MLB News

Cristopher Sánchez picked up his second victory of the season on Thursday, racking up a season-high 12 strikeouts over seven innings against the Giants.

The 28-year-old southpaw allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and one walk. The Giants scratched out a run against him in the first inning on a two-out RBI single by Matt Chapman. Sanchez then served up a two-run homer to Chapman in the sixth after Heliot Ramos had reached on an error. He got a whopping 24 swings and misses on 97 pitches in the ballgame — 22 of those on his changeup alone — while posting an elite CSW of 40 percent. Now 2-0 on the season, Sanchez will carry a 2.96 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 31/6 K/BB ratio (24 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s showdown against the Mets in New York.

Cristopher Sanchez picked up his second victory of the season on Thursday, racking up a season-high 12 strikeouts over seven innings against the Giants.

The 28-year-old southpaw allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and one walk. The Giants scratched out a run against him in the first inning on a two-out RBI single by Matt Chapman. Sanchez then served up a two-run homer to Chapman in the sixth after Heliot Ramos had reached on an error. He got a whopping 24 swings and misses on 97 pitches in the ballgame — 22 of those on his changeup alone — while posting an elite CSW of 40 percent. Now 2-0 on the season, Sanchez will carry a 2.96 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 31/6 K/BB ratio (24 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s showdown against the Mets in New York.

Nick Castellanos was removed from Thursday afternoon’s battle against the Giants due to left hip flexor tightness.

It’s unclear when exactly Castellanos sustained the injury, but he was replaced when the Phillies took the field defensively to start the seventh inning. He’ll head for further testing to determine the severity of the injury. Expect the Phillies to provide an update — and a possible timeline for his return — as soon as more information becomes available.

Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports that the Twins plan to promote top prospect Luke Keaschall on Friday.

With mounting injuries in their infield, the Twins are in desperate need of reinforcements, and that’s where Keaschall comes in. The 22-year-old second baseman was off to a solid start at Triple-A St. Paul, slashing .261/.379/.348 with one homer, five RBI, four stolen bases and an 11/9 K/BB ratio in 58 plate appearances through his first 14 games. He should see regular playing time while with the Twins, making him an intriguing middle infield option in deeper mixed leagues.

Jo Adell is not in the Angels’ starting lineup for Thursday evening’s battle against the Rangers in Arlington.

There have been no mentions of any physical issues that Adell is dealing with, so we’re assuming it’s just a regular day of rest for the 26-year-old slugger. Kyren Paris will move to center field to cover for him while Luis Rengifo slides over to second base and J.D. Davis will get an opportunity at the hot corner. For those tracking at home, that will be the fifth game in the outfield this season for Paris as he works towards eligibility there for fantasy purposes.

Kyle Manzardo is not in the Guardians’ starting lineup for Thursday night’s showdown against the Orioles.

It appears to be just a routine day of rest for the 24-year-old slugger with right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano toeing the slab for the Orioles. Manzardo has slowed considerably after his strong start to the season as he’s slashing just .185/.313/.463 to go along with four homers and 11 RBI. Jose Ramirez will function as the Guardians’ designated hitter in his place on Thursday with Gabriel Arias sliding over to third base and Daniel Schneemann drawing a start at second base.

Tyler Soderstrom went 1-for-5 and blasted his league-leading ninth home run on Thursday as the Athletics clobbered the White Sox 8-0 in Chicago.

Soderstrom did his damage in the seventh inning of this one, launching a 3-2 slider from Brandon Eisert for a 374-foot (103.9 mph EV) solo shot that made it a 5-0 ballgame. It has taken the 23-year-old slugger just 19 games to match his home run output from the 2024 season where he swatted nine long balls in 213 plate appearances over 61 ballgames. He’s obviously not going to continue at this remarkable pace, but Soderstrom needs to be rostered and started in all fantasy leagues.

JJ Bleday blasted a two-run homer on Thursday, helping to power the Athletics to victory over the White Sox in Chicago.

The 27-year-old outfielder victimized White Sox’ right-hander Davis Martin with his 372-foot (104.2 mph EV) two-run shot in the sixth inning that pushed the A’s advantage to 4-0. That would be his only hit in four at-bats on the afternoon. For the season, Bleday is slashing just .227/.325/.364 with a pair of homers, 10 RBI, one stolen base and a 14/10 K/BB ratio through his first 77 plate appearances.

Lawrence Butler went 2-for-4 with a double and swatted his second home run of the season on Thursday as the Athletics shut out the White Sox in Chicago.

Butler began the game with a double off of Davis Martin and raced around to score the game’s first run on an RBI double by Jacob Wilson. The dynamic 24-year-old outfielder then clobbered a first-pitch cutter from Martin for a 414-foot (107.0 mph EV) solo shot in the fifth inning that extended the A’s lead to 2-0. With his 2-for-5 afternoon, Butler is now slashing .296/.390/.451 to go along with a pair of homers, five RBI and four stolen bases.

JP Sears was brilliant in Thursday afternoon’s victory over the White Sox, scattering three hits over six innings of shutout baseball.

The 29-year-old southpaw struck out two and issued a pair of walks in the ballgame. All three of the hits that he allowed in the contest were singles. Only once did the White Sox have a player reach third base against him — on a two-out single by Lenyn Sosa in the sixth inning — but Sears got Michael A. Taylor to pop out to the catcher to end the threat. He generated just one swing and miss on 100 pitches in the ballgame, posting an underwhelming CSW of only 20 percent. He’ll see if he can keep the good times rolling as he carries a 3.13 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and an 18/5 K/BB ratio (23 innings) into Wednesday’s showdown against the Rangers.

Masyn Winn (back) is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis on Friday.

He’ll play there through the weekend and, assuming everything goes well, he would be cleared to rejoin the Cardinals on Tuesday when he’s first eligible. Prior to landing on the injured list, the 23-year-old shortstop had been hitting .222/.314/.289 with one homer and three RBI through his first 13 ballgames.

Jake Fraley connected on a grand slam while going 3-for-5, but the Reds fell to the Mariners on Thursday in extra innings.

Fraley clobbered his grand slam off Eduard Bazardo, and it turned a 5-3 deficit into a 7-5 lead. The 29-year-old picked a good time for his first homer of the season, and the three-hit afternoon bumps his slash to .234/.280/.362 over 47 at-bats and 11 games.

Cal Raleigh hit a solo homer in the ninth in the Mariners’ extra-inning win over the Reds on Thursday.

Raleigh remains scorching hot, and his homer made it a one-run game in the ninth inning off Emilio Pagan. The 28-year-old backstop has homered eight times in 2025, and six of those have come in the last six games. Raleigh will at times frustrate because of his strikeouts, but he’s as good of source of power behind the plate — if not better — as anyone.

Randy Arozarena hit the game-tying homer in the ninth inning and had a two-run single in the 10th to give the Mariners an 11-7 win over the Reds on Thursday.

Arozarena also drew a pair of walks. The homer turned a 7-6 lead for the Reds into a brand new ball game, and his two-run single extended Seattle’s lead to 10-7 an inning later. While Arozarena’s .212 average leaves a bit to be desired, his .381 on-base clip and .485 slugging mark play just fine. Expect to see that average climb a bit as well as the season gets deeper.

Emilio Pagan gave up two runs while blowing a save against the Mariners on Thursday.

Pagan was tasked to protected a two-run lead, and that lead disappeared. Quickly. He gave up a solo homer to Cal Raleigh, and two pitches later, Randy Arozarena lashed a homer to tie the game. Alexis Diaz is back and working in the middle innings, but he does have plenty of closer experience. Pagan will need to (obviously) pitch better than this to keep the gig.

Brady Singer allowed four runs — two earned — while working 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision versus the Mariners on Thursday.

Singer gave up a two-run homer to Luke Raley, and two more runs were scored on an error by Elly De La Cruz. It certainly wasn’t Singer at his best, but he was able to pick up six strikeouts against three walks. Coulda been better, coulda been worse. Singer gets a friendly outing on paper next time out with a scheduled start against the Marlins in Miami.

Emerson Hancock held the Reds to two runs over five innings in a no-decision Thursday against the Reds.

Hancock’s first start of the season was an unmitigated disaster that saw him allow seven runs in just 2/3 of an inning. He did allow a two-run homer in the first inning to Austin Hays, but the 25-year-old right-hander kept Cincinnati off the board from that point on. The former first-round pick struck out four and didn’t issue a walk. Hancock will make his third start of 2025 against the Red Sox, and while he pitched well in this one, it’s probably best to look elsewhere.

Pavin Smith went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI in a victory over the Marlins on Thursday.

Smith also drew two walks, and is off to about as hot of a start as you can realistically have. The four-reach game now has him hitting .404/.491/.745 over 51 at-bats. It goes without saying that regression is coming, but it’s going to be said anyway: Regression is coming. Still, Smith was impressive at the end of 2025, and it’s fun to see the former first-round pick carry that over to the start of the year.

Pavin Smith went 2-for-3 with two RBI in a victory over the Marlins on Thursday.

Josh Naylor hit a solo homer in a win over the Marlins on Thursday.

Naylor continues to rake in his first season with Arizona, and the homer is the fourth for the burly first baseman in 18 games. The 27-year-old will continue to hit in the middle of the Arizona order, and while a .324/.462/.577 slash isn’t sustainable, he’s obviously more than competent enough to be a solid fantasy option in 2025 and beyond.

Corbin Carroll stole three bases and drove in a run in the Diamondbacks’ 6-4 win Thursday over the Marlins.

Carroll also scored twice. The outfielder entered Thursday with just the one steal, but he quadrupled that total by stealing second base twice and grabbing third another. Carroll swiped 89 bags over the last two seasons, and while asking for three steals in a game is asking a lot, multi-theft games are coming.

A.J. Puk worked a scoreless ninth with a strikeout to get a save Thursday against the Marlins.

Puk did give up a hit, but the left-hander was able to keep the runner at bay while picking up a save against his former team. The 29-year-old southpaw now has four saves on the season with a 3.38 ERA, and he should see more chances in the Arizona bullpen, even with Justin Martinez also a candidate for the ninth inning.

Edward Cabrera allowed five runs while working four innings with six strikeouts in a loss Thursday to the Diamondbacks.

Cabrera gave up a pair of runs in the first and another two runs in the fifth, with another allowed in the third between those shaky innings. The 27-year-old was able to strike out six, but the command was off as seen in three free passes and 56-of-88 pitches landing for strikes. He’ll try and lower his 6.52 ERA in a start against the Reds at home next week.

Eduardo Rodriguez struck out nine while allowing three runs — one earned — on 10 hits against the Marlins on Thursday to get a win.

Ten hits is a lot, but so is nine strikeouts. The left-hander wasn’t exactly helped by his defense, but he was given plenty of run support while piling up the punchouts. Rodriguez now has an ERA of 4.09 and 38/6 K/BB over his 27 1/3 innings. He’ll try and keep up the (mostly) good work against the Rays next week.

Eduardo Rodriguez struck out nine while allowing three runs — one earned — on 10 hits against the Marlins Thursday to get a win.

Ten hits is a lot, but so is nine strikeouts. The left-hander wasn’t exactly helped by his defense, but he was given plenty of run support while piling up the punchouts. Rodriguez now has an ERA of 4.09 and 38/6 K/BB over his 27 1/3 innings. He’ll try and keep up the (mostly) good work against the Rays next week.

Jesse Winker is not in the lineup for Thursday’s bout against the Cardinals.

Andre Pallante is typically better against lefties than righties, so rather than Winker at DH, the Mets will have Starling Marte as the designated hitter. This platoon should continue for the foreseeable future, and it’s not great for either from a fantasy standpoint.

Angels signed RHP Hector Neris to a minor league deal.

Neris elected free agency after Atlanta designated him for assignment, and has a new home a couple weeks later. The 35-year-old will likely need to pitch in a few games with Triple-A Salt Lake, but it’s not hard to see him being an option in the Angels’ bullpen in the coming weeks. Not a fantasy-relevant one, but an option nevertheless.

Royce Lewis (hamstring) will do some baserunning work Thursday.

It’s being described as “light” baserunning for Lewis. The 25-year-old has been on the injured list since the start of the season with his left hamstring strain, and while there’s still no concrete timetable for his return, it’s obviously a positive development that he’s able to run with the injury.

Pablo Lòpez (hamstring) will make a rehab start Saturday for Triple-A St. Paul.

López was able to throw a successful bullpen Wednesday, and now the 29-year-old will get a chance to work against hitters at the Triple-A level. He may need a couple of rehab outings before he rejoins the Minnesota rotation, but if everything goes well, he should be back by the end of April or the early portion of May.

Mets optioned RHP Justin Hagenman to Triple-A Syracuse.

Hagenman threw 3 1/3 innings during Wednesday’s outing against the Twins, and while he pitched well in that outing, New York needs a fresh arm. The 28-year-old will likely be back at some point in May.