MLB Player News

Manager Charlie Montoyo said Thursday that Romano is dealing with a mild left ankle sprain, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Romano recently slipped while walking his dog, but the injury isn't expected to affect his availability for Opening Day. Assuming the 28-year-old is fully healthy once the regular season gets underway next week, he's in line to serve as the Blue Jays' closer after he converted 23 of 24 save chances with a 2.14 ERA and 1.05 WHIP across 63 innings last year.

Patino (shoulder) will start Thursday's Grapefruit League game against Atlanta, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Patino was scratched from his previous spring start March 22 on account of a sore right shoulder, but he was cleared to resume throwing soon thereafter and received the green light to pitch Thursday following a pair of bullpen sessions along with a live batting practice session. Since he wasn't shut down while he dealt with the injury, Patino looks as though he's still on track to break camp as a member of the Tampa Bay rotation.

Soto, who tossed a scoreless inning and struck out two in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies, topped out at 99 mph on the radar gun, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

The Detroit closer looks ready for the regular season, with his high velocity actually a tick ahead of the 98.3 mph he averaged on his fastball last season. Soto has increased his average velocity in each of his three MLB seasons, and if he does that again in 2022, he figures to be an even more effective reliever. The lefty will be looking to build on the career-high 18 saves he recorded in 2021.

Fulmer has an 11.57 ERA and has allowed two home runs across three Grapefruit League games.

It's a small sample size of just 2.1 innings, but Fulmer hasn't been sharp yet, which is further evidenced by his lack of strikeouts. He's also reportedly a few ticks off from his typical velocity, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports. The righty was solid for the Tigers last season with a 2.97 ERA and 14 saves, so he should get rolling at some point. However, with Gregory Soto and offseason addition Andrew Chafin around, Fulmer might not see as many save opportunities in 2022.

The Twins reassigned Megill to minor-league camp Wednesday.

The 28-year-old joined the Twins on a minor-league deal in December and is expected to serve as organizational relief depth during the 2022 campaign. Megill reached the majors for the first time in his career in 2021, making 28 appearances while posting an 8.37 ERA and 1.86 WHIP across 23.2 innings with the Cubs.

The Twins reassigned Hamilton to minor-league camp Wednesday.

Hamilton is expected to return to Triple-A St. Paul for the second season in a row after he made all 38 of his appearances with the affiliate in 2021, finishing with a 4.12 ERA and 1.44 WHIP across 59 innings. The 26-year-old reliever last saw big-league action in 2020, when he made four appearances for the White Sox.

Robles (not injury related) is slated to arrive at spring training Thursday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Robles dealt with visa issues this spring and will have just a week to prepare for Opening Day with the team once he arrives at camp Thursday. While it's possible that he'll be unavailable to begin the year, manager Alex Cora said that it's possible that the right-hander will be ready for the start of the regular season. If the team decides that Robles needs more time to build up, he'll likely head to Triple-A Worcester since he signed a minor-league contract with Boston in mid-March.

Fairbanks has a 50 percent tear of his lat muscle and will likely be forced to miss at least three months, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Rays announced Monday that Fairbanks would face a shutdown of at least six weeks due to his lat injury, and he'll require at least six additional weeks to build up once he's cleared to resume throwing. As a result, the right-hander will likely be out until at least July. It wouldn't be surprising to see Fairbanks land on the 60-day injured list to begin the regular season.

The Tigers scratched Chafin from his scheduled relief appearance in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays due to groin tightness, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Detroit is hopeful that after a couple days of rest, Chafin will be ready to take the mound when his next planned pitching appearance comes over the weekend. After inking a two-year, $13 million deal with Detroit earlier this month, Chafin is expected to serve as the team's top lefty setup man behind closer Gregory Soto.

Winder appears to be out of the running for a spot in the Twins' Opening Day rotation after Minnesota signed Chris Archer to a one-year deal Monday, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

Due to his late signing, Archer could require some ramp-up time and may not be included in the Opening Day rotation, but Minnesota's schedule will allow it to get by with four starters until April 13, if necessary. Winder's MLB debut thus doesn't appear to be imminent, but the 25-year-old righty looks like he'll rank near the top of the list for a promotion if an opening in the rotation arises at any point in 2022. Considering that Winder missed the final two months of the 2021 season due to shoulder fatigue, some extra tune-up time at Triple-A St. Paul to begin the year is probably more ideal than being thrown into the fire in the big-league rotation. Winder made only four starts for the affiliate before being shut down last season, providing a 4.67 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 15:3 K:BB in 17.1 innings over that stretch.