MLB Player News

We might need a review on that. While the ball was definitely crushed, Statcast put it at 117.4 mph, which is rare air indeed. Again, it’d be the hardest hit ball of this Giancarlo Stanton-less season. It’d top his previous high in 45 major league games by five mph (112.5 mph). He topped out at 114.9 mph in Triple-A, so maybe 117.4 isn’t impossible. If it’s legit, we’d have to reevaluate everything here. He’s already off to a nice start with his .320/.393/.480 line in 56 plate appearances. He also has only a 25% strikeout rate, which is really impressive for a player who annually topped 35% in the minors until last year.

Chafin was cut loose by the Twins at the end of spring training despite their lack of compelling bullpen options. Now, he’ll try to catch on with the Reds as an additional lefty to add to their mix. He probably still has something in the tank too after putting up a 2.41 ERA across 42 appearances with the Nationals and Angels last season while still displaying strong swing-and-miss stuff. Walks became an issue for him though with 19 over 33 2/3 innings.

It’s nice to hear that Yates’ surprising trip to the injured list with knee inflammation appears to be a minor issue. After throwing a bullpen, it likely won’t be long before he’s back with the club. Jordan Romano secured the save for them on Opening Day with a scoreless ninth inning and it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be ahead in the pecking order for saves when both are in the bullpen together.

Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Camilo Doval and David Bednar finished up with 3 2/3 hitless innings. The Yankees wanted to keep Schlittler at 70 or so pitches today, yet he was able to get 16 outs anyway. He recorded four strikeouts with his fastball, which averaged 98.5 mph, and only two of the nine balls in play against him were hit hard. Based on how he’s looked since day one this spring, he should be one of the AL’s better pitchers if he remains healthy.

Bednar walked Matt Chapman with two outs in the 3-0 game but then retired Rafael Devers to end things. Bednar’s velocity was down all spring, including in the WBC, but he was up to 96.3 mph on average with his fastball tonight. That’s back to within 0.7 mph of last year. He was at 94.6 mph in his five Grapefruit League appearances.

Ray kept the Yankees scoreless until Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the sixth. He got Cody Bellinger to ground out afterwards and then exited. Ray’s early spring velocity boost hasn’t really held up, but control is more important for him anyway and he went without a walk today. He’s due to face the Mets next week in his second start.

Judge took advantage of the ABS system on what was called a 1-0 strike from Robbie Ray, getting it overturned when it turned out to be 0.1 inches low. He later homered with a full count on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, sending the ball 405 feet to left.

Rafael Devers also fanned three times in an 0-for-4 day, and only Heliot Ramos had a hit in the 3-0 loss. The Giants did quite a bit of lineup experimenting this spring before going with a top six of Luis Arraez, Matt Chapman, Devers, Adames, Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos in each of their first two games here. Given that they’ve totaled four hits while being shut out both games, there might be a bit of a shakeup Saturday, though the names figure to stay the same. There were a couple of times in Cactus play in which Ramos hit cleanup and Adames hit sixth, so that might be one possibility.

Taylor was with the Angels in spring training as a non-roster invite, but opted out of his contract when he didn’t make their Opening Day roster. Now, he’s back and will report to Triple-A Salt Lake City. He hit .179 across 90 plate appearances with Anaheim last season and will likely only be called upon if there are multiple injuries to their major league outfield options.

This is the second time the Angels have brought Strickland back into their organization on a minor league deal since the beginning of February. The 37-year-old had a 3.27 ERA in 22 innings for them in the first half of last season before shoulder inflammation shut him down for the remainder of the year. He will report to Triple-A Salt Lake City be organizational depth for the club.

The Mariners promoted Emerson aggressively last year as he reached Triple-A during his age-19 season where opened up at High-A and played just 34 games at Double-A. He passed every test with flying colors with 16 home runs and a 129 wRC+ in 130 games split across all levels after a 2024 campaign that was marred by injuries. A hot start to the season could put him on the doorstep of a promotion at some point this summer.