MLB Player News

Mule was diagnosed with a torn UCL in his right elbow Tuesday and will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Mule was selected 113th overall by the Cubs during last year's draft and has yet to make his professional debut. The 18-year-old has shown potential as a two-way player, but he'll now be sidelined until next summer, at least from pitching.

Cueto's scheduled Grapefruit League start Monday against the Cardinals was pushed back after he experienced unspecified soreness, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.

Where Cueto was experiencing the soreness isn't clear, but the hope is that he'll be ready to throw a bullpen session Wednesday, so it doesn't sound overly serious. If that happens, the veteran right-hander should be able to get in one more Grapefruit League start before the beginning of the regular season. Cueto is slated to open 2023 toward the back end of the Miami rotation.

Darvish will not start Tuesday for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic final against Team USA, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

It will instead be Shota Imanaga on the mound to begin the contest. Darvish was the presumed starter for the contest, and it's likely both he and Shohei Ohtani will be available out of the bullpen for the championship contest with Darvish likely available for multiple innings. Padres manager Bob Melvin has expressed concern about the lack of innings Darvish has received in the tournament, so it'll be interesting to see how much -- if at all -- the 36-year-old pitches against USA on Tuesday.

Houser will pitch out of the bullpen for the Brewers to begin 2023, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.

Milwaukee's rotation is full at the moment with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Wade Miley all cemented as starters to begin the year. That means Houser will shift to a bullpen role with the ability to start if one or more of those players was to miss time. The 30-year-old was shaky over his 21 starts (22 total appearances) in 2022 with a 4.73 ERA, 69:47 K:BB and 1.46 WHIP so it's not a surprise that the Brewers are opting to go with some more consistent options in the starting group. Houser can safely be ignored in fantasy formats as a multi-inning reliever who isn't likely to rack up the strikeouts or pick up saves.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Urias has been removed from Team Mexico's active roster from the World Baseball Classic and is expected to start for the Dodgers in Friday's Cactus League game versus the Brewers, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Urias was cleared to report back to Dodgers camp after Team Mexico determined that he wouldn't be available to pitch if the club advanced to the WBC finals against Team USA. Before leaving for the tournament, the left-hander looked sharp in spring training with a 1.35 ERA in two Cactus League appearances. Assuming he sticks to a four-day rest schedule following Friday's outing, Urias would be lined up to start in Dodgers' March 30 season opener versus the Diamondbacks.

Steele allowed one run on four hits across three innings in Monday's Cactus League game against the Padres. He walked five and struck out three.

Steele is somewhat lucky he only allowed one run after letting nine players reach base in his three innings of work. The lefty had a nice 2022 campaign with a 3.18 ERA and 126 strikeouts across 119 innings, though control remains a bit of an issue. Steele posted a 4.3 BB/9 in 2021 and was only marginally better last year with a 3.8 BB/9. If the 27-year-old can improve in that area this season, he could be primed for another step forward.

Criswell was reassigned to minor-league camp by the Rockies on Monday.

Criswell was acquired by Colorado in December in the trade that shipped minor-league hurler Chad Smith to Oakland. The 23-year-old posted a 4.03 ERA over 24 appearances (21 starts) in the minors, and will likely pitch in the upper levels for the Rockies in his first year with the organization.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told reporters that Strider threw five-plus innings in Monday's minor-league game, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

There's no word on Strider's stats for that contest, but the important thing in exhibition season is that the right-hander is getting his work in. After a strong rookie campaign that saw him strike out 38.3 percent of the hitters he faced over 131.2 innings of work, Strider is being drafted as one of the top starting options in baseball, and his swing-and-miss arsenal makes that an easy decision to justify.

Davis was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque by the Rockies on Monday.

Davis was competing for a spot on the Colorado pitching staff this spring, but the 25-year-old comes up short in that goal. The right-hander could pitch both as a starter and relief for the Isotopes, as he was being built up as an emergency rotation option this spring.

Woodford is "all but locked into" an Opening Day roster spot with the Cardinals, Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The news comes after Woodford struck out seven over five scoreless innings Monday against the Marlins in Grapefruit League play. Woodford is throwing harder this spring and has collected a 2.04 ERA and 18:5 K:BB across 17.2 frames. He's in line for long relief duty and could be the first guy called upon if the Cards need a rotation reinforcement.