MLB Player News

Matzek signed a minor league deal with the White Sox on Friday, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.

The former Rockie struggled as a starter with the Rockies in 2014 and 2015 before spending the 2016 campaign in the minors working as a reliever. The former highly touted lefty continued to struggle in the minors, however, as he worked a 6.75 ERA across 33 appearances last season. He figures to latch on with one of the White Sox's minor league affiliates at the end of spring training.

Although Barnes is a longshot to make the Opening Day roster, he's slated to bounce between Triple-A Buffalo and Toronto this season, SB Nation reports.

One reason Barnes is destined to begin 2017 in the minors is because he's one of the team's few bullpen choices that still has options remaining on his contract (unlike Darrell Ceciliani and Bo Schultz). The right-handed Barnes, who made his MLB debut last year, has had a successful minor league career and is closing in on a permanent big league gig. In terms of fantasy return, Barnes, who has notched 65 saves in the minors, could be a sneaky source for a handful of holds when he eventually gets the call up.

De Leon threw a bullpen session Friday, and his back didn't appear to bother him, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The right-hander missed a Wednesday workout due to back tightness but looks to have rebounded in his preparation for 2017. It's best, however, to wait to see how he feels in the coming days. When he's back, he'll compete for a rotation spot in camp, which adds to his already intriguing fantasy stock.

Fulmer said he wants to pace himself in spring training and work on his fastball command, The Detroit Free Press reports.

Last season, Fulmer said he went full speed out of the gates, as he was trying to make an impression as a prospect. Now that he's secured a spot in the rotation, he's trying to take a bit more moderate approach to spring training. "I can work on a bunch of feel things," he said. "Especially command -- fastball command -- and working all parts of the plate now. I remember last year, I'd get a bullpen and, honestly, just throw as hard as I could, try to get some eyes going my way. But hopefully, this spring is a little different story and I can actually take the time to work on my changeup and my slider and, obviously, fastball command being the biggest one."

Pomeranz (elbow) is focused on winning one of the two available spots in Boston's rotation, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports. The left-hander is one of three pitchers, along with Steven Wright (shoulder) and Eduardo Rodriguez (knee), competing for a rotation spot.

The conventional wisdom is that Pomeranz and Wright will open the season in the starting rotation, if healthy. Rodriguez, who still has minor-league options remaining, can be easily stashed at Triple-A Pawtucket to start the season. However, Pomeranz pitching in relief is a possibility due to his previous bullpen experience, and the possibility that Rodriguez is pitching too well to keep down at Triple-A. Manager John Farrell and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski prefer Pomeranz be used as a starter, though.

Puk, the sixth overall pick in the 2016 first-year player draft and non-roster invitee, made a strong impression on manager Bob Melvin in his first bullpen session of spring training, Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area reports. "Early in spring you're looking for fastball command, and he had command of that," Melvin said. "He showed a good changeup. I know his breaking ball came a long way last year. He's one of those guys that's free and easy. He's closer to you once he releases the ball (because of his height) and he's got good life on him. It's a good start for him to have a good showing in his first bullpen."

The towering lefty, who checks in at 6-foot-7, will get a valuable opportunity against a higher level of competition this spring and got matters off on the right foot Thursday by all accounts. Puk made a good first impression in live game action last season as well, posting a 3.03 ERA over 10 starts in short-season Low-A Vermont, along with a 1.07 WHIP and 40 whiffs in 32.2 innings. Following spring training, Puk wil begin the 2017 campaign toiling away at either the Low-A or High-A level.

Burdi began throwing bullpen sessions in late January is feeling good as he prepares for spring training, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

The 2014 second-round draft pick was limited to just three relief appearances with Double-A Chattanooga due to a bruised humerus, but it seems like that injury is completely behind the flamethrower. He also made an adjustment to his arm slot, which he hopes will take some stress off his arm in the upcoming campaign. Burdi didn't receive an invitation to big league camp, so he doesn't have to report to spring training until March 7 when the rest of the minor leaguers return to action. However, as it stands now, the 24-year-old Louisville product should be all systems go once he does arrive to Fort Myers in the coming weeks.

Giles added muscle over the offseason in the hope of increasing his durability, and he worked on changing his mechanics to improve his fastball, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Giles couldn't provide an exact figure of how much muscle he packed on, but Kaplan said the "extra bulk is noticeable." As for the fastball, it averaged 97.2 mph last year, so possibly adding more "zip," as Giles said, could make him even more dangerous. He may give up the occasional save chance to Will Harris or Luke Gregerson, but Giles looks primed to continue his late-season improvements from 2016 and cement himself as a No. 1 fantasy closer.

Jimenez is expected to take on a setup role for Puerto Rico in next month's World Baseball Classic, MLB.com reports.

Jimenez figures to be the bridge to Mariners closer Edwin Diaz. Jimenez is also competing this spring for a role in Detroit's bullpen to start the season, though he's likely to being the year at Triple-A. The 22-year-old projects as a future closer for the Tigers.

Kimbrel has been asked by the Red Sox to focus heavily on improving his command this spring, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports. Boston's closer walked 5.1 batters per nine innings in 2016.

Kimbrel has been an elite closer since he became one for Atlanta in 2011, but his performance for Boston last season was less than elite. Many statistics indicated he was the same old Kimbrel -- opponent batting average of .150 and 14.1 K/9 stand out -- but command got him in trouble. Of the 22 pitchers that recorded at least 20 saves, he ranked 17th in ERA. "That comes with alignment, delivering the ball to home plate," manager John Farrell said. "He got into a little bit of a habit where his posture might not have allowed him to stay in line, he'd end up being a little bit side-to-side, and that's where you saw some pitches yanked down and away from right-handers or he'd miss up to the arm side to left-handers." He's in no danger of losing the closer's job, but more consistent command is the goal for 2017.