MLB Player News

The Cubs optioned Alvarez to Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports.

Alvarez signed a major-league deal with the Cubs in early December and struggled through 6.1 innings during spring training, carrying a 8.53 ERA and 1.89 WHIP while striking out nine. The 29-year-old southpaw could make his way back to the majors for the Cubs this season, but is likely to begin in a low-leverage role once recalled from Triple-A.

Callahan was optioned to minor-league camp Tuesday, Matt Ehalt of The Bergen Record reports.

The 23-year-old righty reached the majors for the first time last year, allowing three earned runs in 6.2 innings. He recorded a 2.94 ERA with 11.4 K/9 in 52 innings in the upper minors last season. With strong performances at Triple-A Las Vegas, he could return to the Mets' bullpen later this year.

Dominguez was optioned to minor-league camp Tuesday, Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic Philadelphia reports.

This doesn't come as much of a surprise, as Dominguez is still likely a couple of years away from making the majors. The 23-year-old prospect split time between rookie ball and High-A Clearwater in 2017, posting a combined 3.72 ERA and 82:34 K:BB across 67.2 innings between both stops. Dominguez will likely report back to the lower minors to start the season, where he'll look to keep establishing himself as one of the more promising young pitchers in Philadelphia's system.

Iglesias has given up three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven over five spring innings.

A couple rough spring outings shouldn't affect his fantasy value at all. Iglesias is still missing bats at a high clip and projects to be the Reds' best reliever and closer all season. He appears to be on a pretty strict schedule, getting three days off in between appearances.

Mayers has racked up nine strikeouts and allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings across three spring appearances.

The 26-year-old right-hander's sparkling spring training efforts thus far are in sharp contrast to his first pair of regular-season stints over the last two seasons. Mayers generated a 27.00 ERA over 5.3 innings across four appearances in 2016 before improving only slightly last season, posting an 11.57 ERA over 4.2 frames across three trips to the mound. If his exhibition performances aren't simply a mirage, Mayers could potentially offer some utility out of the bullpen in 2018, considering his abundance of minors starting experience would enable him to serve in a long-relief role as needed.

Paredes was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Monday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Paredes had a rocky spring training, as he gave up five runs on eight hits and four walks over just 4.1 innings. He'll look to improve with Oklahoma City, where he posted a 21:6 K:BB and allowed just one run over 11 games (12 innings) in 2017.

Okert was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento on Monday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Okert had a disappointing 2017 season. The southpaw posted a 5.67 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 44 games (27 innings) and put together a poor 22:11 K:BB. Although he's shown improvement this spring, giving up just one run over 4.2 innings, he'll return to Triple-A Sacramento.

Johnson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento on Monday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Johnson spent almost the entire 2017 season with the Cubs organization at Triple-A Iowa. He pitched 54.1 innings across 44 games, posting a 4.31 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in the process. While his control was underwhelming (27 walks), he was able to consistently log strikeouts, as he fanned 74 batters in that time.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said in an interview on KMOX radio that Leone could open the season as the team's closer.

Earlier in the spring, the club named Luke Gregerson as its closer for the 2018 campaign. However, Gregerson is expected to miss up to two weeks with an oblique injury, leaving the closer spot temporarily vacant. As a result, Leone will serve as the Cardinals' closer if Gregerson is unavailable when Opening Day arrives. Leone has appeared in five games (five innings) and converted all three of his save opportunities this spring, striking out six batters and allowing just one run in the process.

Leiter no longer appears to be in contention for the fifth spot in the Phillies' rotation after the team signed Jake Arrieta to a three-year, $75 million contract Sunday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Leiter had been competing with Zach Eflin, Ben Lively, Jake Thompson and non-roster invitee Drew Hutchison for the No. 5 role, but the Phillies now appear set to proceed with a rotation of Aaron Nola, Arrieta, Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta and Jerad Eickhoff to open the season. It's a disappointing development for the right-hander, who appeared to have an edge on his competition for the final rotation spot after supplying a 1.93 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 13 strikeouts over his first 9.1 innings of the spring. Unless one of the Phillies' projected rotation members suffers an injury prior to Opening Day, Leiter looks poised to compete with Thompson for a long-relief role over the rest of spring training.