MLB Player News

Sandlin walked one and struck out two in a scoreless inning during Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays.

The former Guardian was dealt to the Blue Jays in January and appears locked into a bullpen spot, albeit likely only in middle relief to begin the season. Sandlin has posted an 8:3 K:BB through five spring innings with a 3.60 ERA, but he's behind Yimi Garcia and Chad Green in the pecking order for setup work in front of closer Jeff Hoffman.

Atlanta selected Neris' contract from Triple-A Gwinnet on Friday.

Neris has made just two Grapefruit League appearances after signing a minor-league contract earlier this month, but they were scoreless outings and he's now officially part of the Opening Day bullpen. The veteran reliever could eventually work his way into a setup role ahead of closer Raisel Iglesias.

Atlanta selected De Los Santos' contract from Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday.

De Los Santos earned a spot in Atlanta's Opening Day bullpen by permitting only two runs with a 7:1 K:BB over 6.2 Grapefruit League innings. The 29-year-old right-hander is likely to operation in low-leverage situations initially.

Neris gave up a hit and a walk over a scoreless inning in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies.

The veteran right-hander got the start on a bullpen day for Atlanta, and Neris was able to work around a Johan Rojas leadoff double. He's made only two spring appearances since signing an NRI deal in early March, but Neris has gotten up to speed fairly quickly and seems in line to begin the season with a spot on the 26-man roster, although he may work in middle relief rather than getting handed a setup role in front of closer Raisel Iglesias.

Hernandez gave up a hit and a walk over 1.1 scoreless innings while striking out four in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies.

While Alec Bohm was the only likely Opening Day starter in the Philadelphia lineup, Hernandez carved up the bench players and minor leaguers he did get to face. The right-hander was still a little erratic, however -- he plunked one batter and also uncorked a wild pitch. Atlanta is hoping Hernandez can emerge as a high-leverage option this season, but he'll need to sharpen his control to take that next step after posting a 32:13 K:BB through his first 21.2 big-league innings.

Bigge is not expected to be included on the Rays' Opening Day roster, Ryan Bass of FanDuel Sports Network Sun reports.

Bigge has had a good spring, allowing just two runs with a 6:1 K:BB over seven innings, but having minor-league options remaining worked against him. The hard-throwing right-hander still has a good shot to handle high-leverage situations in the Rays' bullpen at some point this season.

Newcomb allowed one unearned run on four hits while striking out three over 4.2 innings in Thursday's spring start against the Twins.

Newcomb has flown under the radar for much of spring training, but injuries to Brayan Bello (shoulder), Lucas Giolito (hamstring) and Kutter Crawford (knee) opened up a need for two pitchers to fill temporary holes in the rotation. Richard Fitts appears to have one of them locked up, while Newcomb, Cooper Criswell and Quinn Priester vie for the other one. Newcomb has a 0.63 ERA with 13 strikeouts and three walks over 14.1 Grapefruit League innings.

Wesneski will undergo X-rays after being struck on the left foot by a comebacker in a minor-league game Thursday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

The X-rays seem to be precautionary, as Wesneski was spotted participating in drills Friday. Assuming testing doesn't uncover a more serious issue, the right-hander is slated to open the season as the Astros' fifth starter, an assignment that became more important when Luis Garcia was shut down Thursday after experiencing further soreness in his elbow.

Martinez allowed two runs on two hits and struck out one over one inning in Thursday's spring game against the Athletics.

Martinez worked the seventh inning following other closer candidates Kevin Ginkel (fifth inning) and A.J. Puk (sixth). Manager Torey Lovullo indicated Wednesday that he's still mulling the decision as to which of the three will be his primary option in the ninth inning when the games begin to count. This was the second time in eight Cactus League appearances that Martinez has allowed runs, upping his spring ERA to 6.43. Although the small samples mean little, that is much higher than the ERAs of Ginkel (1.50) and Puk (1.29).

Mlodzinski allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks while striking out three across three innings in a Grapefruit League game March 15 against the Orioles.

Mlodzinski is being stretched out as a potential starter this spring, throwing 64 pitches in Saturday's outing. His chances of actually being a member of the rotation seemed slim given the strength and depth of the Pirates' rotation, though Johan Oviedo (lat) is already on the 60-day injured list and Jared Jones' (elbow) status is uncertain. If Jones opens the season on the injured list, the Pirates will need a fifth starter. Thomas Harrington is still in camp and seems a likely candidate, though Mlodzinski has maintained a decent 8:3 K:BB across 9.2 frames this spring and could be called upon.