MLB Player News

Smith went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a run scored and two RBI in a loss to the Mariners on Saturday.

Smith accounted for four of Houston's 17 knocks in the high-scoring loss. Though two of his hits were doubles, both of his RBI came on a single in the third frame. Smith has four multi-hit games so far this season and is slashing .302/.393/.547 with four doubles, three homers, eight RBI, 10 runs and three stolen bases through 15 contests.

Raleigh went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and an additional RBI in Saturday's 8-7 victory against the Astros.

Raleigh kicked off the scoring with a two-run blast in the first inning and added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. The star catcher has yet to log a multi-hit game this season and is slashing a meager .145/.250/.291 with just two long balls through 15 games, so fantasy managers who roster him will certainly hope that Saturday's performance is the beginning of a turnaround. Raleigh does have 10 RBI on the campaign, so he's at least managed to knock in runs at a good clip despite his struggles getting on base.

Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and a double Saturday in an 8-7 win against the Astros.

It's been a rough start to the campaign for Rodriguez, who entered Saturday batting a measly .148 with no extra-base hits or stolen bases and just two RBI through 14 games. The star outfielder finally got things going against Houston, collecting his first two extra-base hits -- a double in the first inning and a big two-run blast in the fifth that tied the score 7-7. Fantasy managers who roster Rodriguez likely made a big investment in him, so there's understandably been some frustration about how his season has started. However, he's been a slow starter throughout his career and has still managed to go 20-20 in each of his first four MLB seasons (with two of those being 30-30 campaigns), so it probably wouldn't be wise to sell low on him.

McCullers allowed six runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four batters over 4.1 innings in a no-decision against the Mariners on Saturday.

McCullers fell behind quickly when Cal Raleigh tagged him for a two-run homer in the first inning. Houston stormed back for seven runs across the second through fourth frames, but McCullers was unable to make it out of the fifth and give himself a chance at a win. In that inning, he gave up three hits and three walks and was charged with four runs while retiring just one batter. After opening eyes with seven innings of one-run ball and tallying nine strikeouts in his season debut March 30 against the Red Sox, McCullers has yielded nine runs with a modest 8:5 K:BB across 8.1 frames over his past two starts. He next lines up for a home matchup against St. Louis.

Castillo allowed seven runs on 10 hits and one walk while striking out three batters over 3.1 innings in a no-decision against Houston on Saturday.

The Mariners gave Castillo a two-run lead in the first inning, but the veteran hurler fell behind when Taylor Trammell cleared the bases with a three-run double in the second. Castillo gave up three more runs in the third and another in the fourth before being pulled with one out in the latter frame. After tossing six scoreless innings against the Yankees in his first start of the campaign, Castillo has surrendered 11 runs (10 earned) over seven frames across his past two outings. He'll try to get back on track in his next start, which lines up to be a road outing in San Diego.

Nimmo went 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double and three total RBI in a loss to the Dodgers on Saturday.

Nimmo gave Texas a quick lead with a game-opening shot against Emmet Sheehan. Los Angeles stormed back for four runs in the bottom of the first, but Nimmo closed the deficit with another long ball -- this time a two-run shot -- in the sixth. Nimmo hadn't homered in his previous 10 games, though he performed well with five multi-hit efforts during that span. Overall, he's been arguably the Rangers' best hitter in the early going, producing a .364/.435/.618 slash line with three home runs, 10 runs, seven RBI and a stolen base through 14 contests.

Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run, an additional run and a double in Saturday's 6-3 victory against the Rangers.

Hernandez broke a 1-1 tie and gave Los Angeles a lead it would never lose with a three-run blast off Jack Leiter in the first inning. The slugger was in a mini three-game slump coming into Saturday, going 1-for-11 with four strikeouts over that span, but he's been very good overall at the outset of the campaign. Hernandez is slashing .306/.327/.531 with three home runs, 11 RBI. 10 runs and a stolen base through 13 games.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in a 6-3 victory versus Texas on Saturday.

After the Rangers' Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a homer, Ohtani returned the favor with a long ball of his own leading off the Dodgers' half of the first inning. The two-way star didn't go deep until his seventh game this season, but he's now homered four times over his past eight games. Ohtani has yet to steal a base this yet, but he's otherwise been quite productive, slashing .283/.412/.528 with the four long balls, nine RBI, eight runs and 11 walks through 14 games as a hitter while having yet to allow an earned run across 12 innings spanning two starts on the mound.

Leiter (1-1) allowed five runs on five hits and four walks while striking out four batters over 3.2 innings in a loss against the Dodgers on Saturday.

The Rangers handed Leiter a 1-0 first-inning lead, but he quickly gave that back when Shohei Ohtani led off the bottom of the first with a homer. Teoscar Hernandez went deep for a three-run shot five batters later, and Texas never made up the deficit. In addition to the long balls, Leiter struggled with his control, throwing just 54 of 93 pitches for strikes and issuing four walks after handing out just two free passes over his first two starts. Leiter had been pitching well coming into Saturday, with a particularly impressive 17:2 K:BB across his first 11 frames, so the poor outing against a star-studded Dodgers lineup shouldn't cause fantasy managers to give up on him just yet. The right-hander's next start is lined up to come on the road versus the Athletics.

Manager Dave Roberts said Saturday that the Dodgers are monitoring Diaz's fastball velocity, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.

Diaz had a rough outing Friday, allowing three runs in the ninth inning against Texas to blow his first save since joining the Dodgers. More notably, his fastball velocity is averaging 95.9 mph in the early going, which is over a tick below his 97.3-mph average velocity last season. Diaz wasn't available to pitch Saturday after throwing 23 pitches Friday, and Roberts didn't commit to having him available Sunday either, saying, "We'll see how he feels tomorrow," per Harris. However, Roberts also noted that Diaz's velocity isn't much of a concern while pointing out that it's usually lower early in the campaign, so fantasy managers probably have no need to panic.