MLB Player News

Wentz tossed two scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He allowed a hit and two walks, while striking out five.

It's of course a small sample, but this was an encouraging outing for Wentz. The southpaw mostly served as a starter for the Tigers last year and struggled mightily, posting a 6.90 ERA and 1.68 WHIP across 105.2 innings. The team announced before spring training that Wentz will be focusing on a relief role in camp, with some hope that his stuff will play up out of the bullpen. It remains to be seen if Wentz can remain effective in this role, though it seems like Detroit will give him an opportunity to establish himself as a left-handed relief option heading into the regular season.

Flaherty logged a scoreless inning without allowing a hit or a walk in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He struck out two.

Flaherty, who joined the Tigers in December on a one-year, $14 million deal, looked good despite not lasting very long. The righty only tossed 10 pitches, with nine of them going for strikes. Flaherty figures to stretch out some in his next start as he ramps up for the regular season. He should have a rotation spot securely locked up, likely slotting in somewhere behind Tarik Skubal and fellow Detroit newcomer Kenta Maeda. Flaherty will be hoping to improve upon an uneven 2023 during which he posted a 4.99 ERA across 144.1 innings for the Cardinals and Orioles.

Verlander (shoulder) will ramp up the intensity of his throwing during a bullpen session Tuesday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Verlander has thrown a few low-intensity bullpen sessions consisting of fastballs and has thus far come out of them well during spring training. The veteran right-hander is being ramped up slowly this spring after his right shoulder didn't bounce back well during his offseason throwing program. Verlander and the Astros aren't ruling him out from being ready for the start of the season, but the window is tight.

Stripling, who was due to start Monday's Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks, will see his turn pushed back at least "a couple of days" due to a minor cut on his right index finger, MLB.com reports.

Manager Mark Kotsay didn't imply the issue was too serious, and the fact Stripling is expected to make his delayed debut later in the week seems to bear that out. Mitch Spence, a Rule 5 pick this winter, will slide into Stripling's starting spot for Monday's game.

Heaney allowed one hit and one walk while striking out five over two scoreless innings in Sunday's spring start against the Giants.

Heaney's Cactus League debut got off to a rocky start, as the left-hander walked the first batter on four pitches and then hit a batter. He settled in after that, striking out two before inducing a groundout to avoid any damage. Heaney is expected to slot in third in the Rangers' rotation.

Giolito walked one and struck out one over two no-hit, scoreless innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Twins.

Giolito made his spring debut and broke out a new grip on a slider he's been working on since the start of camp, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. The right-hander, who threw 27 pitches (16 strikes) in Sunday's outing, said he still plans to use the changeup as a go-to off-speed offering. An up-and-coming starter with the White Sox between 2019 and 2021, Giolito had a difficult 2023, when he pitched for three teams and allowed 41 home runs.

Faedo allowed two runs on four hits across two innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays. He struck out three.

The strikeouts were nice, but Faedo was also too hittable, with the key blow being a home run by Yu Chang. Faedo appeared in 15 games for the Tigers in 2023, with 12 starts, but he's likely been pushed out of a rotation spot due to the offseason additions of Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty, and several other pitchers have gotten healthy. Faedo will instead look to snag a bullpen role coming out of spring training. The righty won't be on the fantasy radar as a middle reliever.

Irvin had increased velocity on all of his pitches in his Grapefruit League debut Sunday versus the Pirates, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.

Irvin's offseason training has apparently added some additional power to his pitches. He averaged around 92 mph on his fastball and sinker in 2023, with those two pitches combining to be nearly half of all he threw. He also has a curveball, changeup and cutter in his arsenal, and all of them saw velocity increases in his spring debut. The southpaw is in contention for a rotation spot with Kyle Bradish (elbow) and John Means (elbow) likely to miss the start of the campaign.

Olson allowed two runs on a hit and three walks across 1.2 innings in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees.

It wasn't the smoothest spring debut for Olson, as he struggled with his command, throwing only 16 of his 39 pitches for strikes and issuing the three walks. The young righty posted a 2.9 BB/9 in his rookie season last year, an area he'll look to improve on in his sophomore campaign. Olson should get a chance to start this season, though the Tigers did add Jack Flaherty and Kenta Maeda in the offseason, which makes the rotation more crowded.

Plesac spent time at Driveline in the offseason and has replaced his four-seam fastball with a two-seamer while transforming his slider into "more of a sweeper," Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Plesac is trying to get his once-promising career back on track following an awful 2023 campaign during which he posted a 7.59 ERA and 1.97 WHIP over five big-league starts and a 6.08 ERA and 1.49 WHIP over 94.2 frames at Triple-A. The Angels signed the right-hander to a one-year contract in late December with the hope that he can regain the form that helped him record a much more useful 3.32 ERA and 1.09 WHIP across 2019 and 2020 over his first 29 major-league starts. Plesac could insert himself into the conversation for a spot at the back of the team's rotation with a strong spring, though with Los Angeles moving back to a five-man starting staff and multiple arms vying for one of those spots, Plesac is more likely to begin the regular season in the bullpen or at Triple-A.