MLB Player News

Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller struck out five batters during Wednesday's start.

Miller got off to a rocky start, allowing a leadoff home run to Daniel Nava, but settled in after that at-bat. Miller did not allow another hit over 2 2/3 innings. His appearance ended with three straight strikeouts.

Miller posted a 3.06 ERA in 173 1/3 innings last season.

Diamondbacks pitcher Daniel Hudson was able to throw on flat ground Wednesday. 

Hudson is recovering from a second Tommy John surgery. He was able to throw 15 pitches on flat ground. It's the first step in Hudson returning to the mound. He posted a 3.49 ERA in 222 innings in his breakout 2011 season. 

Mets pitcher Carlos Torres is a lock to be in the team's bullpen when it breaks camp, ESPNNewYork.com reports.

Torres is out of options and would have to clear waivers in order to be shipped to the minors. He'll serve out of the team's bullpen while being available for spot-start duty in 2014. Torres went 4-6 with a 3.44 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 75:17 K:BB ratio in 86 1/3 innings over 33 games (nine starts) last season.

Cardinals pitcher Joe Kelly allowed two earned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out two in 1 2/3 innings in his team's 8-5 loss to the Tigers Monday.

Kelly, who's competing for the fifth spot in the St. Louis rotation, used the outing to work on his secondary pitches. "Obviously, I'm going to get the hitter out the best I can," he told MLB.com. "But I really want to know where I'm at with my offspeed stuff and my breaking stuff, especially early on in Spring Training when there's time to work on it."

Kelly went 10-5 with a 2.69 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 79:44 K:BB ratio in 124 innings with the Cardinals last season.

Mets pitcher Josh Edgin made his first appearance in a game since late July Saturday, in a split-squad spring training game against the Marlins.

Edgin looked about as rusty as you would expect for a pitcher who hasn't pitched competitively in seven months. He was tagged for five runs -- three earned -- in an inning of work. He gave up five hits and a walk in the outing.

Edgin was enjoying a solid season out of the bullpen before a rib injury sidelined him a year ago. He finished the season with a 3.77 ERA in 28 2/3 innings.  

Mets pitchers Rafael Montero and Jacob deGrom each pitched two perfect innings in Friday's 5-4 loss to the Nationals, with Montero striking out two and deGrom striking out four.

"I only threw two offspeed pitches," deGrom told MLB.com after the game. "I was locating my fastball really well. That was the biggest key to those two innings to me."

Looking to win a rotation spot this spring, deGrom made a quick rise through the minors last season, going 7-7 with a 4.51 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and 120:46 K:BB ratio in 147 2/3 innings across three levels.

Montero will likely be a midseason callup for the Mets but could break camp with the team if he impresses this spring. He went 12-7 with a 2.78 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 150:35 K:BB ratio in 155 1/3 innings between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas last season.

Mets reliever Carlos Torres, who is seeking to secure a bullpen spot, got off to a strong start in that mission on Thursday. He retired all six batters he faced in an intrasquad game, striking out three.

Torres enjoyed his best season in 2013. He made 33 appearances, including nine starts, and went 4-6 with a 3.44 ERA. He fanned 75 in 86 1/3 innings.

While Mets starting pitcher prospect Rafael Montero has his sights set on winning a spot in the rotation this spring, pitching coach Dan Warthen told The Star-Ledger the more likely scenario is Montero joining the rotation in the middle of the season.

"A guy that we look to see in the big leagues very soon," Warthen said.

Montero has developed into one of the team's top pitching prospects, but he is mostly a fastball-slider pitcher and has some areas he needs to improve before joining the major-league rotation.

"He’s moved up so quickly," Triple-A Las Vegas pitching coach Frank Viola said. "He just needs to learn a little bit more consistency out of his breaking ball and his changeup. He’s opened up so many eyes and I think he’s going to get better and better."

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said there will be no innings limit placed on young standout starters Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha heading into the season. But he added that the team could lessen their workload if they show signs of fatigue.

"If I had to stay who would likely get the nod as far as a few extra innings, it would probably be Shelby," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "But we'll see. I would characterize it as something that we will pay attention to."

Wacha is set in the rotation and the possible loss of Jaime Garcia to lingering shoulder issues could lock another up for Miller.

Opposing hitters might argue that the stuff tossed by Cardinals right-hander Joe Kelly was strong enough. But the 25-year-old improved his curveball over the offseason, which could make him even better. Add the confidence he gained from his 2013 success and there is a reason for the optimism expressed by general manager John Mozeliak.

"I think he started to understand his own identity," Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I think that's the natural maturation of getting experience. I definitely feel like there is more of a comfort level of how he pitched when he pitched. He doesn't quite seem like [he has] the swing-and-miss (velocity) like (Carlos) Martinez or (Michael) Wacha or (Shelby) Miller, but he still has horsepower and as he improves with a style of pitching it could be there."

Kelly's fastball has still been clocked at up to 98 mph. He showed it in a 12-start stint last season in which he went 9-2 with a 2.09 ERA.