MLB Player News

Stroman, who had been scheduled to start Tuesday against the Twins in Fort Myers, will stay back in Tampa to pitch live batting practice instead, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Stroman logged a scoreless inning with two hits allowed and one strikeout in his first start of the spring last week. If Clarke Schmidt is able to put his back issue in the rearview mirror, Stroman will likely open the year in a long-relief role, although he has been vocal this spring about wanting to start.

Champlain will start Thursday's Cactus League game against the Brewers, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Champlain isn't a serious contender for a rotation spot out of spring training, but the 25-year-old righty will serve as rotation depth this season. Last year, Champlain was excellent at Double-A (29.5 K-BB%, 0.92 WHIP) as an older pitcher but was much less effective after a promotion to Triple-A (5.6 K-BB%, 1.40 WHIP). Still, he covered 140.1 innings last year, so he's ready to handle a significant workload again, and it's possible he can take a step forward in a return to the highest level of the minors.

Bello (shoulder) is expected to be ready for the start of the season, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports.

This is a fluid situation, as Bello has been throwing from 90 feet and will need to avoid any setbacks, but he's at least more likely to be ready than teammate Kutter Crawford (knee), per Abraham's report. Lucas Giolito (elbow) is also expected to be ready for the start of the season.

Crawford (knee) is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports.

Per the same report, Brayan Bello (shoulder) and Lucas Giolito (elbow) are on track to be ready for the start of the season, which gives clarity for projecting Boston's rotation. Crawford is dealing with patellar tendon soreness and is unlikely to be able to build up in time. He seems likely to open the year on the 15-day injured list.

Gausman threw live batting practice Sunday and will do one more such session before making his first spring start, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Gausman is seemingly a little behind the rest of the Jays starters, as Easton Lucas is currently working in Gausman's spot in the Jays' Grapefruit League rotation. It sounds like Gausman is on track to potentially make his first spring start next week. He showed up to camp intentionally carrying more weight because he says he loses weight throughout the MLB season and wanted to better hold up over the full season. In 2024, he had his lowest strikeout rate (21.4 percent) since 2018 and his highest walk rate (7.4 percent) since 2017.

McCullers (forearm) will be cleared for live batting practice if he gets through a bullpen session Monday with no issues, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

McCullers has thrown several recent bullpen sessions without any hiccups and is almost ready to face hitters. The right-hander will not be ready in time for Opening Day, but he hopes to make some Grapefruit League appearances before the schedule runs out. McCullers hasn't appeared in a big-league game since the 2022 World Series due to multiple arm injuries.

Giolito (elbow) is expected to throw a live batting practice session Monday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Giolito is behind some other Boston starters but appears on track to be ready for Opening Day. The Red Sox typically have pitchers throw a couple of live BPs before getting into game action. Kutter Crawford (knee) is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, so there's a spot for Giolito if he's ready.

Lively allowed one run on five hits and one walk while striking out one over two innings in Sunday's spring game against the Angels.

Lively made his first Cactus League start and allowed much base traffic but managed to stifle the damage to just one run. He threw 23 strikes among his 33 offerings, which was his goal coming in. "All good, just trying to locate everything, not letting it rip all the way," the pitcher told Steve Stockmar of MLB.com. "Felt good to be out there." Lively is coming off his best season in the majors, posting a 3.81 ERA over a career-high 151 regular-season innings. The accumulation of innings was the prominent reason he was left off the ALDS roster last year and limited to the one relief appearance in the ALCS. The right-hander's goal is to prove he has the stamina to be included in any postseason series.

Bubic is seen as the frontrunner for Kansas City's fifth starter role, MLB.com reports. He gave up one run over two innings with two strikeouts in his spring debut Sunday.

Bubic also debuted a new sinker, which he hopes to use against lefties, the MLB.com report adds. It was Bubic's first spring training start in two years as he spent the first three months last season rehabbing from April 2023 Tommy John surgery. The lefty thrived out of the bullpen last season, working his way into high-leverage innings and collecting seven holds and a save. His 32.2 percent strikeout rate was by far his career best, but it's not clear he'll be able to handle a starter's workload or maintain that high a strikeout rate with more usage.

Festa threw two scoreless innings Sunday against Pittsburgh with two strikeouts and no walks in his spring debut. He pitched exclusively out of the stretch, which he plans to do this season, MLB.com reports. He also debuted a new sinker during the outing.

Festa is competing with Chris Paddack, Simeon Woods Richardson and Zebby Matthews for the final two spots in the rotation. Paddack and Woods Richardson are the favorites, but Festa could force his way into the rotation with a strong spring. Festa showed promise last season with a 10.8 K/9 and 12.7 percent swinging strike rate, but he recorded a 4.40 ERA (though a 3.75 FIP) in 14 games.