MLB

While fantasy managers were clamoring for it, it was always unlikely that the hard-hitting 23-year-old backstop cracked the Marlins’ Opening Day roster. He held his own in Grapefruit League action though, hitting .235 (4-for-17) with a pair of homers, three RBI and a stolen base. It’s only a matter of time before he gets an opportunity with the big league club.

The 24-year-old superstar opened the scoring in the contest with his 333-foot (95.0 mph EV) solo shot off of Kyle Hart in the third inning. Carroll finished the afternoon 1-for-3 plus a walk. He has been locked in at the plate this spring, hitting .370 (10-for-27) with four homers, nine RB and a pair of stolen bases. A consensus top-six selection in fantasy drafts, Carroll looks ready for the season to start already.

Pfaadt was nearly untouchable in this one, allowing just two hits, both of them singles. He generated 13 swings and misses on just 57 pitches in the contest — seven of them on his sweeper alone — while registering a terrific CSW of 35 percent. He’s having a very strong spring through his first four appearances, posting a 3.18 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and a 13/2 K/BB ratio over 11 1/3 innings. Pfaadt has slowly started to climb up draft boards, with an ADP now inside the top 175 players overall.

The 26-year-old backstop made the most of his lone plate appearance on Sunday, crushing a 391-foot (102.5 mph EV) three-run shot off of Jeff Brigham that pulled the Padres to within a run at 5-4. Unfortunately, that would be as close as they would get. Campusano, like all of the Padres’ catchers, have struggled this spring — hitting just .182 (4-for-22) with a homer and four RBI.

Hart also issued a pair of walks while striking out three batters on the day. The 32-year-old left-hander navigated the first two innings without any issues then served up a solo homer to Corbin Carroll with one out in the third inning. Hart then returned for the fourth where he gave up a walk, stolen base and an RBI single before exiting. He generated four swings and misses on 59 pitches on the night, posting a solid CSW of 31 percent. On the spring, he now holds a 6.00 ERA, 2.33 WHIP and a 3/2 K/BB ratio over three innings in Cactus League action and seems to have fallen out of the race for the fifth spot in the Padres’ Opening Day rotation.

Renfroe delivered a bases-clearing three-run double off of Kyle Freeland in the second inning that extended the Royals’ early edge to 5-0. He then put the exclamation mark on the victory with a two-run triple in the sixth inning. The 33-year-old outfielder is having a very strong spring for the Royals, hitting .348 (8-for-23) with a homer, nine RBI and a stolen base. He’s still an afterthought in most fantasy drafts, going well after the top 450 picks overall.

He still struck out four batters in the contest, but this was a brutal outing overall for the 27-year-old southpaw. Despite the constant parade of baserunners, the Rockies only scratched out two runs against him — one on an RBI single by Jacob Stallings in the third and another on a solo blast by Sean Bouchard in the fourth. Ragans got 11 swings and misses on 83 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 24 percent. On the spring, he now holds a 5.79 ERA, 1.86 WHIP and a 21/5 K/BB ratio over 14 innings. He’s currently being drafted as a fringe top 10 option among starting pitchers with an ADP just after pick 40 overall.

It wasn’t a cheap one either, as Bouchard victimized Royals’ ace Cole Ragans for his solo shot in the fourth inning, pulling the Rockies to within six runs at 8-2. He finished the afternoon 1-for-3 and is now hitting .378 (14-for-37) with three homers and seven RBI on the spring.

On the day that it was announced he would start on Opening Day for the Rockies, Freeland turned in his worst outing of the spring, though he did still manage to record five strikeouts. All of the scoring came during a mammoth uprising in the second inning that featured five hits a walk and a hit batsmen. After this debacle, Freeland now holds a 6.43 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a 16/3 K/BB ratio over 14 frames in four spring starts.