MLB Player News

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.

Reyes (elbow) pitched in an intrasquad game Sunday, marking his first simulated game action since undergoing Tommy John surgery last February, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Reyes was initially slated to toss live batting practice Sunday, but the Cardinals evidently felt it wasn't too much of a stretch to have him face hitters in a controlled setting. It isn't clear how many pitches Reyes threw in the session, but Hummel's report notes that the 23-year-old hit teammate Harrison Bader with a pitch before allowing a home run to Bader in the following at-bat. Reyes is slated to open the season on the 10-day disabled list, but the Cardinals are hopeful he'll be ready to contribute out of the bullpen in early May.

Jansen (hamstring) will pitch in Thursday's Cactus League game against the Royals, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Jansen said his hamstring felt fine during Monday's minor-league contest, clearing the way for him to return to Cactus League action. The issue was never thought to be anything overly serious, and barring any setbacks throughout the remainder of camp, Jansen should be good to go for the start of the season.

Wilson has lowered his leg kick during the offseason to help with his command, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Wilson struggled after coming over to the Cubs last season in a July trade, posting a 5.09 ERA and 19 walks in 17.2 innings. The focus on command seems to be working so far for the lefty, as he has yet to walk a batter through four Cactus League appearances. If Wilson can limit the walks during the regular season, he could pitch more like he did before the trade last year, when he had a 2.68 ERA with the Tigers.