MLB Player News

Megill allowed one run on three hits over four innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins. He struck out two without walking a batter.

Aside from a second-inning solo shot by Tim Anderson, Megill looked sharp once again as he built up to 61 pitches (36 strikes). With Kodai Senga (shoulder) beginning the season on the IL, Megill appears ticketed for an Opening Day rotation spot, and he's earned it with an impressive 15:2 K:BB over 12 spring innings.

Meyer gave up one hit and one walk over three scoreless innings while striking out two in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Mets.

Entering the game in the fourth inning after Trevor Rogers had delivered three scoreless innings of his own, Meyer tossed 23 of 39 pitches for strikes against a plausible Opening Day lineup for the Mets. With Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera both looking at possible IL stints to begin the season due to shoulder issues, the door is open for Meyer to claim a rotation spot, and the 2020 first-round pick has made his case with a 0.00 ERA and 5:1 K:BB through seven spring innings.

Rogers gave up two hits over three scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Mets. He struck out five without walking a batter.

Making his second start of the spring, the 26-year-old lefty fired 33 of 45 pitches for strikes against what could well have been New York's Opening Day lineup. Rogers is on track to be part of Miami's rotation to begin the season despite being brought along slowly early in camp, but it's not clear what kind of workload he'll be entrusted with after making only six starts across all levels in 2023 and throwing only 27 innings.

Strider allowed two hits and a walk over five scoreless innings while striking out nine during Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Twins.

The Atlanta ace faced a mix of likely starters and bench players for Minnesota, as well as top prospect Brooks Lee, and mowed them all down. Strider has a 0.00 ERA and eye-popping 22:4 K:BB through 14 spring innings as the 25-year-old right-hander gears up for an almost certain Opening Day assignment.

Cabrera has been diagnosed with a right shoulder impingement, Isaac Azout of SBNation.comreports.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker referred to the injury as a "day-to-day thing," but worth noting is that Cabrera missed about a month of action last season with a similar issue. He will be evaluated again Tuesday, but a stint on the injured list at the beginning of the season would seem to be a certainty. Ryan Weathers and Max Meyer are expected to compete to fill Cabrera's rotation spot.

Nelson allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out two over 3.2 innings in Monday's spring start against the Athletics.

Nelson kept pounding the strike zone, as the right-hander has done all spring, and he now sports a 3.09 ERA after four Cactus League starts. That includes just two walks and 14 strikeouts over 11.2 innings. The changeup was working Monday, per Jesse Borek of MLB.com, as Nelson elicited five whiffs on nine changeups. Nelson, who upped his pitch count to 66, has inched ahead of Tommy Henry to become Arizona's No. 5 starter.

Grove and Gavin Stone will travel with the Dodgers on their season-opening trip to Korea, and both remain in contention to be the team's No. 5 starter, Fabian Ardaya of The Athleticreports.

Emmet Sheehan was originally in the running for the fifth-starter spot as well, but he'll open the season on the injured list due to a shoulder injury. Both Grove and Stone were excellent in their most recent Cactus League outings, with Grove tossing 3.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts Saturday and Stone following one day later with a scoreless four-inning, five-strikeout effort. However, Stone has had the better overall spring, yielding just one run over 9.2 frames with a 9:1 K:BB while Grove has given up six earned runs over eight innings with an 11:4 K:BB. With that in mind, Stone probably has the upper hand in the battle to be Los Angeles' fifth starter, though manager Dave Roberts said Monday that a decision on that role has not yet been made, per Ardaya.

Wicks allowed one run on two hits across 4.1 innings of work in Sunday's Cactus League game against the Rangers. He struck out seven.

Drew Smyly drew the start but Wicks logged the most work, and the young lefty looked sharp. He now has a 1.46 ERA this spring to go along with a 1.05 WHIP and 10 strikeouts across 12.1 innings. Wicks seems to be closing in on a rotation spot to begin the year, and his grip on a role is likely a bit stronger in the short term with Jameson Taillon (back) possibly set to miss some time to start the regular season.

Smyly tossed 3.1 scoreless innings in Sunday's Cactus League game against the Rangers. He allowed four hits and a walk, while striking out four.

Smyly still has a rough 6.14 ERA in Cactus League play due to some rough outings earlier this spring, but this was a step in the right direction. The veteran lefty is likely headed for a bullpen role at some point, though a short-term opportunity to start may open up with Jameson Taillon (back) in jeopardy of missing time to start the regular season. Righties Javier Assad and Hayden Wesneski are also options for spot starting duties.

The Pirates reassigned Plassmeyer to minor-league camp Sunday, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Plassmeyer joined Pittsburgh on a minor-league deal in December after he had seen big-league action with the Phillies in both of the prior two seasons, accruing a 9.82 ERA and 1.64 WHIP over 11 innings. He was sharp in Grapefruit League play with four strikeouts over 3.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, but he'll need to impress over a larger sample at Triple-A Indianapolis before he gets another look in the majors with Pittsburgh.