MLB Player News

Rodriguez (biceps) is listed among the available relievers for Wednesday's spring game against the Giants, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Rodriguez suffered a right biceps strain in March 2020 that forced him to miss all of last season, but he's now healthy and could make his spring debut Wednesday. The right-hander could contend for a major-league bullpen spot after posting a 3.45 ERA and 65:17 K:BB over 47 innings with High-A Myrtle Beach in 2019.

Bickford threw his third scoreless inning of the spring in Tuesday's exhibition game against the Giants.

Bickford was tagged for four earned runs in the first big-league appearance of his career last September, but he has put that behind him and is off to a good start this spring. Bickford was once considered one of the better prospects in baseball, and although he no longer carries that tag, he does still possess the arm talent to contend for a spot in the Brewers' bullpen.

Nelson completed two perfect innings in Tuesday's Cactus League contest against the Reds, striking out three batters.

Nelson needed a mere 20 pitches to retire all six batters he faced, racking up three strikeouts in the process. The veteran has impressed in his two spring starts, allowing only an unearned run and one hit while striking out four over three frames. He appears healthy and could be making a push for a roster spot, though he could start in a relief role if he makes the team. Per Eric Stephen of SBNation.com, Nelson would be open to such a scenario.

Neris worked on a slider over the offseason and has been trying it out in spring games, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

Neris threw a slider infrequently earlier in his career, last using it in in 2017. His profile is led by a splitter that can be a dominant pitch at times, but he may need something more after a disappointing season that saw him struggle to a 4.57 ERA and a career-worst 12.6 percent walk rate. There's no guarantee the reborn slider will have the desired effect, but there's at least a chance it helps him get back to being the guy who posted a 3.23 ERA from 2016 to 2019. He currently looks to be locked into a tight race with Archie Bradley for the Phillies' closer job, with the team yet to offer much clarity about the situation.

Reyes will be deployed strictly as a reliever this season with the goal of reaching 100 innings, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The club plans on moving him to the rotation in 2022, assuming he holds up physically this year while working as a long reliever. Reyes has the stuff to be one of the best multi-inning relievers this year, which makes him relevant in most roto formats even if he's not regularly getting saves. Staying healthy is the big goal for the former top pitching prospect. He could vulture some wins and saves in this role, and Reyes figures to eclipse 100 strikeouts easily if he stays healthy.

Ponce de Leon, who has a chance to win the No. 5 role in the starting rotation, allowed an earned run on three hits and a walk over two innings during a Grapefruit League tie with the Marlins on Monday. He struck out four.

While he's yet to open a game in either of his first two Grapefruit League turns, Ponce de Leon has essentially logged an early-spring starter's workload with his pair of two-inning appearances. Despite giving up consecutive two-baggers Monday, the 29-year-old has pitched well overall and owns a 2.25 ERA over his four-inning spring resume thus far.

Helsley has fired two scoreless innings across his first two Grapefruit League appearances, allowing no hits, two walks and recording three strikeouts.

Helsley drew a ninth-inning assignment in a tie with the Marlins on Monday after debuting with a seventh-inning appearance against the Astros on Thursday. He entered the 2020 season with the potential to close out some games in the absence of Jordan Hicks, but Helsley ultimately went just 1-for-3 in save opportunities across 12 appearances. The hard-throwing right-hander is likely ticketed for seventh- and eighth-inning work even if Hicks isn't ready for the full-time closer role right from the start of the season.

President of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Tuesday that the Cardinals are planning on Reyes throwing around 100 innings this season if all goes well, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Reyes was once one of the top prospects in all of baseball and a potential rotation staple, but he's run into a long list of injuries in recent seasons. He debuted with 46 innings back in 2016 but has thrown just 26.2 more in the majors over the last four years. A 100-inning target for him this season indicates that he'll spend most of the year in the bullpen but could enter the rotation at some point later in the campaign. It will be tough for him to have much fantasy value as a reliever unless he can rack up holds or carve out a steady multi-inning role that allows him to accumulate strikeouts.

Betances spent the offseason trying to regain flexibility in his shoulder and return to the arm slot he used during his peak years, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

Injuries over the years dropped the right-hander's release point and had a huge impact on the movement of his fastball in particular, making it both harder to control and easier to hit when it was in the strike zone. Working with trainers at Rockland Peak Performance in New Jersey, Betances got healthier and regained range of motion in his shoulder before using high-speed cameras to break down his mechanics, going so far as to buy his own Rapsodo unit for use while traveling. His velocity has been encouraging to begin the spring, but the 32-year-old still has a long way to go to prove he's once again the pitcher who struck out triple-digit batters in five straight seasons as a late-inning weapon for the Yankees.

Strop (COVID-19 protocols) was cleared to rejoin the Cubs for workouts Tuesday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Strop was away from the team for a couple of days after the Cubs were made aware that he violated MLB's COVID-19 protocols. The veteran reliever has continued to test negative for the virus since going into self-isolation, allowing him to get the green light to quickly rejoin the team. The brief absence shouldn't affect Strop's chances of making the Cubs' Opening Day roster.