MLB Player News

Bello (shoulder) is set to throw a bullpen session Saturday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Bello will not be ready for Opening Day and will begin the 2025 regular season on the injured list. With Bello, Kutter Crawford (knee) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring) expected to open on the IL, Quinn Priester, Richard Fitts and Cooper Criswell are candidates to be part of the rotation in the early weeks of the regular season.

Crawford (knee) is scheduled to throw bullpen sessions Tuesday and Friday of next week, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Crawford has thrown a few low-intensity bullpens this spring to avoid aggravating the knee, but next week's sessions will be at normal effort. Given the amount of time he'll need to build up, Crawford is expected to miss the start of the regular season and likely all of April.

Rocker allowed three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out two over 2.1 innings in Friday's spring start against the Padres.

Against San Diego's potential Opening Day lineup, Rocker showed slight improvement from his first two Cactus League starts, when he allowed eight runs over two innings. His 22.85 spring ERA suggests a rotation spot is a long shot, but events elsewhere Friday improved Rocker's chances. Jon Gray suffered a fractured wrist during a split-squad game against the Rockies which contributed to the unsettled nature of Texas' rotation. Gray will join Cody Bradford (elbow) on the injured list to open the season, potentially opening up spots for both Rocker and Jack Leiter.

Maeda won't pitch as scheduled in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies due to an illness, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

The veteran right-hander was set to pitch behind Tigers ace Tarik Skubal but will instead be unavailable due to a stomach ailment. Maeda is competing for the No. 5 spot in Detroit's rotation and should be back on the mound after taking a couple days to recover.

Carrasco pitched 3.1 innings in a Grapefruit League start against Philadelphia on Friday, allowing one run on two hits and one walk while striking out six batters.

Carrasco gave up a second-inning run but retired five of the six batters he faced after that runner crossed the plate. He did hit a pair of batters, but overall this was another positive performance by the veteran righty. Carrasco has posted a 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 12:6 K:BB over 11 innings so far this spring. He's in camp on a minor-league deal and wasn't expected to compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster, but he's now a candidate for some early season starts due to injuries to Gerrit Cole (elbow) and Luis Gil (lat). It remains to be seen, however, if Carrasco will break camp with the big club or be asked to accept a minor-league assignment to begin the campaign.

Kikuchi has added a sweeper to his pitch mix, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Kikuchi has worked with a four-pitch arsenal over the past two campaigns, but it appears he'll have another offering to attack hitters with this season. Bollinger notes that the lefty's new sweeper averages 81 mph with 16 inches of break, so it should give him a much different look than when he uses his traditional slider, which averages 87 mph with two inches of break. Kikuchi excelled in his second start of the spring Friday against the Royals, allowing one run on five hits while issuing three walks and striking out eight batters over 4.1 innings. He indicated that he'll take the mound one more time before the regular season kicks off, but the appearance will be either in a minor-league game or in a simulated setting. Kikuchi has been announced as the Angels' starter on Opening Day against the White Sox on March 27.

Littell allowed six earned runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out two across two innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Twins.

This marked Littell's second official spring appearance as he continues to compete for a rotation spot to begin the regular season. He didn't help his cause with his results, as he was pulled in two separate innings before returning to build up his pitch count. Following the game, Littell chalked the performance up to simply a bad outing, while manager Kevin Cash expressed optimism that Littell would bounce back, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Perhaps the lone positive was that Littell did reach 72 pitches, suggesting he'll be fully stretched out by Opening Day. Drew Rasmussen, Littell's presumed primary competition, is set to start Saturday's game against the Yankees.

Anderson allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out three batters over 3.1 innings in a Cactus League game against the Athletics on Friday.

Anderson served up a solo homer to Shane Langeliers in the first inning, then retired only one of the five batters he faced in the second. The lefty was temporarily pulled, but under spring training rules he was allowed to re-enter the contest. Though Anderson was able to get through two more innings without allowing a run, he loaded the bases without retiring a batter in the fifth frame, and all three runners came around to score after his departure. Anderson hasn't been sharp this spring, as he's posted a 10.64 ERA, 2.00 WHIP and 9:5 K:BB over 11 innings. Nonetheless, his veteran status limits the level of concern about his performance in exhibition play, and Anderson is locked into a spot near the top of the Angels' regular-season rotation.

Gray was diagnosed with a fractured right wrist after getting hit by a comebacker during Friday's Cactus League game versus Colorado, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Gray took a 106.4-mph line drive off his wrist in the fourth inning of Friday's contest and was promptly removed from the game. Manager Bruce Bochy didn't provide an estimate for when the 33-year-old righty might return, but the injury will certainly delay his 2025 debut by a significant amount of time. With both Gray and Cody Bradford (elbow), set to miss Opening Day, there's a good chance that Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter will both be part of Texas' initial rotation.

Wacha gave up three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk in Friday's spring start against the Angels. He has a 12.38 ERA with a 10:3 K:BB in eight innings this spring.

There shouldn't be much worry about Wacha's poor spring numbers since he's a veteran with a secure spot in the rotation. He still has a strong 10 strikeouts in eight innings. Wacha has been a quality source for ERA and WHIP three years running, and he returns to a pretty good situation after re-upping with Kansas City on a multi-year deal.