MLB Player News

DeGrom allowed two hits and struck out four over three scoreless innings in Sunday's spring start against the Mariners.

DeGrom made his Cactus League debut after being brought along slowly from a side injury. The right-hander looked sharp his first time out, hitting 100 mph twice in three innings while the fastball consistently clocked in at 97-99 mph, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. DeGrom worked around a first-inning triple, getting a couple of punch-outs, then left a runner stranded in the third following a leadoff single. He threw 34 pitches (28 strikes) during an efficient outing then tossed more pitches in the bullpen to get his work in. There's time for at least one more Cactus League outing, and deGrom is expected to be on a restricted pitch count to start the regular season.

Sandoval will start for Mexico in Monday's WBC semifinal game against Japan, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Sandoval will get a big spring test against a loaded Japanese lineup that will include Angels teammate Shohei Ohtani. This will be Sandoval's second start in the WBC -- in his first outing, he allowed one run on two hits and two walks while striking out two batters in three innings against Team USA, who Mexico will face in the final if able to advance. The southpaw also got into two Cactus League games with the Angels prior to the WBC, allowing one run on three hits and posting a 6:0 K:BB over five frames.

Singer gave up four runs on four hits over two innings in his lone appearance for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic.

Fantasy managers should be concerned for a couple of reasons. One is that Singer has made just three competitive appearances between Cactus League and WBC play. He's also logged just 6.2 innings this spring, which leaves some doubts about how stretched out he'll be to begin the regular season. With Singer's poor performance on the international stage, his usage has been limited. He should be fine long-term, but with the USA making a deep run in the tournament, he'll likely get only one or two more outings in the Cactus League before the 2023 campaign gets underway.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters that Paxton (hamstring) will throw another bullpen in the next three-to-four days, Mike Monaco of ESPN reports.

Cora said that everything went well Saturday with Paxton's bullpen session, and it's a positive sign that he'll be back on the mound for another round shortly after. The left-hander is all but a lock to open the season on the injured list, but it does appear that Paxton will make starts for Boston in April as long as there's no setback.

Whitlock (hip) will start Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates, Mac Cerullo of The North Andover Eagle-Tribune reports.

Whitlock will make his second appearance of the spring as he works his way back from the hip surgery that has sidelined him for the majority of the exhibition season. The 26-year-old right-hander is expected to open the year on the injured list, but the fact he's making starts in spring training gives him a great chance of making that a short stint assuming there are no setbacks over the next two weeks.

Varland was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on Sunday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Garland made his MLB debut with five starts last year and had a 3.81 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 21:6 K:BB over 26 innings, but he won't open 2023 with the big-league club. The 25-year-old should start out in St. Paul's rotation, though he's likely to receive some spot starts for the Twins at some point this season.

Means (elbow) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session Saturday and incorporated his changeup, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

The 29-year-old continues throwing off a mound and is no longer limited to just throwing his fastball. Means still has a long way to go in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, but he could rejoin the Orioles' starting rotation around the All-Star break if he can avoid any setbacks.

Rucinski is 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and 7:3 K:BB across 10.1 innings over three Cactus League starts.

The veteran right-hander has given up multiple earned runs in each start, but he did turn in his best performance yet Tuesday against the White Sox while allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. Rucinski's last taste of regular-season MLB action came back in 2018 with the Marlins, after which he spent the next four seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization. Rucinski is battling Kyle Muller and JP Sears for the fifth spot in Oakland's starting rotation, but he could certainly also fit in as a middle-relief option considering all but one of his 41 MLB appearances have come out of the bullpen.

Muller is 1-2 with a 5.65 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 6:3 K:BB across 14.1 innings over four Cactus League appearances (three starts).

The offseason trade acquisition's Athletics debut Feb. 26 against the Brewers went smoothly, with Muller firing a pair of scoreless innings during which he allowed two hits and a walk. However, the towering southpaw has pitched to plenty of contact during his subsequent three trips to the mound, surrendering 10 runs (nine earned) on 18 hits, two walks and a hit batsman. Muller has been in contention for a back-end rotation spot with Drew Rucinski and JP Sears, and Steve Stockmar of MLB.com notes the big lefty's five-inning, 57-pitch outing against the Reds on Saturday caught the eye of manager Mark Kotsay. "He came out that first inning and really pounded the zone with his fastball," Kotsay said postgame. "I think he's recognizing the importance of the fastball and got through a full five innings. I thought he did a good job."

German pitched 2.2 innings in a Grapefruit League game against the Tigers on Friday, allowing seven runs on nine hits and no walks while striking out one batter.

German was shelled by Detroit in the outing, and the hits against him were neither quiet nor lucky. The Tigers racked up five extra-base knocks against the right-hander, including four home runs. German also hit two batters, as he clearly struggled to command his pitches. This was easily his worst outing of the spring, as he had allowed just three runs (and no homers) over 7.2 innings before the blow-up. With that in mind, German is still expected to have a spot in the rotation when the season begins, especially with Carlos Rodon (forearm) expected to miss multiple starts.