After striking out Carlos Santana to begin the frame, Díaz made things interesting by issuing a walk to Alek Thomas. Thomas then swiped second base to get himself into scoring position, but the 32-year-old right-hander battled back to strike out Jordan Lawlar and then got Ketel Marte on a ground ball to end it. As long as he stays healthy, there’s little reason to believe that Díaz won’t finish among the upper echelon closers once again at season’s end.

It looked as though the 21-year-old phenom had connected on his first big league home run in the second inning, only to see Jackson Merrill pull it back from over the center field wall. He still made his mark on the game though. McGonigle strolled to the dish with the bases loaded and two outs in a 2-2 game in the eighth inning. Padres’ skipper Craig Stammen turned to left-hander Wandy Peralta to try to get him out, but McGonigle battled him for 10 pitches, fouling off four two-strike offerings and working the count full before lining a go-ahead two-run single into right field that proved to be the difference. He’s off to a sizzling 5-for-8 (.625) start to his big league career with two runs scored and four RBI.

Trout hit his second homer in as many games in the fifth inning to push the Angels’ lead to 5-2. Trout is off to a blazing start through the first two games of the season, going 4-for-6 at the plate while also drawing four walks. It’s only two games, but Trout’s early power display after failing to homer in 41 spring at-bats is encouraging.

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 ever 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.