MLB Player News

Fried will start Saturday's game against the Marlins, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Mike Soroka is set to handle Opening Day duties, and Fried will receive the nod for the second game of the season. The Braves previously indicated they will employ limited pitch counts early on for their starters, so neither pitcher figures to reach their traditional workload. Fried had a 4.02 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 173:47 K:BB in 165.2 innings over his 33 outings last season.

Hamels (triceps) will begin the season on the injured list, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

The veteran southpaw was battling a shoulder issue early in summer training, and the triceps tendinitis he dealt with previously resurfaced last week when attempting to retake the mound. There's no official return timeline for Hamels, but since he never faced hitters during the July camp, he seems likely to require some time before reaching game readiness once he's cleared to throw.

Wheeler is starting Sunday's exhibition contest against the Orioles, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

The 30-year-old's status for the start of the season remains up in the air with his wife pregnant and due to give birth essentially any day, but for now he lines up to start Saturday against the Marlins. Wheeler also expressed some concerns in early July about returning from paternity leave amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but he hasn't provided any further indications that he's considering opting out. He's expected to miss two starts once his wife goes into labor due to the standard three days on the paternity list plus going through the necessary protocols before rejoining the team.

Paddack unofficially threw 87 pitches over six innings in an intrasquad game Saturday, allowing two runs and striking out eight batters, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Paddack gave up a long home run to Fernando Tatis but was otherwise dominant in his final intrasquad outing of the summer. The right-hander's next appearance is likely to come as the Padres' Opening Day starter against Arizona on Friday.

Lorenezen is dealing with some soreness in his right forearm, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

The issue cropped up after experimenting with a new pitch grip, so the 28-year-old is taking it easy for a couple days. Manager David Bell downplayed the injury, but Lorenzen only has a few days to get back on the mound before Friday's season opener against the Tigers.

Rasmussen is expected to begin the season at the Brewers' alternate training site, but he could still make his MLB debut this season, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

As Haudricourt notes, the hard-throwing righty still needs development. He has never pitched above Double-A and had an 11.4 percent walk rate at that level last year. Rasmussen's upper-90s fastball could earn him low-leverage chances as the Brewers cycle in fresh relievers this season.

Lauer will pitch one inning in Sunday's intrasquad game, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

This will be his first game action of summer camp as he was delayed due to a COVID-19 testing issue -- he indicated he was in close contact with someone who tested positive, so he needed to self quarantine and test negative. Lauer is behind in the competition for the fifth-starter spot, so he will likely open the year as either a true reliever or piggyback starter. As he gets stretched out, Lauer could provide another left-handed presence in the Brewers' rotation.

Martinez allowed one run and two walks across three innings in Friday's intrasquad game start, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander also recorded a pair of strikeouts during the outing, which likely qualified as his penultimate tune-up for the regular season. The question of whether Martinez will begin the 2020 campaign as a closer or starter remains; however, the placement of Giovanny Gallegos, who arrived in summer camp Saturday after extensive travel delays, on the 10-day injured list for undisclosed reasons Saturday does potentially increase the chances of Martinez being shifted to a ninth-inning role for the time being.

Mikolas worked up to 60 pitches in Friday's intrasquad game start, allowing two runs on three hits across five innings, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander threw 33 of his pitches for strikes and surrendered a two-run homer to Matt Carpenter, but he was largely effective overall while also increasing his pitch count by seven over his prior outing Sunday. Mikolas appears to be on track to open the season in his expected role of No. 2 starter.

The Diamondbacks announced Saturday that Kelly will begin the season in the starting rotation, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.

The 31-year-old was considered the favorite for the No. 5 spot in the rotation with the absence of Mike Leake (opt out), and he was able to hold off Alex Young to secure the job. Kelly made 32 starts in his first big-league season in 2019 and had a 4.42 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 158:57 K:BB across 183.1 innings.