MLB Player News

Morton (1-0) didn't factor into the decision Monday, allowing four runs on five hits and five walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out four.

Morton's walks came back to bite him, with three of his four earned runs scored by players he walked on base. Most of the damage came in the fifth, when Morton opened up the inning by issuing a pair of free passes before Brandon Nimmo launched a three-run home run. Even with Monday's struggles, Morton owns a solid 3.18 ERA across 11.1 innings after blanking the White Sox in his 2024 debut.

Castillo (0-3) took the loss Monday, allowing four runs on nine hits and one walk across five innings against Toronto. He struck out six.

Castillo turned in another poor start, yielding four earned runs for a third straight appearance. The 31-year-old has endured a minor dip in velocity once again to begin 2024, dropping from 96.2 mph to 95.4 mph after sitting around 97 mph for most of his career. If there's any silver lining to his slow opening to the season, it would be that Castillo hasn't seen a dropoff in strikeout rate (10.3 K/9). He'll look to turn things around Sunday in a homestand against the Cubs.

Berrios (2-0) picked up the win Monday, allowing four hits and a walk over 6.2 scoreless innings against the Mariners. He struck out six.

Berrios was dominant Monday for his third quality start of the season, yielding no extra-base hits as part of his first scoreless outing of 2024. He got into a little trouble in the fifth inning, allowing back-to-back singles, but he then consecutively retired Josh Rojas and J.P. Crawford to get out of the jam. Of pitchers with three starts this season, Berrios ranks first in ERA (1.45). His next appearance is set to come Sunday against the Rockies.

Montgomery allowed two runs on two hits and three walks while striking out three over four innings for Triple-A Reno on Sunday.

Montgomery, who threw 60 pitches, made his debut in game action after signing with the Diamondbacks late in spring training. The goal was get through four innings and 65 pitches, so mission accomplished on both fronts for the left-hander. A normal five-day routine lines up Montgomery to throw again Friday (April 12) then next Wednesday (April 17). The pitcher earlier this spring targeted his Arizona debut for April 19, which falls outside the five-day routine, given his appearance Sunday.

Gallen threw a career-high-tying 40 curveballs in Monday's loss to Colorado, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Gallen ran counter to what starters normally do in Coors Field; pitchers tend to stay away from breaking stuff because the altitude limits the break. "Just knowing what I've done here and how I've had success, it seems that my curveball tends to play up a little bit here," Gallen said. "I just felt like I was getting some pretty good responses from the hitter so we just kind of stuck with that. [Coors is] a place where I try not to get beat with my third and fourth pitches." Gallen was heavy on the four-seamer and curve, throwing 87 of them among his 108 pitches, and fanned a season-high 10 batters in a no-decision.

Assad pitched five-plus innings against San Diego on Monday, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out seven batters in a no-decision.

The Cubs staked Assad to an 8-0 lead through four frames, and he appeared well on his way to a win after completing five scoreless innings. However, the right-hander gave up a two-run homer to Jake Cronenworth before being pulled in the sixth, and the Padres went on to score five more runs in that frame along with two in the eighth to pull out an improbable comeback victory. Assad's overall line was pretty decent -- he struck out seven and allowed just six baserunners -- though he needed 104 pitches to get 15 outs. He figures to get at least a few more turns in the rotation to try to nail down a permanent starting role with Jameson Taillon (back) not yet ready to make his 2024 debut and Justin Steele (hamstring) out until May.

Darvish pitched three innings, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four batters in a no-decision against the Cubs on Monday.

All of the damage on the scoreboard against Darvish came in the second inning, when he retired the first two batters he faced before allowing six straight Cubs to reach base in a four-run outburst. The veteran hurler was pulled after three frames with San Diego down 4-0, but a late Padres offensive surge took him off the hook for his second loss. Darvish logged a season-low three innings in the contest while giving up a season-high four runs, so it's safe to say that this was his worst outing of the campaign so far. He's still pitched pretty well overall though, as he holds a 3.86 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 20:8 K:BB through four starts covering 18.2 frames.

Snell (0-1) took the loss against Washington on Monday, pitching three innings and allowing three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out five batters.

Snell did well enough in the strikeout category and didn't allow any extra-base hits, but the control issues that were really his only flaw last year resurfaced in his first game as a Giant. The left-hander threw just 39 of 72 pitches for strikes and, unlike during his Cy Young 2023 campaign, he couldn't navigate around the free passes he issued. All of the damage against Snell came in the second inning, when he gave up three runs after walking two of the first three batters he faced. Snell's strikeout potential and history of success should make him a must-start option in fantasy every time he takes the mound, but the control issues are enough to make managers worry about his ability to come close to last year's level of excellence.

Williams (2-0) earned the win over San Francisco on Monday, allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out two batters over five innings.

Williams gave up a run in the first inning but kept the Giants off the scoreboard for the rest of the outing and was backed by plenty of run support. The right-hander notched only five whiffs and two punchouts, but he allowed just three baserunners after the first frame. Williams has started the season well, allowing a modest three runs over 10.1 frames. His 7:5 K:BB isn't as promising, though that hasn't prevented him from earning half of Washington's four wins thus far.

Ober did not factor into the decision Monday, allowing one run on three hits and two walks over five innings against the Dodgers. He struck out seven.

Ober bounced back nicely after a terrible first start at Kansas City where he gave up eight runs in 1.1 innings. It was an especially impressive outing considering the opposing lineup. He next lines up to start Saturday at Detroit.