MLB Player News

Texas placed Howard (arm) on the 15-day injured list Wednesday, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.

Howard began experiencing right arm fatigue in early March and still needs to build back up into regular-season form. There's no exact timeframe for when he might be an option in Texas.

The Rangers placed Otto (lat) on the 60-day injured list Wednesday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Otto injured his right lat toward the end of spring camp and is now going to miss at least the first two months of the 2023 season. The Rangers haven't provided an official timeline for Otto's return, though the right-hander is expected to avoid surgery.

Englert was informed Wednesday that he will be on the Tigers' Opening Day roster, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

The Rule 5 Draft pick joins Alex Lange, Jose Cisnero, Jason Foley, Tyler Alexander, Trey Wingenter, Chasen Shreve and Garrett Hill in Detroit's Opening Day bullpen. Englert, 23, registered a 3.64 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 136:31 K:BB over 118.2 innings (24 starts) last season between the High-A and Double-A affiliates of the Rangers.

The Cardinals designated Misiewicz for assignment Wednesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The Cardinals dropped Misiewicz from the 40-man roster to clear a spot for outfield prospect Jordan Walker. Misiewicz was acquired from the Royals back in February after being removed from their 40-man roster and will go through the waiver process again.

Rodriguez (shoulder) could be cleared to resume playing catch Wednesday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

If Rodriguez is able to play catch, the Cardinals will start building a status report from there. The right-hander was shut down late in March due to right shoulder tightness, and St. Louis is being cautious with an important part of their bullpen. Assuming no setbacks, there's a good chance Rodriguez is pitching in the middle innings for the Cardinals by the end of April.

Honeywell was informed Wednesday that he's won a spot on the Padres' Opening Day roster, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Honeywell makes the Padres even after a mixed Cactus League season that saw him register a 6.50 ERA that came with a 24:6 K:BB over 18 innings. The former top prospect will likely be a multi-inning bullpen option for the Padres to start 2023, and he isn't likely to see much time in high-leverage situations until he shows he can be trusted.

Winder (shoulder) threw 43 pitches over 2.2 innings Tuesday in Twins camp, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Twins president Derek Falvey told reporters Wednesday that Winder got up to 94 mph with his fastball but then added the 26-year-old right-hander will not be stretched out into a full starter's workload in order to protect his ailing shoulder. Consequently, it sounds like Winder is going to be deployed as a long reliever whenever he's deemed fit for live competition.

The Rays placed Armstrong (neck) on the 15-day injured list Wednesday.

Armstrong didn't pitch in any Grapefruit League games due to the neck issue, so unless he dramatically ramps up his throwing program in the coming days, he'll more than likely be sidelined beyond the minimum 15 days. Once healthy, Armstrong could work as a setup or middle-relief option out of the bullpen.

Weathers will start the Padres' fifth game of the season on Monday versus the Diamondbacks, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

He's not guaranteed anything beyond that, especially with Joe Musgrove (toe) hoping to return by mid-April. Weathers was dreadful in 2022 both at Triple-A El Paso and in his one start with the Padres, making him a risky fantasy streaming option. With Weathers taking the ball in the Padres' fifth game, that sets Yu Darvish up for the sixth contest.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker mentioned Scott, A.J. Puk and Dylan Floro as being "in the mix" for closing situations to begin the season, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Both Scott and Floro have a similar amount of closing experience at the MLB level, while Puk, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft, may profile as the most talented arm in the bullpen if he can enjoy the sustained run of health that has thus far eluded him in his professional career. The fact that Schumaker is a first-year manager makes it even more difficult to predict whether he'll end up setting on one of the aforementioned three pitchers or someone else to see the bulk of the save chances, or if he'll take a loose committee approach to the ninth inning for the balance of the campaign. Scott brings immense strikeout upside to the table and is fine to take a dart throw on late in drafts or pick up off the waiver wire with the hope that he falls into save chances, but his career-long control issues -- his 15.9 percent walk rate last season was the worst among all relievers who pitched at least 50 innings -- make it hard to envision him locking down the closing gig for the entirety of the campaign.