MLB Player News

Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that Stratton (knee) is slated to begin a running progression, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Stratton is already throwing off a mound as he returns from a ruptured patella tendon in his left knee he suffered last August, but he'll now test the knee out with some running and soon with pitchers' fielding practice. The reliever has not been ruled out for Opening Day, but he's in camp as a non-roster invitee and is facing an uphill battle to win a roster spot.

The Nationals placed Thompson (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Wednesday.

Manager Dave Martinez indicated previously that Thompson had a chance to be ready in time for Opening Day following Tommy John surgery last March. However, the club has elected to proceed cautiously with the reliever, who is now ineligible to return until late May. Thompson's removal from the 40-man roster clears a spot for the newly-signed Lucas Sims.

Sims agreed Wednesday with the Nationals on a one-year, $3 million deal, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

After non-tendering Kyle Finnegan following a 38-save season in 2024, Washington's bullpen is unsettled, so Sims might have the opportunity to earn a high-leverage role if he impresses during the spring. The 31-year-old owns a 26.9 percent strikeout rate over 306 career innings, but a similarly high walk rate (12.1 percent) has thus far prevented him from gaining a full-time look as a closer. He's notched just 12 saves over parts of eight big-league seasons.

Montas (lat) said Wednesday that he's already feeling better following a PRP injection and plans to begin playing catch in 4-to-6 weeks, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

The Mets had said previously that Montas' shutdown period following a diagnosis of a high-grade right lat strain would last 6-to-8 weeks. While the pitcher is painting a more optimistic picture, it's not clear whether the team is on board with it. Montas will take a while to be built back up, so even if he is able to begin throwing in a month or so, he is likely to miss all of April, at minimum.

Jameson (elbow) faced live batters Tuesday, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

This was Jameson's first time facing hitters since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023. The Diamondbacks will monitor the right-hander's recovery from the session before determining the next steps.

Bednar is expected to begin the 2025 season as the Pirates' closer, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.

Bednar endured a tough 2024 season, highlighted by a 5.77 ERA and 1.42 WHIP across 57.2 innings. As a result, he didn't close the campaign in the closer role, instead ceding most of the opportunities to Aroldis Chapman in the final month. Chapman has since signed in Boston, leaving Pittsburgh hopeful that Bednar will be able to regain his previous form as a reliable closer. Bednar and the team have noted that he was overthrowing his pitches last season -- potentially due to an oblique injury he suffered early in the campaign -- an issue they believe has been resolved during the offseason.

The Cubs plan to ramp Little (lat) up slowly this spring, and the lefty appears unlikely to be ready for an Opening Day bullpen role, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports.

Little sustained a strained left lat in July, which ended his 2024 season prematurely. The Cubs are understandably being cautious with the lefty, so he likely won't be available when the team heads to Tokyo to play the Dodgers on March 18 and 19, though he could be ready for regular-season action later in the month or in early April. Little flashed some promise last year, as his fastball sat a tick below 96 mph and he recorded a 9.7 K/9 and 3.46 ERA across 26 innings. When he's ready to roll in 2025, the southpaw figures to be an interesting bullpen weapon for Chicago, though he likely won't see save opportunities with Ryan Pressly and Porter Hodge around.

Imanaga will start March 18 against the Dodgers in the Cubs' season-opening series in Tokyo.

Manager Craig Counsell had said previously that Imanaga would take the ball in one of the two contests in Japan, and now it's been confirmed that the lefty will start the opener. He's expected to be opposed by fellow countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, although the Dodgers have not yet confirmed that. Imanaga held a 2.91 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with 174 strikeouts over 173.1 innings in 2024, his first season with the Cubs.

Nicolas (side) faced off against Andrew McCutchen during a live batting practice session Tuesday, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Nicolas appears to have entered spring training with a clean bill of health after he finished last season on the injured list due to a left side injury. Before being shut down, Nicolas had turned in a 3.95 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 55:31 K:BB while collecting two wins and seven holds over 54.2 innings out of the Pittsburgh bullpen. He'll likely be ticketed for a middle-relief role to begin the 2025 campaign.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed Monday that Montas has been diagnosed with a high-grade right lat strain and won't throw for the next 6-to-8 weeks, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Montas, who signed a two-year, $34 million deal with the Mets over the winter, will leave camp and head to New York to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat the injury. For now, he appears set to avoid surgery, but since he's not projected to resume throwing until early April at the soonest and will need to complete his own version of spring training before being activated from the injured list, Montas looks poised to miss at least the first month of the season. With Montas sidelined, the Mets could have starting spots available for two of Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn (back) in their projected six-man rotation.