MLB Player News

Jansen threw a bullpen session Sunday and was on time in his delivery, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.

Jansen is one of the slowest pitchers in the league, so he'll have to adjust to the new rule that pitchers must begin their delivery within 15 seconds with the bases empty (20 second with runners on). He had the third slowest tempo (25.6 seconds) between pitches last year.

Duran (hamstring) threw live batting practice Sunday, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Duran pulled out of consideration for the World Baseball Classic after he suffered a mild hamstring injury in January, but he's recently been throwing bullpen sessions and is now facing live batters. The 24-year-old was dominant as a rookie last year and recorded eight saves and 18 holds with a 1.86 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 89:16 K:BB over 67.2 innings. Duran is likely the Twins' best reliever, but he could open the season splitting save chances with Jorge Lopez.

White is still limited to long toss and has yet to throw off a mound as he completes his recovery from a right shoulder impingement, Gregor Chisholm of The Toronto Star reports.

The right-hander said earlier in the week that he felt healthy, but the Blue Jays are still bringing White along slowly to begin spring training. "I think it's kind of day to day right now," Jays manager John Schneider said Saturday. "We're seeing how he responds with each distance that he gets back out to. Today was another step in the right direction. We'll probably have more updates in the next few days but, for him, it's a little bit fluid right now to make sure we're checking every box." Assuming White's return to the mound isn't delayed too much, he'll compete with Yusei Kikuchi for the fifth starter spot in Toronto's rotation.

Hendriks (illness) is working out with the White Sox at camp and threw a bullpen session Friday, Vinnie Duber of AllCHGO.com reports.

Hendriks' top priority for now remains his battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but it's certainly encouraging to see him able to throw. The White Sox previously said they didn't expect to have an update on their closer's ability until Opening Day, however, and there's been no suggestion that Friday's bullpen session is part of a typical spring build-up.

Martinez revamped his delivery in the offseason, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Athletics and Martinez are hoping that the cleaner delivery will lead to better results at the highest level. It's hard to imagine it making things worse, as the right-hander was lit up to the tune of a 6.24 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 57.2 innings with Oakland in his rookie year. Martinez also registered a 5.72 ERA in his 18 starts in Triple-A, and fantasy managers will need to see some form of success on a consistent basis before giving him any kind of roster consideration.

Balazovic broke his jaw in an off-site altercation last Saturday and underwent surgery, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

The nature of the altercation is unclear. Neither is Balazovic's timeline as far as his return to game action, though he's expected to be able to play catch within 10 days.

Poche lost his arbitration case against the Rays on Saturday, meaning he'll make $1.175 million this season, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

Poche had filed for $1.3 million. The southpaw saved seven games for the Rays last season despite posting a mediocre 3.99 ERA. Tampa Bay's typically fluid bullpen setup could see Poche earn another small handful of saves when opposing lefties are due up in the ninth inning, but he doesn't look like a candidate for a traditional closer role should the Rays go that route.

Morris will be brought along slowly this spring due to lat discomfort, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

Moving slowly is certainly preferable to being shut down, but it's not an ideal start to camp for the 26-year-old righty. After posting a 2.28 ERA (albeit with a much less promising 4.33 FIP) in seven outings as a rookie last season, Morris appeared to have the chance to at least contend for a rotation spot in camp. The odds of that happening could quickly evaporate if the lat issue is significant enough to prevent him from getting stretched out before Opening Day, but he'll still have a good chance of pushing for starts down the road as long as the injury isn't too serious.

Leone (elbow) joined the Rangers as a non-roster invitee Saturday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Leone recorded a passable 4.01 ERA in 49.1 innings for the Giants last year before ending the season on the injured list due to elbow inflammation. Assuming he's fully healthy, he'll compete for a lower-leverage relief role in camp.

Bautista (knee/shoulder) is expected to be game-ready by mid-March, Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Bautista's breakout 2022 campaign saw him deal with both knee soreness and arm fatigue in September. Neither issue sounded major at the time, but the fact that he came into camp with both problems still lingering was discouraging. While the injuries add risk to his profile this spring, it's possible they don't wind up costing him any game time, as he can still be ramped up by Opening Day if he gets the chance to appear in four or five Grapefruit League contests. He's already thrown a bullpen session without discomfort, albeit at 70 percent, per Dan Connolly of The Athletic.