The Brewers announced Wednesday that Zastryzny is recovering from a left rhomboid strain and is likely to return to action at some point in April, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Zastryzny made two Cactus League appearances for the Brewers before joining Team Canada for the World Baseball Classic. The lefty reliever apparently suffered the injury at some point during the WBC, but the Brewers don't believe he'll be in store for a long-term absence. In any case, Zastryzny looks like he'll open the season on the injured list, which could clear the way for another southpaw to win a spot in the Opening Day bullpen.

Lopez gave up three runs on five hits and two walks over 3.2 innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox, He struck out six.

While the right-hander's final line wasn't pretty, Lopez got stretched out to 73 pitches (48 strikes) and remains on track for a spot in the Opening Day rotation. He isn't yet showing the velocity he carried prior to last year's shoulder injury, however -- Lopez topped out at 94.3 mph with his four-seamer Tuesday and had trouble reaching 90 mph consistently in his final inning of work, after he averaged 95.5 mph with the pitch in 2024. With Atlanta already down Spencer Schwellenbach (elbow), Hurston Waldrep (elbow) and other starting options, the team needs Lopez to be both healthy and effective in 2026, so his 2.84 ERA and 14:6 K:BB over 12.2 spring innings is at least encouraging.

The Dodgers optioned Hurt to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

With a 12:2 K:BB and 1.09 WHIP over 7.1 innings across three Cactus League appearances, Hurt made a good case for winning a spot in the Opening Day bullpen, but the Dodgers' ample pitching depth along with the fact that he had two minor-league options remaining ended up working against the right-hander. Hurt has been deployed as a starter for much of his minor-league career, but he appears set to operate as a full-time reliever for Oklahoma City to begin the upcoming season.

Allen agreed to a minor-league contract with the Dodgers on Wednesday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

After spending the 2025 season in the Korea Baseball Organization with the NC Dinos, Allen became a free agent this winter and initially agreed to a deal with Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. However, following a couple of strong appearances for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic, Allen will wind up forgoing the opportunity in Mexico to join the Dodgers organization. The 28-year-old lefty will likely open the season at Triple-A Oklahoma City, though it's unclear whether he'll work out of the bullpen or rotation after serving as a full-time starter in the KBO in 2025.

Across five appearances for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, Palencia did not allow a hit while logging five scoreless innings and striking out nine.

Palencia closed out Venezuela's win over the United States on Tuesday to win the WBC, and it continued a dominant stretch for the flamethrowing righty throughout the tournament. Following a breakout 2025 campaign in which he recorded a 2.91 ERA, 22 saves and 61 strikeouts across 52.2 innings for the Cubs during the regular season, Palencia has already been named the team's closer heading into 2026 and could be in line for even better production now that his role in the bullpen is secure.

Manaea struck out four and didn't allow a baserunner over four scoreless innings during Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins. According to Max Goodman of NJ.com, the left-hander averaged 88.3 mph with his fastball and topped out at 89.9 mph.

Four perfect frames against most of Miami's likely Opening Day lineup are hard to ignore, but Manaea saw his fastball velocity drop after he averaged 89 mph during his previous spring start last week. The 34-year-old has never been a flamethrower, but he averaged 91.8 mph on his fastball last year and has been over 91 mph in each of the past five seasons. Manaea has indicated that he's not worried about the reduced velocity, but it's worth keeping an eye on as spring training winds down.

The Mets reassigned Alzolay to minor-league camp Tuesday.

Alzolay is healthy again after missing the entire 2025 season while recovering from August 2024 Tommy John operation, but the 31-year-old righty will need to shake off some rust at Triple-A Syracuse and show that he's regained his pre-surgery velocity and command before garnering another look in the big leagues. He had previously been one of the game's more effective closers as recently as the 2023 season, when he went 22-for-25 in save chances and delivered a 2.67 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 67:13 K:BB across 64 innings with the Cubs.

The Mets reassigned Burdi to minor-league camp Tuesday.

Burdi made four appearances at the big-league level with Boston in 2025, but he was outrighted off the 40-man roster in August and then joined the Mets on a minor-league deal this offseason. The 33-year-old righty was given the chance to compete for a spot in the Mets' Opening Day bullpen during spring training, but he was cut after yielding two runs in two innings in his two Grapefruit League appearances. Expect Burdi to report to Triple-A Syracuse to begin the season.

Junk made his first start of the spring Monday, giving up four runs on four hits and two walks over two-plus innings in a Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. He struck out two.

It was far from a clean outing, but the important thing was Junk's usage, as he got stretched out to 49 pitches (24 strikes) while completing three up-and-downs. Per Christina DeNicola of MLB.com, Junk is still in the mix for the Marlins' fifth starter job, as Braxton Garrett may need a bit more time to fully complete his recovery from December 2024 elbow surgery. If Junk doesn't begin the season in the rotation, he's still expected to fill a long-relief role, as he's out of minor-league options.

The Pirates reassigned Darrell-Hicks to minor-league camp on Tuesday.

Darrell-Hicks reached the majors for the first time in 2025, making seven relief appearances between the Angels and Pirates while logging a 7.45 ERA and 1.45 WHIP over 9.2 innings. After being outrighted off the Pirates' 40-man roster in November, Darrell-Hicks joined Pittsburgh for big-league spring training but was unable to secure a spot on the Opening Day bullpen. He's poised to begin the season at Triple-A Indianapolis.