MLB Player News

Greinke allowed a run on one hit and struck out seven over four innings in Tuesday's Cactus League loss to the Reds.

Greinke appears to be ramping up just fine this spring. The run he allowed Tuesday was his second of the spring, and it came on a solo home run by Tyler Stephenson. Greinke has added an 11:1 K:BB across nine Cactus League innings. He should get at least two more appearances before lining up to pitch in the Royals' first series of the season.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy confirmed Wednesday that Odorizzi (arm) won't have enough time to complete his throwing progression prior to Opening Day, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Odorizzi resumed throwing bullpen sessions just over a week ago but has yet to pitch in any Cactus League or minor-league games up to this point in spring training, so he looks like he'll stay back in Arizona to continue building up when the Rangers close camp in less than two weeks and head back to Texas. The Rangers have characterized Odorizzi's injury as right arm fatigue, so he doesn't appear to be dealing with a major concern and will most likely be ticketed for a brief stint on the shelf to begin the season. Odorizzi's absence should clear a path for Dane Dunning to break camp as the Rangers' No. 5 starter, and the team may have another spot available in the rotation if Nathan Eovaldi (side) is unable to gain clearance for Opening Day.

Rodon's rehab from a forearm muscle strain is going well, and he could miss just two or three starts if he doesn't have any setbacks once he resumes throwing, Randy Miller of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Rodon underwent an MRI last week, which revealed that he's dealing with a mild muscle strain and that the UCL in his left arm is intact. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that the veteran hurler could begin a throwing program "hopefully soon," indicating that Rodon has reached "a point that he needed to get to from a range of motion standpoint." Boone added that he's optimistic about the injury and its long-term implications, which should alleviate the fears of Yankees fans (and managers who have drafted Rodon in fantasy) about the forearm strain being a devastating issue. In fact, if all goes well moving forward, Rodon could make his regular-season pitching debut sometime around mid-April.

Kluber will start Opening Day versus the Orioles on March 30, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Manager Alex Cora confirmed Wednesday that Kluber will toe the rubber for the season opener at Fenway Park, stating that he informed Kluber of that decision in January. Kluber signed with the Red Sox this offseason and is looking to recapture some of his former glory as he joins his fourth team in four years. The right-hander produced a serviceable 4.34 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with 139 strikeouts over 164 innings in 31 starts with Tampa Bay in 2022; however, his ERA has been at 3.83 or higher since 2018 after clocking in below that figure for each of the five seasons prior.

Eovaldi (side) threw two innings against Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Monday, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.

Eovaldi, who's been battling tightness in his left side, allowed a pair of hits and struck out two while landing 22 of 29 pitches in the zone. "It's definitely nice being back out there. I threw all my pitches and mixed everything in there. There were a couple times where I was 0-2 or 1-2 on guys and just didn't quite finish the pitches where I wanted to," the right-hander said. Eovaldi expects to be ready for the start of the regular season. He could get as many as three more appearances leading up to Opening Day.

Bello (forearm) is scheduled to throw two innings during a minor-league spring game Wednesday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

The 23-year-old progressed to facing live hitters over the weekend and will now advance to game action. Bello threw 17 pitches during Saturday's session of live BP, so he still has significant ramping up to do before he's cleared for a full workload. The right-hander could begin the season on the injured list, though it doesn't appear his absence would be a lengthy one.

Cole will start for the Yankees on Opening Day against San Francisco, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Manager Aaron Boone confirmed Cole as the team's Opening Day starter Monday, but the decision was essentially a foregone conclusion. Cole is considered one of the top pitchers in baseball and is set to toe the mound for the Yankees on Opening Day for the fourth straight season. The veteran right-hander led the majors with 257 strikeouts last season while posting a 3.50 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over 200.2 innings.

Cease was reaching 97 mph with his fastball in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Athletics, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Cease was hit hard in his first spring outing, and his appearance Tuesday also started poorly. He allowed a double, single and walk in the first inning, which allowed two runs to score. However, he ramped up his velocity as compared to his spring debut and also made an adjustment to his slider to improve his command of the pitch in his second inning of work. Cease has had a shaky start to spring training, but he is coming off an excellent 2022 campaign during which he posted a 2.20 ERA and 1.11 WHIP across 184 frames.

DeGrom (side) struck out five and allowed one run over two innings during his start in a minor-league spring game Monday and said afterward that he believes he'll be available to start the Rangers' regular-season opener March 30 versus the Phillies, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports. "That's up to [the Rangers' coaching staff]" deGrom said after Monday's start. "I'm here to help us win. If it falls that I'm on Opening Day, that's a huge honor."

DeGrom's spring debut was delayed after he had his throwing program slowed down early in spring training when he experienced left side tightness, but he looked to be healthy and as dialed in as ever Monday while using all four of his pitches in the outing. The lone run he allowed came on a fluky inside-the-park home run, and deGrom was able to rebound swiftly thereafter and closed the start on a high note, coming away especially pleased with how he threw his changeup and curveball. DeGrom went on to throw an additional 26 pitches in the bullpen following the two-inning appearance, so he looks like he'll be on pace to handle something resembling a normal workload by the time the regular season begins even if he only makes one or two more starts in spring training.

Detmers' fastball was clocked at 95-97 mph and his slider at 89-91 mph during his last Cactus League start against the Dodgers, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

Detmers averaged 93.2 mph with his fastball and 85.9 mph with his slider last season, per Baseball Savant, so these are both notable bumps. His slider velocity did go up last year following a midseason demotion, but where he was sitting versus the Dodgers was even higher than that. Detmers said he didn't necessarily have a goal over the offseason to increase his velocity, but he did work with Driveline Baseball and training guru Eric Cressy. "I said I just want to get stronger and more explosive," Detmers said. "We made up a program for the whole offseason and I just stuck to that. And the velo came." Detmers had already been viewed as a potential breakout candidate in fantasy following his strong finish in 2022 and this news figures to only enhance his draft stock.