MLB Player News

Finnegan will pitch in a controlled scrimmage Thursday with hitters in the Reds' camp, rather than in a spring training game, the Cincinnati Enquirer's John Fay reports. "We'll do kind of a scrimmage. We'll have some big league hitters, we'll have our strength camp kids out there playing defense ... play somewhere in the neighborhood of a 3-4 inning scrimmage," said manager Bryan Price.

Finnegan is a little behind other Reds pitchers in camp and the team wants to manage his workload early on. If he can get up to full strength by the start of the regular season, he's a really good bet to land the Reds' fourth-starter job.

Teheran spent the offseason working to regain a more consistent feel for his slider, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

After an inconsistent 2017 campaign, Teheran is looking to rely on his secondary offerings more in 2018. The 27-year-old saw his slider usage drop from 26.3 percent in 2016 to just 19.4 percent in 2017, which may help explain the similar drop in his strikeout rate (from 22 percent in 2016 to 18.6 percent in 2017). He's also looking to incorporate his changeup more often this season, as it's consistently been his least utilized secondary pitch. While Teheran is hoping his offseason adjustments will help him bounce back in 2018, it would be wise to wait and see how his stuff looks this spring before putting faith in him, as he's still a risky investment.

Thompson appears to be converting to a relief role, Matt Gelb of The Athletic Philadelphia reports.

Thompson entered Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays in the eighth inning. His previous Grapefruit League appearance lasted just one inning Saturday against the Orioles. Five other Phillies have started games this spring and all have thrown more than one inning. A move to the pen might be necessary for Thompson if he's to win a major-league roster spot, as he's struggled to a 6.05 FIP in 100 career innings, striking out just 15.0 percent of batters while walking 11.2 percent. He would be an unlikely candidate to be the next converted starter to suddenly pop up as a closer candidate.

Davies will start in his Cactus League debut Wednesday against the Giants, Tom Haudricourt and Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Though Davis' first outing of the spring came later than many of the Brewers' other pitchers in camp, manager Craig Counsell stressed that the right-hander isn't behind schedule or dealing with any unreported health issue. Instead, Davies' lack of work to date speaks to his security in the team's rotation, with Counsell indicating that some combination of Davies, Chase Anderson and Jhoulys Chacin will take the hill for the Brewers' first series of the regular season against the Padres. Counsell indicated that Davies isn't experimenting with any new pitches coming off a season in which the 25-year-old supplied a 3.90 ERA and 1.35 WHIP over 191.1 innings, and is instead using his exhibition appearances to get a better feel of his command prior to Opening Day.

Velasquez (finger) will start Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Velasquez is coming off surgery in early September to address a circulation problem in his hand. He is at full health as the 2018 season moves closer and should cement his role as a middle-of-the-rotation starter this spring. Over 15 starts with the club last year spanning 72 innings, the right-hander posted a 5.13 ERA and 1.50 WHIP.

Director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk said Musgrove (shoulder) is "trending upward" and expected to throw batting practice in the coming days, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

After missing time early in spring training, Musgrove has thrown a pair of bullpen sessions over the last four days. In fact, he stated that he could pitch now if it were the regular season. The righty spent time on the disabled list in 2017 with a shoulder injury, so the Bucs are being extra careful with him. He's expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation.

Ryu was scratched from Wednesday's spring start due to an illness, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

There appears to be some sort of virus working its way through the Dodgers' clubhouse, with Ryu becoming the latest victim. In his place, Wilmer Font will draw the start. Expect Ryu to be back out on the mound in a couple days.

DeGrom (back) felt good and had no issues during a modified bullpen session Wednesday, James Wagner of The New York Times reports. He still believes he will be ready for Opening Day.

This was essentially long toss from the rubber, with the righty throwing 15-to-20 pitches. DeGrom says the next step will be a full bullpen session. His optimism for the start of the regular season is due to the fact he feels he only needs to build his pitch count up to 70-to-75 pitches during spring training, and he feels he still has time to do that. It's worth discounting deGrom ever so slightly in drafts, but this doesn't seem like something that will have a major impact on his early season availability.

Maeda threw two shutout innings while logging one stikeout and one walk in Tuesday's Cactus League outing against the Rangers.

Maeda ended the 2017 season as one of the Dodgers' most reliable postseason relievers. Over 10.2 innings, he allowed just one run while posting a 10:2 K:BB. Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reported that Maeda is on track to open the upcoming season as a member of the Dodgers' rotation. Manager Dave Roberts has said that he wants Maeda to continue aggressively pitching in the strike zone, an approach which was effective during Los Angeles' most recent postseason run.

Mahle threw two perfect innings in his spring training debut Tuesday against the Brewers, striking out three.

Mahle has to have a great spring to win a rotation spot, in part because of service time considerations. But if he doesn't begin the season in the big leagues, there's a really strong possibility he'll get back up eventually. He certainly appears to be a better option than at least a few of the Reds' alternatives, namely Robert Stephenson.