MLB Player News

Sborz was optioned to minor-league camp Sunday, Alanna Rizzo of Spectrum SportsNet LA reports.

The Dodgers removed a total of seven players from their spring training roster Sunday. Sborz struggled during his brief stint in the majors during 2019, posting a 8.00 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and seven strikeouts across nine innings in relief. The 26-year-old right-hander will return to Triple-A Oklahoma City to continue refining his skills until a second opportunity in the big leagues presents itself.

Betances topped out at 90 mph with his fastball in his spring debut Saturday, David Lennon of Newsday reports.

The right-hander did record his lone out via strikeout, but Betances also walked two batters and gave up a two-run single to the Nats' Ryan Zimmerman. The velocity is far from where he's used to working -- he averaged 97.8 mph on his heater as recently as 2018 -- but after barely pitching last season and getting a late start to camp as he recovered from an Achilles injury, it's not surprising Betances has a lot of rust to shake off. The Mets are still hoping he'll be ready to go for Opening Day, but he'll need to show significant improvement over the next couple of weeks for that to be a realistic timetable.

Cabrera (fingernail) is listed as an available relief option Sunday for the Cardinals in their Grapefruit League game against the Marlins, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Cabrera has received the green light to resume pitching in games after exiting early in his previous appearance Monday against the Twins with a cracked fingernail on his left hand. Assuming the fingernail presents no further issues with locating his pitches, Cabrera should have a good case for breaking camp with the Cardinals as a long reliever. Cabrera saw his odds of joining the Opening Day roster improve Saturday, when president of baseball operations John Mozeliak admitted that Andrew Miller (arm) will likely begin the season on the injured list.

Minter (shoulder) retired two of the four hitters he faced in his spring debut Saturday in the Braves' 1-1 tie with the Rays. He struck out one and allowed an unearned run on a base hit and a walk.

Minter has been eased into workouts this spring after he concluded a rough 2019 on the 60-day injured list due to a bout of left shoulder inflammation. His appearance Saturday signals that he's healthy, but Minter may find himself on the outside looking in for a spot in the Braves' Opening Day bullpen. Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, six pitchers are already assured spots in the Braves' projected eight-man bullpen, and Minter may be somewhat redundant as a second left-handed option behind Will Smith. A healthy Minter does have the arm talent to be a high-leverage weapon, however.

The Diamondbacks will hold back on using Ginkel for a stretch after the right-hander reported arm fatigue, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Manager Torey Lovullo said Saturday that Ginkel's next appearance has been pushed to next week. "We're just backing off him a little bit with a little bit of arm fatigue," Lovullo said. "It's kind of the normal time for things like that to pop up from time to time. He spoke up, which we want our guys to do. Nothing has been diagnosed. It's just a matter of us pulling back a little bit at this time when we can." Ginkel is seen as a key component of the bullpen and as a potential closer candidate if Archie Bradley falters.

Beede will receive a second opinion on his elbow from Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports.

Beede was diagnosed with both a flexor strain and a UCL strain in his right elbow Tuesday. He appears to be lined up for a lengthy absence, and his path forward should become clearer after Monday's visit. Dr. ElAttrache's name is nearly as synonymous with Tommy John surgery as that of fellow doctor James Andrews, though it's not yet clear if that procedure will be necessary.

Arano (elbow) felt good after a live batting practice session Saturday and remains hopeful that he'll be ready for Opening Day, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Previous reports indicated that Arano wasn't expected to return from arthroscopic elbow surgery until early in the regular season, but the pitcher himself evidently disagrees with those reports. A player's own optimism about his health shouldn't be taken as gospel, though, and he's yet to pitch in a Grapefruit League game, so the odds appear to be against him. Still, the 25-year-old, who owns a career 2.65 ERA in 74.2 innings, should be pitching in a fairly high-leverage role at some point early in the season.

Romero was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

The 23-year-old lefty logged 13 starts at Triple-A last season and was added to the 40-man roster this offseason as protection from the Rule 5 draft. He lacks a high ceiling and will offer organizational pitching depth this year.

Bolanos is dealing with a minor injury but could get into a Cactus League game next weekend, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

It's not clear what Bolanos is dealing with, but it doesn't sound major. He has not yet made his spring debut. While he made three starts in the majors last season, Bolanos seems likely to open the year in the Triple-A rotation.

Wingenter is dealing with a shoulder injury and recently had a cortisone injection, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Sanders says that Wingenter isn't particularly close to pitching in games, so it sounds inevitable that he will open the year on the injured list. He is a hard thrower who has the stuff to pitch in the late innings, but he'd still have been fifth or sixth at best in the pecking order in this loaded bullpen.