MLB Player News

Astros manager Joe Espada said Friday that Garcia (elbow) could throw a live batting practice session soon, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Garcia is still working on regaining his velocity following Tommy John surgery and multiple setbacks last year, but he hasn't had any hiccups so far this spring. There remains no timetable for when the right-hander might be ready to pitch in a game.

Astros manager Joe Espada said Friday that McCullers (forearm) is "really, really close" to pitching in a game, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

McCullers threw another live batting practice session Friday and came out of it well, and it appears the next step could be for him to try things out in a game setting. The right-hander will not be ready to pitch for Houston on Opening Day, but things have been trending in a good direction with his rehab this spring. McCullers hasn't appeared in a major-league game since the 2022 World Series due to multiple arm injuries.

The Astros optioned Gusto to Triple-A Sugar Land on Friday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Gusto yielded just one run and struck out six over 6.2 innings during Grapefruit League play, although he also issued five walks. Slated to turn 26 next week, Gusto has yet to pitch in a major-league game, but he's on the 40-man roster and could be one of the first names the Astros call upon when they need a starter.

The White Sox announced Friday that Carela will undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, James Fegan of SoxMachine.com reports.

The 23-year-old was added to the 40-man roster in November in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, but he'll miss the entirety of 2025 due to the surgery. Carela is likely to be sidelined until midseason 2026.

The White Sox optioned Carela to Double-A Birmingham on Friday.

Carela made just one Cactus League appearance, tossing a scoreless inning. The 23-year-old was added to the 40-man roster over the offseason after reaching Double-A for the first time in 2024.

Bassitt gave up two runs on three hits and four walks over 2.1 innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox. He struck out two.

Spring results mean little, especially for a veteran like Bassitt, and the most important takeaway from Thursday's outing might be that he built up to 56 pitches -- even if only 29 of them were strikes. Given his performance last season however, it would be reassuring to fantasy GMs if he put together some better outings before Opening Day. The 36-year-old righty has made at least 30 starts in each of the last three seasons, but Bassitt's 2024 numbers were his worst since he became a full-time rotation arm with the A's in 2019, as he stumbled to a 4.16 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 168:70 K:BB over 171 regular-season innings.

Giolito (elbow) is set to throw two innings against the Phillies next Tuesday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Giolito is ready for his Grapefruit League debut after throwing a two-inning live batting practice session at Fenway South on Thursday. He's fallen behind other rotation candidates while he completed his recovery from an internal brace procedure in March 2024, but Boston manager Alex Cora expects Giolito to be ready for the start of the regular season.

The Red Sox optioned Perales (elbow) to minor-league camp Friday, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

Perales is still working his way back from last June's Tommy John surgery. The 21-year-old has begun a throwing program but is not expected to pitch in minor-league games until 2026.

Leiter allowed two hits, walked none and struck out three over three relief innings in Thursday's spring game against the Padres.

Leiter continued an impressive Cactus League, during which he's allowed just two runs over eight innings. More impressively is that he's walked just one while striking out eight. Walks have been the bane of his professional career thus far. The right-hander threw all five of his pitches Thursday, including a new sinker and reworked changeup, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com.

Bibee allowed two hits and one walk while striking out three over three scoreless innings in Thursday's spring start against Arizona.

Bibee sparkled in an efficient Cactus League debut, throwing 37 pitches (23 strikes). He made himself into the Guardians' ace in 2024 and looked nearly ready to handle that role again Thursday. A key to the right-hander's development was learning to control his emotions on the mound and not letting one adverse event affect him, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports. "I think [I'm] definitely a little more under control than last year's spring training," Bibee said. Evidence of that came in his final inning Thursday. After committing a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, Bibee turned his focus to the batter and got Geraldo Perdomo on a called third strike.