MLB Player News

Garrett was sitting in the low 90s with his fastball, topping out at 93 mph, during his Grapefruit League debut Tuesday, Jordan McPherson of The Miami Herald reports.

On the down side, the young southpaw did walk three of the seven batters he faced, but seeing his velocity rebound was encouraging after he averaged only 89.7 mph in his big-league debut last year. "I was losing a little gas [late last season]," Garrett said Tuesday. "I'd like it to be a little higher, and I think I can get it there. Just continuing to throw and as the innings get up and I get a little more conditioned, that will go up or at least stay where it is." A good showing in camp could see him begin the season in the Marlins' bullpen, but he's more likely to be assigned to Triple-A and stay stretched out as a starter.

DeGrom will make his spring debut Saturday against the Astros, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

The Mets' ace will begin building up for the regular season this weekend. He is widely considered the best pitcher in the game heading into his age-32/33 season.

Lopez has been working on a breaking pitch to add to his fastball, sinker, cutter and changeup, Jordan McPherson of The Miami Herald reports. "It can only help me," Lopez explained Tuesday after throwing two shutout innings in his first spring training appearance. "As a starting pitcher, your main focus is you have to go through the lineup three or hopefully four times, so the more good pitches you have that you feel comfortable throwing in any count, the more unpredictable you remain, which is a huge weapon. You don't want to fall into patterns. You don't want to become too predictable."

The right-hander had previously thrown a curveball in the minors which he'd scrapped, but Lopez thinks the shape of the new offering will be a better match for his arm slot. He added the cutter to his arsenal just last season with immediate positive results, as he shaved nearly 1.5 runs off his ERA compared to 2019 and posted a career-high 24.1 percent strikeout rate. If Lopez can find a fifth effective pitch to add to the mix, he may be able to take another step forward in 2021.

Stroman struck out two over two perfect innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League start against the Astros, Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News reports. He threw 30 pitches while mixing in a new split-finger changeup. "You never know until you throw it against hitters," Stroman said on finally using his new pitch. "It can feel filthy, it can feel nasty, it can feel like the best pitch ever. But until you actually get out there and throw it in a game and see how hitters react to it, I feel like you can't actually consider that pitch a weapon until you do so."

The right-hander opted out of last season before accepting the Mets' $18.9 million qualifying offer for 2021, but Stroman apparently spent his time off wisely by adding to his arsenal. The new split-change generated a swing and miss from Michael Brantley on Tuesday, and if it becomes a put-away pitch for the 29-year-old, it could mean big things for him as he heads into free agency. Stroman has a solid 3.76 ERA and 1.29 WHIP for his career, but a lackluster 19.6 percent strikeout rate could create a soft market for his services.

Strasburg (hand) will throw two innings in a simulated game Wednesday, and he could see his first Grapefruit League action of the year Monday, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander is completing the final steps in his recovery from August surgery to address carpal tunnel neuritis, and barring any setbacks he appears on track to be ready for Opening Day. Strasburg has battled injuries throughout his career, but the last time he was able to stay healthy he struck out 251 batters over 209 innings in 2019 before leading the Nats to a World Series title, making him a volatile risk/reward option at the draft table.

Sanchez threw a bullpen session Wednesday and will throw one or two more live batting practice sessions before he makes his first start of the spring, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

He is being eased into action at a slower pace than Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Elieser Hernandez and Trevor Rogers, who are all scheduled to start a game this week. Sanchez is the one who we would expect to be managed most carefully this spring, given that the Marlins will want him to be able to log as many starts as possible this season after making seven starts during his impressive 2020 debut.

Richardson threw a scoreless inning against the Angels in his spring training debut, throwing his fastball between 93-96 mph, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "He came in and looked like he'd been pitching in the big leagues for a lot of years," manager David Bell said. "He just really attacked and went after the hitters. Clearly has the stuff to match it. He's a guy that's never played above A-ball, and you wouldn't have known that watching him tonight."

Richardson was the Reds' second-round draft pick in 2018, and he hasn't yet advanced beyond Low-A, though he did spend some time in September at the Reds' alternate training site. It'll be interesting to see where the Reds start him this season and whether he's made enduring improvements that'll allow him to advance to the majors quickly.

Greene's first three pitches in Tuesday's spring training game against the Angels hit 101, 102 and 103 mph respectively, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. It was Greene's first game action since 2018. "His fastball is elite," catcher Tucker Barnhart underscored. "If you look in the baseball dictionary, and 'easy cheese' was in there, it would be like a picture or video of him. It's incredible how hard he throws."

While the easy velocity was impressive, Greene struggled to get outs, albeit against major-league hitters. He allowed three earned runs on three hits and a walk, striking out one. Considering that Greene hasn't pitched above A ball yet, he'll surely open the season in the minors, likely at High-A Dayton.

Woodruff's (back) bullpen session went well Tuesday, and he should pitch in a game Thursday or Friday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

It remains to be seen whether Woodruff will start a Cactus League game later this week or pitch in a camp game. Any pitcher injury early in camp is worth monitoring closely, but there doesn't presently seem to be any concern about Woodruff's availability for the start of the regular season.

Mikolas, who was scratched from a scheduled simulated game appearance Monday, won't pitch again until a weekend side session, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports. "I was probably a little early in announcing that he was going to throw in a sim game," manager Mike Shildt said. "We schedule a lot of things, and I mention a lot of times, it's just fluid. Fluid for a lot of different reasons, none of which are overly problematic."

There was some speculation as to whether Mikolas might have suffered a setback with his previously injured flexor tendon when Monday's sim game appearance was nixed, but Shildt explained it was simply part of a strategy to give the veteran right-hander some extra down time between throwing sessions. Mikolas threw to live hitters Thursday, so pushing him back until this coming weekend, when he'll throw a bullpen, will afford him more than a week's rest.