MLB Player News

Quantrill is expected to make his final Cactus League appearance in Sunday's finale versus the Cubs and remains a candidate to crack the Padres' Opening Day rotation, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer and Matt Strahm already appear to have secured their places in the rotation, but Jacob Nix's elbow injury along with poor springs from Bryan Mitchell, Luis Perdomo and Robbie Erlin has paved the way for a trio of prospects to vie for the final two starting spots. Chris Paddack and Logan Allen are held in higher esteem as prospects and have largely outperformed Quantrill this spring, but the 23-year-old could boost his chances of breaking camp with the big club with a strong showing this weekend. The uncertainty that Quantrill will actually beat out Paddack or Allen for a job in addition to his meager production in the minors render the athletic right-hander little more than a late-round flier in NL-only formats.

Lauer is a candidate to receive the start for the Padres' Opening Day game March 28 versus the Giants, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Lauer has been dominant through his first two Cactus League starts, striking out eight while covering six no-hit innings. That's probably enough for him to secure his place in a low-grade Padres rotation to begin the season, and he could line up for Opening Day depending on how the Padres arrange their pitching schedule for their final three games in Arizona this weekend. After an off-day Thursday, Lauer and Joey Lucchesi are in line to start either Friday against the Rockies or Saturday versus the Angels. If Lauer gets the Saturday nod, it would put him on schedule to take the hill for the opener on his typical four days' rest.

The Braves optioned Soroka (shoulder) to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday.

Soroka's demotion was telegraphed weeks ago, when it was revealed the shoulder soreness that surfaced early in camp would prevent him from cracking the Braves' Opening Day rotation. The right-hander has since resumed a throwing program and most recently faced hitters in live batting practice, so he could soon be ready to pitch in a simulated or minor-league game. He'll still need multiple outings to get his arm conditioned for a starter's workload, making it unlikely that he'll resurface in the big leagues until late April or early May, if an opening in the rotation even exists at that time.

The Cardinals optioned Gomber to Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Gomber was an adequate short-term rotation option for the Cardinals in the second half of 2018, as he turned in a 4.26 ERA and 53:22 K:BB across 57 frames in his 11 starts. However, with St. Louis returning most of its key starting options to full strength this spring aside from Carlos Martinez (shoulder), Gomber suddenly found himself buried on the depth chart. He'll head to Memphis to continue receiving regular starts while John Gant and Dakota Hudson vie for the final spot in the big-league rotation.

Fried tossed five scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out seven.

The left-hander has been impressive all spring and now boasts a 16:5 K:BB across 15.1 innings. Fried's path to breaking camp in the rotation is complicated by the fact that the Braves won't need a fifth starter until April 7, which gives Kevin Gausman more time to build up his pitch count after a late start to his spring, but based on performance alone Fried would seem to have earned a spot. The same could be said for Touki Toussaint and Kyle Wright, however. The club could well keep all three young arms on the 25-man roster, using whomever isn't starting in long relief, but a demotion to Triple-A Gwinnett to stay stretched out also remains on the table.

Walker (elbow) had a 20-pitch bullpen session Tuesday, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

The throwing session was Walker's first since undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in April of 2018. "Obviously, it's been a long, grinding process, and these are when you start to see some really good moments for these guys, a smile on their faces. I think it was a good day for Taijuan," said manager Torey Lovullo. Walker will slowly ramp up over the next few months and could be an option for the Diamondbacks after the All-Star break.

DeSclafani will pitch fourth among Reds starters to begin the season, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Luis Castillo will get the Opening Day nod for the Reds, followed by Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark and then DeSclafani. That means that DeSclafani has to face the Brewers instead of the Pirates for his first start.

Gray will start the Reds' second game of the season against the Pirates on March 30, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Gray threw 70 pitches in a spring training game Tuesday against the Indians that was mostly against their minor-league hitters, though he did face Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis multiple times. "Overall, I feel good and got to work on a lot of stuff," Gray said. "It was obviously a little later start to spring than I would have liked but sometimes those things are out of your control. I feel very good and look forward to what's ahead."

Anderson ditched his altered delivery in Tuesday's spring start, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, and allowed two earned runs over four innings. He allowed six hits and posted a 4:1 K:BB in the outing.

Anderson attempted using a Nolan Ryan-like, over-the-head windup to begin the spring, but he allowed nine earned runs over 10 innings, and decided to put a halt to the experiment in Tuesday's start. The results were mixed, but better, and manager Craig Counsell said Anderson had "the best velocity" he's had this spring. It's not clear which approach Anderson will choose to employ moving forward, but regardless, he figures to find himself somewhere in the Brewers' rotation when the regular season begins.

Manager David Bell announced Tuesday that Castillo will start Opening Day against the Pirates, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Castillo has produced sub-par results in spring training with a 12.46 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over four appearances, but he still receives the Opening Day nod over veterans Sonny Gray and Tanner Roark. The 26-year-old made 31 starts for the Reds in 2018, compiling a 4.30 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 165:49 K:BB across 169.2 innings.