MLB Player News

Campbell is in the outfield for the second time this season as the Red Sox get utility infielder David Hamilton in the lineup to face righty Andre Pallante, weather permitting. It’s worth noting that Ceddanne Rafaela, who is not in Saturday’s lineup, is off to an ice-cold start (3-for-26) and the Red Sox have top prospect Roman Anthony on the verge of breaking into the majors. The 22-year-old phenom has gotten off to a remarkable start to his big-league career, hitting .423 (11-for-26) with two homers, five RBI and one steal through eight games. It’s extremely early, but Campbell has lived up to the stratospheric hype so far.

With Harry Ford homering in the fourth, Great Britain kept this one tight until the end, but Aranda’s 346-foot homer into the Crawford Boxes in Houston’s Daikin Park settled matters. Mexico then added four runs in the ninth before Great Britain surprisingly pushed one across against Andrés Muñoz in the bottom of the inning. Javier Assad started for Mexico and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless frames. Nacho Alvarez Jr. homered for Mexico’s only run through seven innings.

Assad averaged 94.4 mph with his fastball today, which is up 2.2 mph from last year and 2.9 mph from when he started 29 games for the Cubs two years ago. It was just a one-day thing, either, as he was at 94.1 mph in his two spring outings. Assad has always been effective for the Cubs in spite of mediocre peripherals — he has a career 3.43 ERA with a 4.46 FIP, a 4.68 SIERA and a 4.76 xERA — and if the extra velocity sticks around, there’s a good chance he’ll be helpful again. It would just probably be as a middle reliever initially.

That’s never what you want to hear. While it doesn’t always necessarily mean UCL surgery of some form, that could be the eventual outcome. Expect the Marlins to provide another update on his status after that appointment.

Velázquez is 5-for-17 with just one strikeout. He has a realistic shot at a spot on the Cardinals’ bench as a platoon guy against lefties, though it doesn’t help his case that he doesn’t really have much of a positive split against lefties in his career. He’s hit .211/.306/.428 with a 30% strikeout rate versus lefties and .212/.276/.435 with a 28% strikeout rate against righties in his 615 major league plate appearances.

McGreevy’s velocity is still down about two mph from last year, but he gave up only four singles and walked none today. The likely No. 3 starter for the Cardinals, he has a 3.24 ERA through three starts.

At least for the last few years, Bassitt has typically worked 2-3 mph under his usual velocity in spring games, but that wasn’t the case today; his 91.7-mph average on his sinker was almost identical to his 91.6-mph average from 2025. Perhaps it’s a sign that he’s going to have a little more in the tank this year after his velocity dipped one mph from 2024 to 2025. It’s something we’ll keep an eye on.

No hard-hit balls for Mountcastle today, but everything was well placed. He’s 7-for-18 this spring as he battles for playing time between first base and DH. Pete Alonso will be at one of those spots pretty much every single day, so Mountcastle’s playing time will hinge on how often the Orioles want both Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo in the lineup.

Vierling is a bit of a forgotten man in Detroit because he missed most of last season with an injury, but he’s gone 8-for-15 this spring with no strikeouts and an over 60 percent hard-hit rate. His home run was a 358-foot bomb that let the bat at 100.8 mph, and he also added a 111 mph RBI single and a 105.5 mph RBI double. He will almost assuredly start against all left-handed pitching this season, but there’s a chance that he works himself into a bigger role if Colt Keith or one of the starting corner outfielders struggles at the plate.

Lowe was diagnosed with an oblique injury on the final day of February, but Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said the team was just being extra cautious with Lowe, given his previous oblique injuries. The 28-year-old should likely progress to hitting in the cage and then off live batting practice before returning to spring games. He seems on track for Opening Day.

Red Sox rather ruled the day in this one; Ranger Suárez started and got the win for Venezuela, allowing one run in two innings, and Wilyer Abreu went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Marlins utilityman Javier Sanoja hit the lone homer. Venezuela has Israel and Nicaragua next on the schedule before the showdown with the Dominican Republic to end pool play. The Netherlands are probably going to need to upset the D.R. if they’re going to have a chance of advancing.