MLB Player News

Casas (illness) is starting at first base and batting third Tuesday against the Phillies, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Casas missed a week with an illness but should still have time to get ready for the start of the season. Wilyer Abreu and Roman Anthony are still sidelined with their illnesses while Rafael Devers (shoulder) is tracking towards his spring debut Wednesday.

McKenzie allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out three over 3.2 innings in Monday's Cactus League start against the Cubs.

There was a lot of traffic during McKenzie's third Cactus League start, but Monday's mixed-result effort was much better than his previous outing. The right-hander walked five and retired just two of seven batters during his second spring start 12 days ago. The seven hits suggest command was inconsistent, but McKenzie amassed 13 whiffs among his 60 offerings, indicating he can be effective when locating. The improvement from his second spring outing keeps him alive in the battle for a spot in the rotation. He was among the five starters in the projected Opening Day roster compiled by Mandy Bell and Tim Stebbins of MLB.com.

Paris revamped his swing during the offseason and could make the Angels' Opening Day roster given his strong spring, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

To add a pertinent detail, Paris worked with Aaron Judge's private hitting coach during the offseason to rework his swing. The results have been impressive so far this spring, as the 23-year-old has slashed .381/.409/.810 with two homers, three doubles and eight RBI. Paris struggled mightily with a .440 OPS over 58 big-league plate appearances last season, but his strong spring and Luis Rengifo's hamstring injury -- which has made him an uncertainty for Opening Day -- has opened the door for Paris to potentially break camp with the Angels.

Soler went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Monday's Cactus League win over the Rockies.

Soler tied the game in the sixth inning with a solo blast to left-center field. It was the veteran slugger's third long ball this spring, and he's slashing .385/.484/.769 with seven RBI. Soler is locked into a role as the Angels' primary DH for the coming campaign and could have plenty of run-producing opportunities behind Mike Trout in the batting order.

Detmers entered in the sixth inning of Monday's Cactus League contest against Colorado and tossed four scoreless frames, allowing four hits and striking out four batters.

Detmers has been battling Jack Kochanowicz for the Angels' fifth-starter role this spring, but it's unclear if Detmers' appearance in relief Monday -- the first time he has come out of the bullpen this spring -- in an indication that Kochanowicz has won the job. Regardless, Detmers made a strong case to be on the Opening Day pitching staff in some capacity with his performance against the Rockies, during which he limited Colorado to four harmless hits -- all singles -- across four innings. The left-hander lowered his spring ERA to 2.31 with the outing, and he now has an 8:2 K:BB over 11.2 frames, though Kochanowicz has arguably been better with a 1.00 ERA and 6:1 K:BB over nine innings.

Wells went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Monday's Grapefruit League win over the Tigers.

Wells batted leadoff in the contest, which he's been doing often this spring and may end up doing during the regular season. The 25-year-old catcher has been blistering the ball in that role in Grapefruit League action, leading off the Yankees' half of the first inning with a home run on three occasions. Wells is slashing .368/.400/.895 overall this spring and could be primed for a breakout after posting a .717 OPS over 414 regular-season plate appearances in his first full campaign in the majors last year.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, an additional run and a walk Monday in a Grapefruit League win over Detroit.

The Yankees tagged Tigers starter Kenta Maeda for three first-inning homers Monday, with Goldschmidt's long ball being the second of the trio. It was the veteran slugger's second home run this spring, and he's slashing .250/.280/.542 with 10 strikeouts over nine games. Goldschmidt is slated to take over as New York's primary first baseman after signing with the organization in December.

The Rays are considering removing Diaz from the leadoff spot for the 2025 season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Diaz has spent the vast majority of the last three seasons occupying the leadoff spot in the Rays' lineup, a logical choice given his .383 on-base percentage in that span. However, the Rays are looking for ways to jumpstart their offense in 2025, which includes moving Diaz down the order to give him more opportunities to drive in runs. Despite the report, Diaz has hit from the top spot in the order in all but one of the games he has started this spring.

Fairbanks has thrown 1.2 innings across two appearances in the Grapefruit League.

Fairbanks ended the 2024 season on the injured list with a lat injury, so the fact that he's had a healthy spring is positive. While he hasn't seen much game action, he's projected to serve as the Rays' primary closer once the regular season kicks off.

Walls left Saturday's Grapefruit League game with a quad injury, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The injury is expected to be minor, as Walls is projected to return to the lineup Thursday. He had a solid spring prior to being sidelined, collecting five hits across 16 at-bats -- albeit with only one extra-base hit. Walls is slated to begin the season as the Rays' starting shortstop with Ha-Seong Kim (shoulder) sidelined.