MLB Player News

Darvish has been named the Opening Day starter for the Padres, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Darvish finished second in NL Cy Young voting with the Cubs in 2020 and had a strong spring showing. He tossed five scoreless innings while striking out seven in two Cactus League starts and will take the mound for the Padres against Arizona on April 1 as a result.

Peralta has been named the Brewers' fifth starter to begin the regular season, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

Peralta made just one start for the Brewers last year, but he'll begin the year in the rotation after a strong spring performance. The right-hander has made three Cactus League appearances (one start), allowing one run on eight hits and three walks while striking out 15 in 8.1 innings.

Freeland (shoulder) will be sidelined for at least a month, Nick Groke of The Athletic reports.

Freeland exited Tuesday's spring game against Oakland with a left shoulder strain, and manager Bud Black announced Thursday that the southpaw will miss at least a month. The team initially feared that Freeland's injury was worse, but the Rockies were encouraged by the results of his imaging. Chi Chi Gonzalez, Dereck Rodriguez or Ryan Rolison could now be in the mix to start for the Rockies during the first month of the regular season.

Gray allowed seven runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out one over 2.1 innings in Wednesday's spring win over the Brewers. He didn't factor into the decision.

Gray gave up a solo home run to Kolten Wong in the first inning, and Wong also hit a liner off Gray's right hand in the third inning before he gave up six more runs in the frame. Gray said that he'll be sore for a few days, but he didn't sound too concerned about the hand, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports. The right-hander has posted a 9.90 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 10 innings across three spring starts.

Brubaker gave up three earned runs on three hits and one walk in five innings Wednesday, striking out six Atlanta batters, DK Pittsburgh Sports reports.

The Pirates will almost surely rely on Brubaker as part of their rotation with Steven Brault (arm) sidelined for at least two months. In 2020, the righty seemed destined for bullpen work with only two effective pitches -- a fastball and a slider -- but he's throwing a curveball and changeup more than he has in the past, and he whiffed batters with three different pitches Wednesday. Brubaker struck out 48 batters in 47.1 innings last season and offers the potential to serve as a streaming option in fantasy this year.

Lorenzen (shoulder) is expected to resume throwing soon, but it's still unclear whether he'll be able to avoid a trip to the injured list, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Lorenzen and Tejay Antone (hip) entered camp as the favorites for the Reds' fifth starter job. Sonny Gray's back issues will temporarily open up a second spot in the rotation, but both Lorenzen and Antone have injuries of their own. It's already been announced that Antone is expected to open the year in the bullpen, and it now seems as though Lorenzen may not be ready to start right away either. The Reds are confident he'll be able to build up his innings once the season begins, but the team may need to turn to pitchers like Jeff Hoffman or Jose De Leon for some spot starts in early April.

DeGrom will throw about 90 pitches in a simulated game Friday as his final appearance of the spring, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

This will allow the right-hander to get an extra day of rest prior to his Opening Day assignment while also preventing his first regular-season opponent, the Nationals, from getting an extra look at him in exhibition play. DeGrom will finish Grapefruit League play with a dazzling 0.66 ERA and 21:3 K:BB over 13.2 innings as he prepares to take a run at another Cy Young Award.

Lucchesi is penciled in as the Mets' No. 5 starter after Jordan Yamamoto was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Manager Luis Rojas has mentioned this spring that he could potentially use an opener on occasion, so Lucchesi may not officially get every start when his turn comes around, but for now, he's set to follow Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker and David Peterson in the rotation. Lucchesi is likely just keeping a spot warm until Carlos Carrasco (hamstring) is healthy, but if he outperforms Peterson, he could retain a starting role beyond that.

Soroka (Achilles) threw another simulated game Wednesday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Soroka has been building up carefully as he works his way back from Achilles surgery. His return timeline still isn't entirely clear, but it's possible he returns before the end of April.

Strasburg tossed 83 pitches over four-plus innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros, allowing four runs on three hits and five walks while striking out one. Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

While it was encouraging to see Strasburg get stretched out to a point where he seems ready for the regular season, the results in his return to action from a calf injury were downright ugly. The veteran right-hander blamed mechanical issues more than his calf for his difficulty finding the strike zone, but the latter seems likely to have contributed to the former. Strasburg also admitted after the start that his actual injury was a ruptured plantaris tendon -- which isn't necessary for everyday function and often gets used as the replacement for the UCL in Tommy John surgery -- so he should be able to pitch effectively without it in the long run. He'll get one more Grapefruit League start before the regular season begins, and he's lined up to start the second game of the season for the Nats on April 3 against the Mets.