Sean Burke

Burke, who threw six scoreless innings against the Angels on Opening Day, gave up two homers and recorded just one strikeout today. He also took a hard shot off his right knee on a Matt Wallner comebacker, though that didn't seem to factor into his departure. He's due to face the Guardians next time out.

Through 2024, Bader averaged one homer every 36 plate appearances in his career. This season, he has three in 16 plate appearances. The two the last two days have both been three-run blasts. We wouldn't suggest getting too excited, but since the hot start could lead to full-time at-bats for a spell and he's a quality basestealer, he might offer some short-term mixed-league value.

Burke (1-0) earned the win against the Angels on Thursday after allowing three hits while striking out three across six scoreless innings.

The 33-year-old southpaw racked up five strikeouts on the afternoon and didn't allow a base on balls. He served up a solo homer to Austin Slater and a two-run double to Miguel Vargas in the second inning and that was all of the run support that Sean Burke and company would require on Thursday. Kikuchi got 11 swings and misses on 87 pitches on the day -- five on his fastball -- while registering a CSW of 30 percent. He'll attempt to get in the win column when he squares off against the Cardinals in St. Louis on Wednesday.

O'Hoppe's 417-foot (109.6 mph EV) solo shot off of Cam Booser was the only thing that prevented the Halos from being shut out by Sean Burke and company on Thursday afternoon. The hard-hitting backstop finished the day 2-for-4, collecting two of his team's five total hits in the ballgame.