MLB Player News

Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated over the weekend that Holmes may sometimes be used outside of save situations during the regular season, Andy Martino of SNY.tv reports. "There are going to be days where if it's [George] Springer, [Bo] Bichette and Vladdy [Vladimir Guerrero Jr.] coming up in the eighth inning in a big spot, that might be Clay," Boone explained.

Boone suggested that he plans to deploy Holmes in the highest leverage situations, which could come earlier than the ninth inning at times and may not always qualify the right-handed hurler for a save. Still, the manager hinted that he would continue to see plenty of chances to close, stating, "I would expect [Holmes] to close a lot of games for us. Probably most games, and hopefully a lot of games. But I do see a number of guys getting saves." Holmes didn't earn any saves in his first four big-league seasons, but he racked up 20 last year after taking over the ninth-inning role in the first half of the campaign. The reliever's stock is boosted by playing for a team projected to be among the best in the league, but Boone's comments and Holmes' late-season fade last year may provide enough risk to keep him outside of the top 10 closers in fantasy drafts.

Alexander is expected to primarily work in relief this season, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Alexander made 17 starts and 10 relief appearances in 2022, but he's likely to be much more of a bullpen option this year with Matthew Boyd and Spencer Turnbull back in the starting mix coming off injuries. Newcomer Michael Lorenzen also figures to slot into the rotation, along with Eduardo Rodriguez and Matt Manning. Alexander is a valuable lefty swingman for the Tigers, though his fantasy value will be limited in a relief role. He's always an option to start if a need arises, however.

Silseth could win a spot in the Angels' rotation this spring, but he is more likely to start the season in the minors, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

The Angels seemingly have five of six rotation spots accounted for, with Jaime Barria, Tucker Davidson, Griffin Canning, Chris Rodriguez and Silseth competing for the sixth spot. Silseth has a higher long-term ceiling than most of his competitors, but is also the least experienced of the bunch, so it would make sense for him to open the year in the minors. The 22-year-old righty logged a 2.28 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and a 34.4 percent strikeout rate in 15 starts at Double-A last year. He has never pitched at the Triple-A level, but he gave up 21 earned runs with 24 strikeouts in 28.2 frames in the majors last year.

Mariners manager Scott Servais noted Thursday that Munoz is ahead of schedule in his recovery from October bone-fusion surgery in his right foot, Shannon Drayer of MyNorthwest.com reports.

"I am very happy with what I've seen there, and he feels good about where he's at," said Servais. Munoz is not yet on the pitching schedule for Cactus League games, but he's already thrown a number of bullpen sessions without issue since he reported to Mariners camp. The expectation is that the high-leverage reliever will be 100 percent in time for Opening Day.

Pearson "looks really comfortable in his own skin right now" and "his stuff is outstanding," Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker told Keegan Matheson of MLB.com on Thursday.

Pearson's career has been sidetracked by injury, most recently with his 2022 season being wiped out by mononucleosis and a lat strain. He's healthy now, though, and while his days of starting might be over, he has the potential to be a lockdown reliever for the Jays.

Kelly's stuff has ticked up in recent seasons and is a contender to win a full-time role in Boston's bullpen this season, MLB Pipeline reports.

Kelly was a journeyman reliever earlier in his minor-league career. He gained fastball velocity during the off year in 2020 and came back racking up the strikeouts the past two years, culminating with him fanning 72 batters (34.4 percent) in 49.2 innings at Triple-A Worcester before earning his MLB debut last season. In addition to his mid-90s fastball, Kelly sports a plus changeup that has similar movement characteristics to Devin Williams' famous "airbender" changeup. Kelly probably won't get saves as a rookie, but he could offer value in leagues where relievers who post good ratios and strikeouts are useful.

Mushinski was shut down from throwing Thursday due to lower-back spasms, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

The Astros are calling the reliever day-to-day, so it would appear the hope is he won't be shut down long. Mushinski made seven appearances for Houston last season and is competing for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen.

Barria indicated Sunday that he wants to be a starter this season, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Barria has bounced back and forth between a starting and relief role throughout his career, though he came out of the bullpen for all but one of his appearances last season. Perhaps not coincidentally, he put together his best big-league campaign, posting a 2.61 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 54:19 K:BB over 79.1 innings. Nonetheless, Barria has a desire to start again, and he shed 13 pounds of weight during the offseason in part to better his chances of entering the rotation. The Angels don't have a clear No. 6 starter at this point, thus Barria is certainly in the running for the role. However, the team has a variety of other options to fill the slot and intends to deploy its top starters every six days (rather than every six games), so whoever earns the role could be used more as a swing starter than as a traditional piece of the rotation, per Blum.

Angels general manager Perry Minasian recently expressed optimism that Estevez will earn the team's closer role this season, though he made it clear that the decision will be made by manager Phil Nevin, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Estevez signed a two-year contract with the Angels in December after spending the first six seasons of his career with Colorado. The right-hander has racked up 25 saves in his career, with 11 coming in his rookie campaign and another 11 in 2021. Estevez doesn't have huge strikeout numbers -- he fanned less than a batter per inning in each of his past two seasons -- but he posted career-best marks with a 3.47 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over 57 frames in 2022. Jimmy Herget was impressive as part of a closer committee for Los Angeles last season after Raisel Iglesias was traded in early August, and Ryan Tepera should also be in the mix for save chances. Given Minasian's comments, Estevez may have a leg up in the closer competition, but he's far from guaranteed to be handed that role and should be among the final closers to be selected in fantasy drafts.

Foley figures to have a prominent relief role for the Tigers this season with several key members of last year's bullpen departing in the offseason, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Gregory Soto is the most significant departure, as the lefty led the Tigers in saves last year. However, Joe Jimenez, Michael Fulmer and Andrew Chafin are also gone. That leaves the likes of Foley, Alex Lange and Jose Cisnero in a position to take on more prominent roles, though it's unclear who might emerge as the closer. Foley recorded a 3.88 ERA and 1.38 WHIP across 60.1 innings in 2022. However, he only tallied 43 strikeouts in that time, so the righty doesn't profile as an overpowering pitcher, which could make him more of a setup option.