MLB Player News

The Dodgers reassigned Almonte to minor-league camp Monday, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Almonte was one of nine non-roster invitees that the Dodgers shipped out of big-league camp with Opening Day just four days away. The 27-year-old made 48 appearances in the majors with the Rockies in 2021 and produced a 7.55 ERA over 47.2 innings, but he wasn't able to secure a spot in a Dodgers bullpen that contained more high-quality competition.

Manager David Bell said Monday that Diaz has made the Reds' Opening Day roster, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

After being added to the Reds' 40-man roster over the winter, Diaz will bypass the Triple-A level entirely and make the jump from Double-A Chattanooga to the majors to begin the 2022 campaign. The 25-year-old righty posted a 3.83 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 42.1 innings for Chattanooga in 2021 while limiting opposing hitters to a .194 average. He'll likely start the season in a low-leverage role out of the bullpen, but he could quickly move up the pecking order in a Cincinnati relief corps lacking in upside arms.

Manager David Bell said Monday that Duarte has made the Reds' Opening Day roster, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The 25-year-old righty will be one of 11 relievers joining the Reds for Opening Day. Duarte will be getting his first taste of the big leagues in 2022, after the Reds elected to add him to the 40-man roster over the winter following a successful 2021 campaign spent between four levels of the minors. Over his 19 appearances spanning 23.2 innings last season, Duarte submitted a 4.56 ERA and 1.39 WHIP while striking out 32 and securing eight saves.

Manager David Bell said Monday that Farmer has made the Reds' Opening Day roster, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Cincinnati will make Farmer's addition to the roster official by selecting his contract at some point shortly before Thursday's Opening Day game in Atlanta. The right-hander earned a spot in the bullpen after striking out nine and allowing three baserunners over five innings in Cactus League play.

Dominguez has allowed one run on three hits in four innings this spring, striking out eight batters while walking none.

Dominguez saved 16 games with a 2.95 ERA and a 32.0 percent strikeout rate as a rookie back in 2018, but he took a step back in 2019 before missing most of the last two seasons due to Tommy John surgery, throwing just a single inning late last year. His past experience in the ninth inning made him look like a dark horse closer candidate at the start of the offseason, but the additions of Corey Knebel, Brad Hand and Jeurys Familia pushed him down the depth chart. If he carries his spring form into the regular season, however, it's not out of the question that he could quickly rise back up the ranks.

The Cardinals selected Pallante's contract Monday and added him to the Opening Day roster.

The 23-year-old produced 3.2 scoreless innings on the mound this spring, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four over three appearances. Though he made 22 starts between Triple-A Memphis and Double-A Springfield in 2021, Pallante is expected to serve as a multi-inning arm out of the bullpen for St. Louis.

Howard is day-to-day after recently experienced back spasms, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

Howard is currently not throwing, putting his availability for Opening Day in question. The reliever appeared in 54 games with the Pirates in 2021, struggling to a 5.60 ERA and 1.47 WHIP over 45 innings while securing 12 holds and blowing his only save opportunity. One silver-lining to the season was that Howard produced an eye-popping 12.0 K/9, improving on a career-best 11.6 K/9 from the year prior.

Melancon has been "toying" with new grips on pitches, explaining his poor results thus far in Cactus League outings, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Melancon is experimenting with new grips on his cutter, two-seam fastball and changeup, the last of which he plans to incorporate more heavily into his mix in 2022. The Diamondbacks' projected closer has allowed six runs on seven hits and four walks over 3.1 innings. Saying he's "not concerned" about the results at this point, Melancon talked about testing multiple grips in the relatively safe environment of spring training action, and he can always revert to previous grips. As for the changeup, he said, "I didn't have a change-up for a long time. I've developed one. My goal is to throw one this year and use it often. That's been a major part of this for me." So, the pitcher feels there's nothing to see here in terms of his Cactus League performance.

Kinley tossed a perfect fifth inning to earn the save in Sunday's Cactus League win over the White Sox.

Kinley gave up a solo homer in Wednesday's loss to the Diamondbacks, but he bounced back with his third scoreless outing in four relief appearances this spring. The right-hander picked up 10 holds for the Rockies last year while posting a 4.73 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 70.1 innings across 70 relief appearances. However, he faces an uphill battle for high-leverage work since Colorado has Alex Colome, Daniel Bard and Carlos Estevez available in the late innings.

Suarez appears to be the favorite to close games for the Padres this season, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Suarez signed with the Padres in November following a five-season stint in Japan, and he has been excellent in Cactus League play, allowing only one run while posting a 7:0 K:BB across four innings. The 31-year-old hasn't yet logged a save this spring but racked up 67 saves during his final two campaigns in Japan. Emilio Pagan could still be in the running for San Diego's closer job as well, but he hasn't been as sharp in Cactus League action, allowing five runs in 4.1 frames.