{"id":636501,"date":"2026-04-28T15:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/636501\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:40:11","slug":"the-opener-bazzana-yesavage-vargas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/636501\/","title":{"rendered":"The Opener: Bazzana, Yesavage, Vargas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dodgers walked off the Marlins on Monday night. Manager Dave Roberts emptied his bench to spur the comeback. Catcher Dalton Rushing<\/a> pinch-hit for Santiago Espinal<\/a>, walking and scoring the game-tying run. If the game didn\u2019t\u00a0end on a base hit by Kyle Tucker<\/a>, the defensive alignment would\u2019ve been interesting in extras. Roberts confirmed to reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic<\/a>) that it would\u2019ve been Rushing at first base, Max Muncy<\/a> at second base, and Freddie Freeman<\/a> at third base.<\/p>\n

1. Bazzana gets the call<\/p>\n

The Guardians are expected to promote<\/a> second baseman Travis Bazzana<\/a> for Tuesday\u2019s matchup against the Rays. The top overall pick in the 2024 draft was off to an excellent start at Triple-A, posting a 152 wRC+ across 117 plate appearances. MLB Pipeline<\/a> ranks Bazzana as the No. 1 prospect in the Cleveland organization and No. 16 overall. The infielder is slated for everyday reps at the keystone, where the club has struggled to find consistent production. Utilityman Daniel Schneemann<\/a> has hit well in minimal time at the position, but Juan Brito<\/a> has struggled to a .176\/.250\/.255. Brayan Rocchio<\/a> wasn\u2019t much better, though he\u2019s heated up since moving to shortstop after the Gabriel Arias<\/a> injury. Bazzana should have plenty of runway to stake his claim to the second base gig.<\/p>\n

2. Yesavage makes his return<\/p>\n

Blue Jays right-hander Trey Yesavage<\/a> is slated to make his season debut against the Red Sox. The 2025 postseason star has been sidelined with a shoulder impingement. Yesavage hasn\u2019t exactly dominated during his rehab assignment, posting a 7.50 ERA in 12 innings between Single-A and Triple-A, but the punchouts have been there (28.6% strikeout rate). Yesavage will rejoin a Toronto rotation desperate for healthy arms. The club just lost Max Scherzer<\/a> to forearm and ankle injuries. He joins Jose Berrios<\/a>, Shane Bieber<\/a>, and Cody Ponce<\/a> on the IL. Yesavage maxed out at 71 pitches during his rehab stint, so he shouldn\u2019t be expected to go more than five innings in his return. He\u2019ll face off against another exciting young AL East arm, with Payton Tolle<\/a> on the other side.<\/p>\n

3. Vargas on improbable run<\/p>\n

Diamondbacks utility player Ildemaro Vargas<\/a> has gone from versatile journeyman to one of the best hitters in the league this season. The 34-year-old just launched four home runs and knocked in 12 en route to NL Player of the Week honors. Vargas is slashing an absurd .367\/.383\/.722 through 82 plate appearances. He\u2019s riding a 20-game hit streak. Vargas has already matched his career high with six home runs, a mark he set back in 2019 in his first stint with Arizona. It\u2019s hard to imagine Vargas continuing this torrid stretch, but the underlying stats largely back it up. He ranks in the 99th percentile for xBA and in the 89th percentile for xSLG.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dodgers walked off the Marlins on Monday night. Manager Dave Roberts emptied his bench to spur the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-636501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}