MLB 2024 | Cortés throws eight scoreless innings to earn the win; Álvarez stays hot on Monday; Chapman scoreless again

Cuban Players News for the 2024 Major League Baseball season. A compilation of several sources

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Néstor Cortés allowed just two hits with six strikeouts over eight scoreless frames to pick up the victory in a 7-0 win for the Yankees over the Marlins on Monday.

The Yankees didn’t need it, but Cortés was sensational Monday while picking up his first win of the season. He threw 70-of-102 pitches for strikes, and he didn’t issue a walk against an overmatched Miami lineup. It’s easily the best start of the season for the southpaw, and one that flashes back to his outstanding work of 2022. Cortés allowed seven runs over 10 innings through his first two starts of the season but was at the top of his game in his first home start.

Cortés will get a chance to build on this outing Sunday when he faces the Guardians.

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Yordan Álvarez went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and three RBI on Monday, lifting the Astros to a 10-5 blowout victory over the Rangers.

Álvarez stuffed the stat sheet in another monster performance, finishing a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. He blasted a two-run homer -- his fourth round-tripper of the season off Rangers lefty Andrew Heaney in the second inning before drilling a go-ahead RBI double off southpaw reliever Brock Burke in the fourth inning. He's gone deep in consecutive games and has four over his last five appearances. During that five-game stretch, he's gone 10-for-20 (.500) with nine RBI, raising his season OPS to .981. The 26-year-old superstar is batting a robust .295 (13-for-44) with nine runs scored, four homers and nine RBI through 11 contests.

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Aroldis Chapman continues to pitch well for the Pirates.

In Monday's 7-4 win over the Tigers, Chapman got two outs with two strikeouts while bases were loaded, to get his four hold of the year. In six appearances this year, he is still scoreless. The sample size is only 4.1 innings, but Chapman has pitched well, with an immaculate ERA and a ridiculous WHIP of 0.23. At 9-2, the Pirates are the best team in the National League.

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For José Abreu, the hits are not coming.

The offensive problems of Abreu continue. The 37-year-old Cuban veteran faces this reality every night. Yes, it sounds repetitive, but it is the truth. A 10-5 win over the Rangers saw Abreu score two runs, but he went hitless with two strikeouts while going 0-for-3. Abreu has also had bad starts to the season in the past, but remember his age and that he comes from a season in which he may have experienced the worst first half of his career with the worst OPS (. 537) of any full month of his major league career in April 2023. He has gone 11-0 during the last four games without a hit. Despite his career success, Abreu is now viewed as one of the worst signings by Houston fans.

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Yandy Díaz went hitless and Randy Arozarena returned to the lineup.

Díaz went 0-for-4 in Monday's 7-1 loss to the Angels. In the meantime, Arozarena returned to the lineup after a day off, going 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Tampa relies heavily on both players, especially because of their positions at the top of the lineup.

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Tigers placed INF Andy Ibáñez on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain.

Ibáñez is going to be replaced on the roster with Wenceel Pérez. Ibáñez will miss at least a week-plus with the injury, and it’s more likely that the 31-year-old won’t be back until the end of April.

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Soler went hitless against the Nationals on Monday.

Soler went 0-for-3 in Monday night's 8-1 loss to the Nationals. Once, he walked. With an offensive line of .225/.319/.450, two home runs along with three RBIs, Soler is hitting in line with his standards. In terms of HRs and RBIs, he is expected to produce similar to that of 2023 with Miami, but he had the second-best year in terms of these two categories of his career last year.

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The Chicago Sun Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen reports Luis Robert Jr. will be out 6-8 weeks with a Grade 2 hip flexor strain.

An earlier report by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale listed Robert’s initial return timetable as 3-4 months. While there’s no certainty that he’ll make it back within two months, it seems that the White Sox timeline is not as pessimistic as earlier reports suggested. Given the updated timeline there is a chance he will return by early June.

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Yariel Rodríguez threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Buffalo, allowing one hit and striking out four.

Rodríguez did walk two batters and hit another, so his command was not as sharp as in his first outing; however, his fastball velocity was up, averaging 93.2 mph. Interestingly, Rodríguez was limited to just 47 pitches after throwing 55 pitches across four hitless innings in his last appearance. It remains unclear what role the Blue Jays have envisioned for Rodríguez at the big league level, but his prospects took off when he was moved to the bullpen in Japan, so perhaps he fits best as a multi-inning reliever.

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