MLB Player News

Marquez threw two scoreless innings in his Cactus League debut Tuesday, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports.

Marquez also struck out two and walked two. Most importantly, he threw 32 pitches and came away with no injury concerns, a significant development after he was limited to only one start in 2024 while recovering from an elbow injury. Marquez figures to lead the Rockies' rotation in 2025.

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post expects Dollander to be in the Rockies' rotation to begin the regular season.

There were rumblings prior to spring training about the possibility of Dollander skipping Triple-A and jumping straight to the majors to begin the 2025 season. He helped his case with a solid spring debut Monday, when he struck out three across two innings with his only run allowed coming on a solo home run. Dollander will have high expectations due to his rapid rise to the majors and pedigree, though it's worth keeping in mind the challenge he faces with Coors Field as his home park.

Mathews fanned three batters while allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays.

The reigning minor-league strikeout leader set down Vladimir Guerrero swinging in a perfect first inning before adding a pair of strikeouts in the second to escape a bases-loaded jam. Mathews has an outside shot to win a spot in the Cardinals' rotation if he wows this spring, but he's most likely pegged for Triple-A Memphis. Even if he doesn't break camp with the big club, he's a good bet to spend a good chunk of 2025 in the St. Louis rotation.

Blackburn (back) is scheduled to start Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Blackburn will most likely be limited to one or two innings in his spring debut as he attempts to make his case for a spot in the Mets' Opening Day rotation. With Sean Manaea (oblique) and Frankie Montas (lat) both expected to begin the season on the injured list, the Mets should have at least two spots available at the back of the rotation for Blackburn, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning. All three could end up breaking camp in starting roles if the Mets opt to go with a six-man rotation, something that president of baseball operations David Stearns said over the winter that he was expecting the team to implement in 2025.

Atlanta reassigned Salinas (shoulder) to minor-league camp Tuesday.

Salinas is in the midst of his recovery from shoulder surgery and not expected to make his season debut until August. The 23-year-old played the bulk of his 2024 campaign for Double-A Midland in the Athletics organization, where he recorded a 3.68 ERA across 36.2 innings in eight starts. He was only able to makes two appearances at Triple-A Las Vegas before hitting the injured list in June. In November, Atlanta acquired the right-hander off waivers from the Athletics. Salinas will likely need to pitch well across a robust amount of Triple-A starts when he returns to health in order to be considered for a promotion.

Atlanta optioned Waldrep to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday.

Waldrep made a single appearance during spring training before being optioned, firing a scoreless inning. The 22-year-old allowed 13 earned runs across seven regular-season innings in his two appearances for Atlanta last season, but he posted a 3.38 ERA across 40.0 innings at Triple-A Gwinnett after starting the minor-league season at the rookie-level Florida Complex League. Following his impressive ascension through the organizational ranks last season, the right-hander will begin his 2025 campaign a step away from the majors.

Atlanta optioned Dodd to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday.

Dodd only made one appearance for Atlanta during spring training, during which he allowed two earned runs on three hits over one inning. Now set to begin the 2025 season in Triple-A, the 26-year-old southpaw will likely need to improve the 5.35 ERA he generated over 107.2 innings at Gwinnett last season before getting another look in the majors.

Senga is not ready to pitch in Grapefruit League games since he is due to make a couple more simulated outings in a controlled environment, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Given Senga logged just 10.1 innings last year, including the postseason, due to shoulder and calf issues, it's wise to be skeptical of his ability to be ready for a full starter's workload on Opening Day, at least until we see him in official Grapefruit League games. Healey reports feedback about Senga's health and buildup continues to be positive, and Senga certainly has a rotation spot if he's able to get ready in time.

Manager Craig Counsell said Brown has hit the ground running in camp and he's being evaluated as a starting pitcher, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

"Ultimately, you're trying to develop starters," Counsell said. "That's really valuable. The elite back-end guy, they're super-valuable, too. It's knowing that we got a good pitcher there and figuring out what to do. That's what we'll have to, at some point, make decisions on. But right now, it's a starter for Ben." It's looking more and more likely that Javier Assad (oblique) will have to start the year on the injured list, in which case it would be one of Brown, Colin Rea or Jordan Wicks opening the year as the Cubs' fifth starter. Brown obviously has the highest fantasy ceiling of that bunch, but he's still mostly a two-pitch guy, although his top two pitches (fastball, curveball) are easily plus and his curveball, which is also called a "death ball," is one of the best curveballs in all of baseball. He's been working on his changeup this spring, and if he's clearly the best option, it would be hard for the Cubs to exclude Brown and his strikeout stuff from a starting rotation that had the 25th-best strikeout rate (21.1 percent) in baseball last season.

Gore threw two innings against live hitters in the batting cage Monday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

The Nationals and Gore are saying all the right things about him building up on the side, rather than in games, so far. Manager Dave Martinez said Gore and Michael Soroka will make their spring debuts soon, and Zuckerman speculates the duo could start the Nationals' split-squad games Saturday.