MLB Player News

Balazovic, who pitched a scoreless frame in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays, now has a 1.80 ERA across five innings this spring.

Balazovic has made three appearances in the Grapefruit League, with two of them covering multiple innings, and he's pitched well so far. The 26-year-old came up as a starter in Minnesota's farm system and had some prospect buzz, but he never really made his mark with the Twins. After spending the end of the 2024 season as a member of Doosan Bears in the KBO, Balazovic will now attempt to crack Detroit's Opening Day bullpen, though he'll likely begin the year in the minors with a chance to get called up down the road.

Pallante permitted one hit and struck out a pair over three scoreless frames in Tuesday's Grapefruit League outing against the Mets.

The bottom line was much improved from Pallante's first spring start when he allowed four runs and walked two in an inning of work. However, Pallante has yet to find the pep on his fastball this spring, with the velocity on his four-seamer down 1.7 mph from last year and the velocity on his sinker down 2.4 mph. It's not overly worrisome yet in early March, but it's something to keep an eye on.

The Angels reassigned Caceres (lat) to minor-league camp Tuesday.

Caceres was attending big-league camp as a non-roster invitee and has yet to make any appearances in the Cactus League while he continues to work his way back from the lat surgery he underwent last March, so he never seemed to have a legitimate chance to win a spot in the Angels' Opening Day bullpen. If healthy, Caceres will likely begin the season at Triple-A Salt Lake.

Fitts could open the season in the Red Sox' rotation if Brayan Bello (shoulder) needs a stint on the injured list, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Bello is not expected to miss much time, if any, but Boston might elect to play things safely as he comes back from a shoulder issue. Fitts posted a 1.74 ERA in four starts with the Red Sox last season, although that came with just a 9:7 K:BB over 20.2 innings. However, the 25-year-old has shown more bat-missing ability in the minors and is also off to a strong start this spring, fanning five over four scoreless frames. Quinn Priester is the other potential option to fill in for Bello.

Morgan may get squeezed from the Cubs' Opening Day roster and start the season at Triple-A Iowa instead , Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Morgan was effective last year for Cleveland, posting a 1.93 ERA and 0.98 WHIP across 42 regular-season innings, though he still has a minor-league option remaining and could be the odd man out as a result. Even if the righty begins the year in the minors, he has enough talent to be a valuable addition to the Cubs' bullpen at some point, but he likely won't see save opportunities with Ryan Pressly and Porter Hodge around.

Diaz has been held out of Cactus League play after tweaking his hamstring during pitchers' fielding practice about a week ago, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Diaz said Monday that he feels "great" now and expects to be ready for his Cactus League debut this weekend. If he is indeed ready to pitch later this week and can avoid setbacks, Diaz should have enough time to be ready for Opening Day. The righty is expected to open the 2025 season as Cincinnati's closer, though he could be on a relatively short leash after posting a 3.99 ERA and just a 22.7 percent strikeout rate in 2024.

Lopez threw 44 pitches (25 strikes) in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees, allowing one hit and two walks over 1.2 scoreless innings. He struck out one.

The right-hander has yet to give up a run this spring, posting a 3:3 K:BB over 3.2 scoreless innings in two starts. Lopez had a breakout 2024 in his return to a starting role, delivering a 1.99 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 148:42 K:BB in 135.2 innings for Atlanta, and he's aiming to handle a 200-inning workload in 2025.

The Pirates claimed Lawrence off waivers from the Rockies on Monday, Patrick Lyons of JustBaseball.com reports.

Lawrence posted a 6.49 ERA and saw his strikeout rate dip to just 16.1 percent and sinker velocity fall to 94.6 mph on average in 2024. However, he had an above-average 24.4 percent strikeout rate from 2022 to 2023 and his sweeper has been a very effective pitch at times. Lawrence is under team control through 2028 and the Pirates felt he was worth a roll of the dice.

Clase is scheduled to make his first Cactus League appearance Monday versus the Mariners, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.

Clase's delayed addition to the Guardians' spring pitching schedule isn't due to an injury; instead, the coaching staff is likely prioritizing getting innings for rotation candidates as well as pitchers who are competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster. Despite coming off a rough postseason in which he converted two of three save chances and gave up eight earned runs over eight innings, Clase is locked in as Cleveland's closer and is solidified as an upper-tier fantasy option coming off three straight seasons of least 40 saves. For what he lacks his elite strikeout stuff (career 24.8 K%), Clase makes up for it by limiting walks (career 4.8 BB%) and leaning heavily on his cutter and slider to induce plenty of weak contact (career 60.7 percent groundball rate).

Miami reassigned Tarnok (ankle) to minor-league camp Monday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Tarnok had been attending big-league spring training as a non-roster invitee, but he never made a serious run for a spot on Miami's season-opening roster after injuring his left ankle last week. Once healthy, the right-hander will likely serve as a swingman for Triple-A Jacksonville.