MLB Player News

Lorenzen has been diagnosed with a mild left groin strain, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

The injury caused Lorenzen to be scratched from a Grapefruit League outing Monday. He'll be shut down from baseball activities for now but will ramp things back up as his symptoms dissipate. It doesn't sound like the injury should keep Lorenzen down long, but his Opening Day availability is in doubt.

Paxton (hamstring) threw a bullpen session Tuesday, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Paxton returned to the mound with a bullpen session Saturday and it's a good sign that he was ready for another one three days later. The left-hander will not be ready for Opening Day due to a right hamstring strain, but he's trending toward a return sometime in April if he continues to progress.

Dunning allowed five runs (four earned) on 10 hits and struck out four over six innings in Monday's spring start against Cleveland.

Dunning was the first Rangers hurler to work six innings, but Texas manager Bruce Bochy won't need him in a starting role. The right-hander appears to be ticketed for a bullpen/long-relief role, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Rangers have a couple of starters -- Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi -- that were delayed in camp and won't be stretched out to go deep into games. That leaves Dunning and lefty Cole Ragans as a potential piggyback options early in the season.

Springs has thrown 9.2 scoreless innings while maintaining a 16:1 K:BB in Grapefruit League action.

Springs was initially brought along slowly during the exhibition season, though he worked 4.1 frames in his start Thursday. He enjoyed a breakout 2022 campaign by maintaining a 2.46 ERA and 1.07 WHIP across 135.1 innings and is a lock for the Rays' rotation so long as he remains healthy.

Gilbert was credited with a win in Monday's Cactus League victory over the Brewers, firing four scoreless innings during which he allowed three hits and recorded five strikeouts.

Gilbert's most impressive spring training outing yet saw him match the four innings he'd worked his last time out against the Royals, except the right-hander kept his scorecard free of any runs after giving up to two to Kansas City. Gilbert now has a 3.55 ERA and 1.03 WHIP across 12.2 innings in Cactus League play, and Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports the 25-year-old was particularly happy with how his new split-changeup continued to progress. "That was probably one of the best days I felt with it," Gilbert said of his new pitch. "If it stays where it was today, I would be thrilled with it for sure."

Javier allowed three earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five across four innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins.

Javier's line wasn't that impressive in his first official outing since returning from the World Baseball Classic. However, he managed to throw 76 total pitches, 51 of which went for strikes. Framber Valdez is likely to serve as the Astros' Opening Day starter, but Javier looks to be ready when he takes the mound for the first time during the 2023 regular season.

Eflin threw 3.1 innings while allowing four earned runs on seven hits in Monday's Grapefruit League game against Atlanta.

It wasn't an ideal outing from Eflin, and he has now allowed six earned runs across his last 7.1 innings of work during spring training. Neither he nor manager Kevin Cash were concerned however, as Eflin faced 16 batters and noted improved durability on the mound, Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times reports. He has thrown more than 150 innings in a season only once in his career, though the Rays will be relying on him to provide consistent innings after their significant investment in him this offseason.

Rodriguez tossed 4.2 scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals. He allowed four hits and a walk while striking out five.

Rodriguez still has not allowed an earned run this spring across 13 innings and he's struck out 15. The lefty had an underwhelming first season in Detroit last year, as he missed significant time due to personal reasons and finished with a 4.05 ERA and 72 strikeouts across 91 innings. Rodriguez should again lead the staff in 2023, and if he can carry over some of his spring success, he could be primed for much better production from a fantasy standpoint.

Raya left his outing early on Saturday as a precaution due to shoulder tightness, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Raya made a strong impression last season at Low-A Fort Myers with a 3.05 ERA and 10.5 K/9. His fastball sits in the mid-to-high 90s and he has a quality curveball, slider and change as well, so the stuff is there for the 20-year-old to grow into a big-league starter. Durability will be the big question for Raya, so it's worrisome he's facing issues in camp, even though this could be minor.

The Mariners reassigned Miller to minor-league camp Monday.

Miller pitched well during Cactus League play, but he's in need of a little more refinement in the minors before being considered for the major-league rotation. The 24-year-old is considered a top-100 prospect by many following a breakout season across three levels in the minors in 2022.