MLB Player News

Helsley, who earned a hold with two scoreless innings during a 6-3 Grapefruit League loss to the Marlins on Monday, kept himself firmly in contention for a spot on the starting rotation to open the season, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports. "Valuable guy," said Cardinals manager Mike Shildt. "A guy that's historically been able to hold his velocity in a minor-league setting as he goes deeper into games. But clearly he is able to have high velocity with plus secondary pitches in the short outings as well. That's really what we're looking for in the modern game."

Helsley was a rousing success as a reliever last season, posting a 2.95 ERA across his first 24 major-league appearances. The 25-year-old threw an efficient 22 pitches during his pair of frames Monday, and he's slated to have an opportunity to corroborate his ability to go multiple innings as a starter later in spring training. For the moment, Helsley will continue to incorporate his curveball in Grapefruit League action -- he threw five in Monday's appearance -- after primarily deploying a cutter and triple-digit fastball in his 2019 big-league stint. The latter pitch, which makes him the team's hardest-throwing healthy pitcher, also has Helsley in contention for the closer's role.

Pomeranz is expected to start the season pitching short outings, but the Padres are not ruling out asking him to eventually pitch multiple innings, Bill Center of FriarWire reports.

Pomeranz made a successful transition to the bullpen last year, holding opposing hitters to a .165 average and racking up 50 strikeouts in 28.2 innings. Manager Jayce Tingler cited the southpaw's experience as a starter in considering Pomeranz for an eventual multiple-inning role, though it remains to be seen how the season will play out. As it stands, the Padres look to have one of baseball's strongest bullpens with Pomeranz joined by All-Star closer Kirby Yates and offseason addition Emilio Pagan.

Pivetta is hoping to feature a changeup this season, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

Pivetta is hardly the only pitcher looking to improve his changeup this spring, and there's no guarantee he'll be successful, but for those looking for a reason to buy back in on last year's popular sleeper pick, this is potentially something to latch onto. Pivetta threw just 15 changeups in 93.2 innings last season while struggling to a 5.38 ERA. The new pitch didn't lead to much success in his first outing of the spring against the Tigers on Saturday, as he allowed three runs on five hits in 1.2 innings of work.

Leiter (elbow) signed with the Diamondbacks at the start of camp, the righty announced on his personal Instagram page.

Leiter underwent Tommy John surgery last March. A typical recovery timeline would see him back in game action sometime this summer. Leiter owns a career 5.53 ERA in 114 major-league innings, but you don't have to squint too hard to see a pitcher who at least fits in a low-leverage role in the big leagues. His 20.5 percent strikeout rate is a few points below league average, but his 8.3 percent walk rate is right at league average while his 48.2 percent groundball rate is better than average.

Hudson has no timetable for his Grapefruit League debut as the Nationals carefully monitor his spring workload, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

The right-hander was one of the stars of the team's run to a championship last year, but he did it while battling through knee pain. "There were times when I started to feel my arm overcompensating for my knee being sore since it was my back leg and I was trying to generate force and velocity," Hudson said. "But it never got to the point where my elbow or shoulder was in jeopardy. If it did, I wouldn't have been pitching. I was able to make it through." After taking a full month off in November, Hudson resumed his offseason routine and headed into spring training fully healthy, but the Nats would like to keep it that way, so he'll be held to bullpen sessions on back fields for now. He'll be part of the late-inning mix alongside Sean Doolittle and Will Harris, but Doolittle will likely be the team's primary closer to begin the season.

Wilson worked two innings in his spring debut Sunday against the Tigers, giving up two runs on four hits and recording no strikeouts.

Along with Kyle Wright, Sean Newcomb and non-roster invitee Felix Hernandez, Wilson will be a candidate for one of the two openings in the Atlanta rotation heading into the season. The 22-year-old righty didn't make a strong early case for a rotation spot, as he surrendered four consecutive one-out singles in the first inning to put Atlanta in early hole. Wilson recovered with a perfect second frame, but he'll need to find more consistency in his future spring starts if he hopes to break camp with the big club.

Miller is in the conversation for a spot in the Brewers' rotation but will likely open the season in the minors, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Brewers clearly like Miller, signing him to contracts both this year and last, but it seems they want to see him sustain success at the minor-league level before adding him to the big-league roster.

Hernandez allowed one earned run on one walk and one strikeout across two innings Sunday against the Nationals, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Hernandez struggled early, hitting Victor Robles with a pitch to begin the game. He then threw a wild pitch and walked Adam Eaton, allowing the Nationals to get on the board quickly. However, he settled in from there and retired the final five batters he faced. Hernandez is locked in a battle for a role in the starting rotation with Jordan Yamamoto, Robert Dugger and Nick Neidert this spring.

Kimbrel, who is set for seven to eight Cactus League appearances, won't appear in an official spring training game for a while as he works on the side, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The veteran has a set spring routine, which is something he missed in a down 2019 campaign as he remained unsigned until June. The 31-year-old is hoping the return to normalcy helps him regain his form from 2018, when he posted a 2.74 ERA, though his fastball velocity has dropped a few ticks each of the past two seasons.

Voth struck out two and hit a batter without allowing a hit across two scoreless innings Sunday against the Astros, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Voth entered spring training in competition for the fifth starter role and made a strong case with his first outing. He needed only 21 pitches to take care of business Sunday while facing the likes of Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Aledmys Diaz. Joe Ross and Erik Fedde are Voth's main competition for a spot in the rotation.