday’s start against the Marlins with forearm tightness after three scoreless innings. We’ll have additional updates and more information on this situation as it develops.

After breaking an 0-for-41 funk during Wednesday’s game, Pederson was able to reach twice with a single and walk Friday while driving in his first run as a member of the Rangers. There’s no denying that Pederson has been dreadful to begin 2025, but he’s been far too effective of a hitter to believe he can possibly be this bad for much longer. The positive regression is already taking place.

Langford continues to impress — impressive an understatement — with another three-hit game, and that’s his third time picking up that number of hits in his last four games. The 23-year-old has doubled three times in 2025 in 60 at-bats, and he’s now slugging a robust .700 over his 17 games. Langford’s offensive upside is palpable, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he finished 2025 as one of the best fantasy outfielders in the sport.

Jackson was able to get the final two outs — one of those a strikeout — while needing just 11 pitches to get his eighth save of the season. It’s a nice bounceback from Thursday’s struggles where he blew the save and took the loss against the Athletics. Because he worked in back-to-back contests, there’s a decent chance Jackson won’t be available Saturday against San Francisco.

After struggling in the early portion of April, Verlander has been solid over his last two outings, just not solid enough to overcome the Giants being shut out by Nathan Eovaldi. Verlander struck out five in the contest, and he had the Texas hitters off-balance for the overwhelming majority of the night. The future Hall of Famer still has an ERA of 4.99 on the season, but he’s pitched much better than what that number might suggest over the last 12 frames. Verlander gets to face the lethargic Colorado lineup next week, and that outing is in San Francisco.

Eovaldi didn’t allow a single extra-base hit, and he walked just one while hurling 61-of-99 pitches for strikes. The 35-year-old veteran has pitched exceptionally well to begin the campaign, and the six scoreless frames lowers his ERA to 2.21 while he improved his K/BB ratio to a borderline unrealistic 38/3 over 36 2/3 innings. He’ll be back on the bump against the A’s next week.

Cruz also drew a walk. His single had an exit velocity of 117.6 mph, and he also lined out on a ball he hit 109.8 mph. Cruz’s elite bat speed and long levers help him make as loud of contact as any hitter in baseball, and his impressive wheels have helped him steal 12 bases, as well. Pretty good baseball player.

Bednar issued a walk and didn’t have great command, but he was able to get the whiffs while procuring the second save of 2025. The 30-year-old’s stuff still remains strong, but his lack of consistency makes him one of the riskiest relief options who is likely to get save chances throughout the year.

The Yamamoto v. Paul Skenes pitching matchup was advertised through the first four innings — even with Yamamoto allowing a run in the first — but then the 26-year-old struggled with his command in the fifth while allowing two more to score. He walked four in the contest with 58-of-94 pitches landing in the strike zone, and he was able to strike out five with 10 swings and misses accumulated. He still has a glistening ERA of 1.06 ahead of his scheduled start against the Marlins next week.

Skenes was able to generate 18 swings and misses among his 108 pitches, and the Los Angeles hitters were simply overmatched against the former first-overall pick. He did give up three doubles, but the 22-year-old was able to work around those two-baggers with ease while lowering his ERA to 2.39 in the process. It’s hard to overstate how good Skenes was against the Dodgers on Friday, and he’ll due his best to keep it up when he faces off against the Cubs on Thursday.