MLB Player News

Cantillo allowed a run on a hit and a walk over two innings in Wednesday's Cactus League start versus the Diamondbacks.

Cantillo pitched a clean first inning, but a walk, two wild pitches and a double led to Arizona's first run in the second. It's encouraging to see Cantillo work as a starter this spring, but with just over half a season of experience at the Triple-A level (4.64 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 111:55 K:BB), it's fairly likely the 24-year-old will need more time with Columbus this season. Logan Allen (shoulder) has yet to make his spring debut, but the Guardians have veteran Carlos Carrasco in camp as an NRI, so Cantillo doesn't have a clear path to the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

Rodriguez is working on implementing a two-seam fastball for 2024, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Rodriguez leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball in 2023, and while he had a hearty 97.4-mph average on it, opponents also hit .342 and slugged .535 off the pitch. Rodriguez's goal for the two-seamer is to make it more of a running fastball relying on horizontal movement rather than vertical break, since he is not interested in having a sinker. The right-hander is also expecting to use his cutter less -- he threw it just 5.8 percent of the time last season with poor results. Rodriguez is looking to improve upon the 4.35 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 129:42 K:BB he posted over 122 innings last season, especially since he finished 2023 strong with a 2.58 ERA over his last 13 starts.

Castillo, who fired a couple of 96-mph fastballs during his Cactus League debut Monday against the Reds, is encouraged he has that level of velocity early in camp, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports. "It's telling me that I'm healthy," Castillo said. "We're going to continue to be in the same routine, and hopefully that velocity will keep going up."

Castillo notably opened spring training a year ago throwing his four-seamer in the high 80s, so the increase is certainly noteworthy. The veteran right-hander, who fell just one win short of tying his career high of 15 victories last season, will once again helm the Mariners' rotation and limited Cincinnati to a walk over two hitless innings in his spring debut. Castillo plans to continue relying heavily on his fastball in 2024, considering hitters mustered just a .165 average and .384 slugging percentage against it while swinging and missing 33 percent of the time in 2023.

Sears is incorporating a sinker into his repertoire this spring and enjoyed success with it in his first Cactus League start Tuesday, Steve Stockmar of MLB.com reports. "I've been feeling pretty confident with it. It's a new pitch for me," Sears said. "I've never thrown a sinker. I'm just trying to get educated on it from the other guys that throw it and the catchers and results from the hitters on my team whenever I face them live."

Sears was the picture of stability in an otherwise makeshift Athletics starting rotation last season, logging a team-high 32 starts and posting a 4.54 ERA and 1.26 WHIP that somewhat belied an ugly 5-14 record. The 28-year-old southpaw, who had 70 innings of big-league experience coming into the 2023 season, will be counted on as the No. 2 starter to open the new campaign, and he got his official regular-season prep off to an impressive start against the Guardians on Tuesday with two perfect innings during which he threw only 19 pitches (13 strikes). Sears rolled out the sinker for the first time in live action as well, recording a strikeout and a flyout on two of the three occasions he deployed it.

Singer plans to utilize a four-seam fastball and sweeper more often this season, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Singer began implementing the pitches a little late last season after some initial hesitation. This season, though, he's committed to using them as integral parts of his repertoire, adding them to his sinker, gyro slider and changeup. All three swinging strikeouts he induced during his Cactus League debut Wednesday versus the Mariners came on the sweeper. Singer has predominantly been a two-pitch pitcher in his career (the sinker and slider) and has struggled to miss bats with consistency. Perhaps the four-seamer and sweeper will allow him to pile up more strikeouts.

Blackburn (1-0) was credited with the victory in the Athletics' Cactus League win over the Giants on Wednesday, allowing an earned run on a solo home run and recording three strikeouts over two innings.

Outside of the one mistake pitch that led to a J.D. Davis solo home run, Blackburn was highly effective while placing 22 of his 33 offerings in the strike zone, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The right-hander posted just a 4-7 record across 21 appearances (20 starts) last season, but that underwhelming mark was accompanied by a serviceable 4.43 ERA. Blackburn, who avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $3.45 million deal this winter, is expected to helm Oakland's starting rotation.

Gilbert did not factor into the decision in the Mariners' Cactus League loss to the Royals on Wednesday, firing two scoreless innings during which he issued a walk and recorded three strikeouts.

The talented right-hander put together a nearly perfect performance as he begins a process of trying to be more creative with his pitch mix in deeper counts and attacking right-handed hitters, who have a .741 OPS against him thus far in his career. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports Gilbert feels the most comfortable he has to date entering a season, partly due to his experience and the addition of a splitter that he is hoping will make him less predictable. "I have more options this year," Gilbert said. "The main thing is just not getting yourself boxed in, especially in this league. I have to really find a way to get myself out if I get myself in a jam with guys on and I'm behind in the count, being able to get out of that. And I think I have the weapons to do that now."

Skubal tossed two scoreless innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates. He walked one and struck out two.

Skubal cruised in his first tune-up start of the spring, as he logged 29 pitches and didn't allow a hit. The talented lefty underwent flexor tendon surgery in August of 2022, which delayed his debut last year by a few months. That means the team will likely build him up slowly in camp with the goal of having him available for a larger regular-season workload. Skubal's career high in innings is 149.1, which he recorded back in 2021.

Mize gave up two earned runs on one hit and two walks while striking out one over 1.2 innings Tuesday in the Tigers' 6-4 win over the Blue Jays in Grapefruit League play.

Mize tossed 35 pitches (17 strikes) in his spring debut, which also marked his first official MLB game in 22 months following a prolonged recovery from Tommy John and back surgeries. The 26-year-old's fastball topped out at 97.3 miles per hour and averaged 95.8 mph, a couple ticks up from his average over his two starts during the 2022 regular season. While the velocity readings are encouraging for Mize, sharpening his command and control will be the greater concerns for him as the spring unfolds. Mize isn't assured a spot in Detroit's Opening Day rotation, and even if he does secure a starting gig, he could be piggybacked by another pitcher early on during the season as the Tigers look to manage his innings in 2024.

Martin (elbow) threw his second bullpen session of the spring Monday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Working his way back from Tommy John surgery, Martin threw 20 fastballs in the session and sat in the 84-to-86 mile-per-hour range. He will incorporate changeups during his next bullpen session next Monday and before the end of spring will progress to throwing off the mound twice per week. The 27-year-old is unlikely to be an option for the White Sox before the second half.