MLB Player News

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.

Pittsburgh optioned Ashcraft to minor-league camp Monday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.

Ashcraft, 24, allowed two unearned runs with a 3:2 K:BB over 3.2 frames this spring. The right-hander pitched well after making it back from Tommy John surgery last season, holding a 2.39 ERA and 63:11 K:BB over 52.2 innings across three levels. He'll likely open the 2024 campaign at either Double-A Altoona or Triple-A indianapolis.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said Monday that Cabrera will undergo an MRI on his injured right shoulder, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Cabrera had to be scratched from a scheduled Grapefruit League start Sunday against the Astros because of shoulder tightness. Though Cabrera has since gone through strength tests on the shoulder that came back normal, the Marlins want to send him in for imaging just to be safe. Even if Cabrera isn't dealing with any structural damage, he would still seem to be a question mark for Opening Day. If that's the case, Ryan Weathers or Max Meyer would likely slide into the rotation.

Ray (elbow) threw a 25-pitch bullpen session Monday, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Ray likely won't be an option for the Giants until the second half of the season while he completes his recovery from the Tommy John surgery he underwent last May, but he's seemingly steered cleared of any major setbacks through the first 10 months of his rehab program. Though pitchers have returned from the elbow operation in as few as 12 months, Ray's procedure also included a flexor tendon repair, so he'll likely be facing a longer recovery timeline than the typical Tommy John patient.