Kershaw’s role with the club is mostly unknown at this point and will reportedly remain fluid, but this is a fantastic next step for the legend. Having someone with Kershaw’s experience in the building will always be a plus and it’s wonderful that he can still fulfill a role with the only team he’s even known even after his playing career ended last season.

Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Camilo Doval and David Bednar finished up with 3 2/3 hitless innings. The Yankees wanted to keep Schlittler at 70 or so pitches today, yet he was able to get 16 outs anyway. He recorded four strikeouts with his fastball, which averaged 98.5 mph, and only two of the nine balls in play against him were hit hard. Based on how he’s looked since day one this spring, he should be one of the AL’s better pitchers if he remains healthy.

That is a lot of money, though deferrals are likely to bring down the present-day value. Hoerner and the Cubs had reportedly agreed to an extension yesterday, but the terms were undisclosed. This is the fourth-largest contract ever given to a second baseman and one that will keep Hoerner in Chicago for the next six years. Hoerner does a lot of things well as an elite defender and fantastic contact hitter. Those just aren’t skills that often age well and the Cubs now have him, Dansby Swanson, and Alex Bregman on long-term contracts that extend well into those players’ 30s.

The new deal, worth a reported $68 million, takes effect immediately and supersedes the one-year, $3.5 million deal he agreed to in January. So, the Rays are paying $64.5 million for his final two seasons of arbitration and his first two years of free agency. That’s great if he stays healthy and turns into an above average starter these next two years, and there’s good reason to think that at least the latter will happen. It’s probably a little riskier than most of these kinds of extensions, though, and it doesn’t come with the bonus of getting any option years tacked on. Baz is now due to become a free agent at age 31 after the 2030 season.

He’ll make his season debut after sitting for Opening Day. It’s unclear exactly why the Astros sat him yesterday when they sent him to Triple-A Sugar Land to take live at-bats, but fantasy managers can overlook that as long as Peña is ready to go. Against LHP Yusei Kikuchi, the Astros will use a lineup of: Peña, LF Yordan Alvarez, DH Isaac Paredes, 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Carlos Correa, RF Cam Smith, 1B Christian Walker, C Yainer Diaz and CF Brice Matthews.

The Jays have a deep enough lineup that this shouldn’t mess with his run and RBI opportunities too much, but fantasy managers probably were hoping he’d hit higher than this. The full lineup against RHP Luis Severino is: DH George Springer, LF Nathan Lukes, 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., RF Addison Barger, C Alejandro Kirk, CF Daulton Varsho, Okamoto, 2B Ernie Clement, and SS Andrés Giménez.

He hit first in 18 games last year, so it’s not a total surprise, but we hope it doesn’t cut into his RBI totals too much. The rest of the Athletics lineup against RHP Kevin Gausman is pretty much as expected: Kurtz, C Shea Langeliers, LF Tyler Soderstrom, DH Brent Rooker, SS Jacob Wilson, RF Lawrence Butler, 3B Max Muncy, 2B Jeff McNeil, and CF Denzel Clarke.

DeLauter, who got into two postseason games last October, got the Guardians on the board with a 353-foot homer in the first and then added some insurance with a one-run lead with a 422-foot blast in the ninth. He also had a single and another run scored in between. DeLauter’s struggles staying healthy as a minor leaguer don’t bode well, but there’s no questioning the former first-rounder’s talent. He’d seem to be worth using in mixed leagues for now.

That’s no good. Bibee was removed while warming up for the sixth inning tonight. After the game, he said the injury was a new one, and he got to the point where he felt like he “couldn’t battle through it.” Given his comments, even if the injury proves to be relatively minor, we imagine he’ll spend some time on the IL. Logan Allen is the obvious choice to replace him in the Cleveland rotation, though the Guardians could recall Codi Heuer until a start is needed against the Dodgers on Tuesday.

The Dodgers entered the home half of the fifth inning facing a two-run deficit until Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez set the table with a couple of singles. Pages then followed with a mammoth 400-foot (100.6 mph EV) three-run shot that changed the entire complexion of the game and put the Dodgers ahead to stay. He also singled in the eighth inning. Pages appears to be back in the Dodgers’ good graces after being benched down the stretch of their run to the World Series.