MLB Player News

Quintana will be included in the Pirates' Opening Day rotation and is slated to make his season debut Tuesday against the Cubs in Pittsburgh, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Quintana is the most accomplished pitcher in the Pirates' rotation and the only one not on a pre-arbitration contract, so he was a lock to win a starting role despite having been in steady decline since being shipped from the White Sox to the Cubs ahead of the 2017 trade deadline. Though JT Brubaker was awarded the Opening Day start Thursday in St. Louis, Quintana will take the hill for the Pirates' home opener and will face off against one of his former teams. While serving mainly as a reliever between stops with the Angels and Giants in 2021, Quintana turned in a career-best 28.6 percent strikeout rate, but his good work in that area was mostly negated by a 11.8 percent walk rate and 1.71 HR/9, which were both career-worst marks. He didn't provide much reason to be optimistic about his outlook this spring, as he struck out only four batters across nine innings while surrendering four home runs and walking three.

Miller pitched three scoreless innings in an exhibition contest against the Angels on Tuesday, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out two.

Miller set the tone for the evening when he began the game by striking out reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani on a 100-mph four-seam fastball. The right-handed hurler routinely touched triple-digits throughout the appearance, and he averaged 99.3 mph on his fastball overall, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. Miller will open the campaign with Double-A Tulsa, and he could make his big-league debut at some point this season if he continues to fare well against minor-leaguers.

Keller secured a spot in the Pirates' Opening Day rotation and is scheduled to make his first start of the season Saturday in St. Louis, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

Keller appeared to be on strong footing for a rotation role heading into the spring, but he solidified his spot after submitting a 2.92 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 12:3 K:BB across 12.1 innings over his four starts. Though Keller's results weren't eye-popping on the surface, he and the Pirates are optimistic he can take a step forward in 2022 after he tinkered with his repertoire over the winter to incorporate a new-look slider featuring more horizontal break, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. The refined slider could emerge as a much-needed reliable breaking pitch to his upper-90s fastball, as Keller has thus far struggled to find a consistent secondary offering to complement the heater during his time in the majors.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez said last week that Rutledge has been slowed by biceps soreness during spring training, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

Washington invited the right-hander to big-league spring training, but he didn't see any use during the Grapefruit League slate while tending to the injury. While Martinez noted that Rutledge hasn't been shut down and has been doing some throwing of late, he'll likely open the season on the injured list at Low-A Fredericksburg or High-A Wilmington. The biceps issue is the latest in a growing list of injuries that have slowed Rutledge's development since he was selected in the first round of the 2019 first-year player draft.

Elder got the start in Atlanta's Grapefruit League finale against the Rays on Tuesday, tossing 4.2 scoreless, no-hit innings while walking three and striking out two.

The 22-year-old right-hander finished his spring with a 0.00 ERA over 7.2 innings without giving up a hit, although his 4:4 K:BB wasn't exactly dominant. Elder is expected to return to Triple-A Gwinnett to begin the season after making seven starts at that level in 2021 with a 2.21 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 40:30 K:BB over 36.2 innings, and he could make his big-league debut this year if Atlanta needs rotation reinforcements over the summer. Elder features a four-pitch mix highlighted by a potentially plus slider, but his low-90s fastball may cap his ceiling in the majors.

Megill is expected to start Thursday's Opening Day matchup against Washington, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.

Max Scherzer (hamstring) won't be ready to pitch until Friday, so Megill is slated to take the mound on Opening Day after winning a rotation spot during spring training. Megill made 18 starts for the Mets last year and posted a 4.52 ERA, 99:27 K:BB and 1.28 WHIP in 89.2 innings.

Small allowed two unearned runs over 4.1 innings in his first start of the season with Triple-A Nashville. He allowed two hits and posted a 6:2 K:BB in the contest.

Small opened at the Triple-A level for the first time, and he was plenty effective in his season debut. He now owns a 1.83 ERA in 10 career Triple-A appearances, but he also owns a 1.32 WHIP and 30:23 K:BB at the same level, so he still has some things to iron out. If he does, chances are the 25-year-old will see his first action in the big leagues at some point this season.

Wheeler (shoulder) will remain behind in Florida to pitch in a minor-league scrimmage Thursday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

Wheeler has been delayed by shoulder soreness this spring but appears set to avoid the injured list. Following Thursday's outing, he'll be lined up to start the fifth game of the season, which comes against the Mets on April 12. He's expected to throw around 60 pitches Thursday, so he may not throw much more than 75 in his regular-season debut.

Walker left his start Tuesday against the Nationals after 1.1 innings due to a sore right knee, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

The soreness stems from a debridement procedure Walker underwent in mid-January. While the outing was a major disappointment, as he gave up six runs while recording just four outs, he's still expected to make his first turn in the rotation, which lines up for April 11 against the Phillies. He probably won't be able to pitch particularly deep in that game, as his early exit Tuesday prevented him from building up his pitch count. Walker estimated that he'll likely be limited to around 60-to-65 pitches in his first regular-season start, if cleared to pitch, according to Tim Healey of Newsday.

The Pirates reassigned Eickhoff to minor-league camp Tuesday.

Eickhoff missed out on a spot on the Pirates' Opening Day pitching staff, despite turning in a 2.45 ERA and 0.95 WHIP while striking out nine over 7.1 innings in four Grapefruit League appearances. He appeared exclusively in relief this spring, though he could vie for a spot in the rotation as he likely heads to the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis.