MLB Player News

The Padres placed Clevinger on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a sprained right knee.

Clevinger will begin the season on the shelf, but manager Bob Melvin downplayed the pitcher's right knee injury earlier this week and suggested the compressed spring training schedule played a factor in the Padres' decision to hold him out of action in the first week and a half of the season. By opening the season on the IL, Clevinger will also be afforded additional time to ramp up as he makes his way back from November 2020 Tommy John surgery. Clevinger hasn't reported any setbacks with his elbow in spring training, but he could need a few starts to regain his usual velocity and command following his lengthy layoff from competitive action.

Mejia was designated for assignment on Thursday.

Mejia was optioned off the active roster in late March and will now also be removed from the 40-man roster. Mejia owns a 6.68 ERA in eight career MLB starts, making him a potentially unappealing option on the waiver wire.

Castillo (shoulder) landed on the injured list as expected Thursday.

The move was reported back in late March, as Castillo has been delayed by a sore shoulder throughout the spring. His absence isn't likely to be a long one, as he's expected back in mid-to-late April, though he'll be on a pitch count for his first start or two.

Dunn (shoulder) was placed on the 60-day injured list Thursday.

Dunn was traded from the Mariners to the Reds in March and was expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation, but he'll be forced to miss at least the first two months of the season due to the right shoulder strain that kept him sidelined for most of the 2021 campaign. Luis Castillo (shoulder) and Mike Minor (shoulder) are both on the 10-day injured list to begin the year, so Vladimir Gutierrez, Reiver Sanmartin, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are all beginning the season in the rotation for the Reds.

The Nationals placed Strasburg (neck) on the 10-day injured list Thursday.

Strasburg is being brought along slowly to begin the season while he works his way back from the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery he underwent last July. He's seemingly experienced no setbacks since reporting to spring training, as he's been throwing throughout camp and has faced hitters. Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reported Tuesday that Strasburg is in line to throw another live bullpen session next week at extended spring training in Florida, where he's expected to continue building up for a few more weeks before potentially heading out on a minor-league rehab assignment. Per Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington, general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday that it's a "possibility" that Strasburg could make his season debut with the Nationals as early as May 1, though the organization is reluctant to put a hard timeline on his return.

The Cubs placed Miley (elbow) on the 10-day injured list Thursday, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

He'll open the season on the IL along with Alec Mills (back) and Adbert Alzolay (lat), with the their absences clearing the way for Justin Steele, Keegan Thompson and the newly-signed Drew Smyly to capture spots in the Cubs' rotation coming out of spring training. Miley was shut down last week due to his inflamed left elbow and is expected to be re-evaluated in the coming days, but he appears likely to miss more than the minimum 10 days.

Gore was optioned to Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday.

Gore had 16 strikeouts over 12 innings during spring training, but he was never a likely bet to make San Diego's Opening Day roster. He made six starts for El Paso last season and struggled with a 5.85 ERA, 1.80 WHIP and 18:12 K:BB across 20 innings. Gore remains one of the organization's top pitching prospects and could be promoted for his major-league debut at some point in 2022.

Manager Dave Martinez said Wednesday that Gray will start the second game of the Nationals' season-opening series with the Mets, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.

Gray is tentatively lined up to start Friday, though Martinez acknowledged that the right-hander may be moved back to Saturday if Thursday's season opener is postponed due to rain being in the forecast that day in Washington D.C. Though Gray's spot in the rotation was never believed to be in any jeopardy, fantasy managers may be best off treading carefully with the 24-year-old, who struggled with both his command and control as a rookie. He showed improvement in the latter area by posting a 13:1 K:BB over 9.2 innings during the Grapefruit League season, but he surrendered five home runs en route to finishing the exhibition slate with a 9.31 ERA.

Woodford is slated to open the season as a member of St. Louis' bullpen, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Woodford and Drew VerHagen were both in contention for the fifth starter's role, but the two will instead head to the bullpen as multi-inning options after manager Oliver Marmol announced Wednesday that Jordan Hicks secured the final opening in the rotation. Hicks has been slowly building up his pitch count during spring and isn't likely to work deep into his first start Tuesday against the Royals, so Woodford could be called upon to piggyback him in that outing, if needed. Beyond that game, however, Hicks is expected to be deployed as a traditional starter, so forecasting when Woodford might be used out of the bullpen could be a difficult endeavor.

Megill will start the Mets' Opening Day matchup against the Nationals on Thursday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

The Mets were trending toward awarding the Opening Day start to Megill since Max Scherzer (ankle) won't be ready to pitch Thursday, and manager Buck Showalter confirmed the news Wednesday. Across two appearances (one start) this spring, Megill allowed five hits and five walks while striking out seven in 6.2 scoreless frames.