MLB Player News

The Pirates optioned Mears to minor-league camp Tuesday.

The hard-throwing righty registered a 4.50 ERA in six spring games covering six innings. Mears also walked five batters and hit another, so he will work on his control with Triple-A Indianapolis. The 24-year-old debuted in the majors last summer, compiling a 5.40 ERA with a 7:7 BB:K in five innings.

Clarke allowed four hits and struck out two over three scoreless innings to pick up the three-inning save in Tuesday's spring game against Oakland.

Clarke is nowhere near the discussion to close out games for the Diamondbacks when the regular season starts. He entered Tuesday's game with Arizona leading, 7-3, and was on the mound when the offense put up five runs in the eighth inning. It was a perfect opportunity to extend Clarke, who will serve as starting depth and a multi-inning reliever in 2021. He's thrown eight innings over three Cactus League appearances.

Gonzalez has pitched in five Cactus League contests, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out six over 5.1 innings.

Gonzalez broke through with a 1.33 ERA and 0.74 WHIP across 20.1 innings during his 2020 rookie campaign, and his fabulous numbers were largely backed up by advanced metrics. He is rolling again this spring and figures to be the Dodgers' top left-handed bullpen option. Gonzalez will be even more important at the start of the campaign if Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly (soreness) aren't ready by Opening Day.

Antone (groin) will likely throw a side session later this week, and while he will probably miss his next start, he's only going to be set back a few days from his regular schedule, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Even with the couple days of delay, the outlook for Antone remains positive. It's still possible that he won't win a rotation spot to begin the season if the Reds decide they want Michael Lorenzen to start. However, Sonny Gray's injury has created another opening in the rotation for the first weeks or so of the campaign.

Miller has a 1.29 ERA and eight strikeouts across seven Cactus League innings so far.

A non-roster invitee to camp, Miller has been making his case for an Opening Day roster spot. The 30-year-old likely won't be in the mix for a place in the rotation, but he could give the Cubs a long-relief option. Miller has mostly struggled with Arizona and Texas the past few years, and he didn't appear in the majors last season, but he did show some potential with St. Louis earlier in his career.

Graterol has yet to throw to live hitters this spring and may not be ready for game action by Opening Day, Eric Stephen of SBNation.com reports.

The Dodgers have not indicated that Graterol is injured, and manager Dave Roberts has explained vaguely that the reliever wasn't able to throw bullpens during the offseason due to "a lot of things that took place this winter." While Graterol was initially expected to have time to ramp up by Opening Day, the fact that he still hasn't faced live hitters with just over two weeks to go casts doubt upon that outlook. Roberts was again vague about a timeline for Graterol, stating only, "I would assume that he'll take down some live hitters at some point in time." Even if he isn't ready by the start of the campaign, Graterol should fill a high-leverage role in the team's bullpen when he is able to return.

Johnson was removed from Tuesday's spring game against the White Sox due to groin tightness, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

The 29-year-old recorded two outs and gave up one run with two walks and one strikeout before leaving the field with an athletic trainer. The severity of the injury remains unclear, but Johnson figures to be unavailable for a few days regardless.

Webb owns a 3.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 5:1 K:BB and three holds across the 4.2 innings covering his first five Grapefruit League appearances.

The veteran southpaw has also held hitters to a cumulative .176 average while posting three scoreless one-inning outings in his five trips to the mound. Webb is coming off a career-best 2020 campaign during which he recorded a 2.08 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, one save and two holds across 21.2 innings (21 appearances).

Cabrera, who allowed three earned runs across two innings over his first pair of Grapefruit League appearances, has now tossed consecutive scoreless, one-inning outings.

Cabrera seems to be settling in after battling some of his trademark control issues during his first two trips to the mound this spring, when he issued four walks across his initial pair of frames. The 24-year-old southpaw was a revelation in 2020 with a 4-1 record, 2.42 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 33.7 percent strikeout rate across 19 appearances, and he profiles for a similar high-usage bullpen role again this coming season.

Rainey (collarbone) could pitch in a game this weekend, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

He will throw another simulated game Thursday, and if that goes well, Rainey will pitch in an exhibition game this weekend. He still has time to get ready for Opening Day if he can avoid setbacks.