MLB Player News

Knoth underwent Tommy John surgery during the offseason and will miss the entire 2025 campaign, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Knoth spent his entire first season as a pro with Single-A Carolina, finishing with a 4.48 ERA and 1.40 WHIP alongside a 96:40 K:BB over 84.1 innings. However, he spent the final month of the year on the injured list due to an elbow injury that will ultimately cost him another whole season. The 19-year-old right-hander will now spend the next several months recovering from the procedure before turning his focus to returning sometime in 2026.

Cavalli will have his workload managed in the early part of the season, with the goal being to have him in the big-league rotation later in the year, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.

The 26-year-old right-hander has pitched just 8.1 innings over the last two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2023, but Cavalli is healthy to begin spring training and threw a bullpen session Thursday. "When you see him throw and he's healthy and in the right frame of mind and the right shape, the sky's the limit for that guy," general manager Mike Rizzo said Thursday. "His first bullpen today was terrific, and we're just going to take it slow with him. But to have him healthy and pitching like he's capable of is exciting to me." A first-round pick in 2020, Cavalli displayed his upside in 2022 when he posted a 3.71 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 104:39 K:BB over 97 Triple-A innings, and he's expected to get a chance to regain that form with Triple-A Rochester to begin the current campaign before the Nats give him another crack at big-league hitters.

Ogasawara threw 40 pitches in a bullpen session Friday, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.

The 27-year-old left-hander didn't even fly in from Japan until Wednesday night, but Ogasawara had already been throwing with an MLB ball prior to his arrival in camp and may actually be a little ahead of the Nationals' other pitchers. While he doesn't have overpowering stuff or the strikeout upside to be worth a late-round dart throw in most fantasy formats, Ogasawara will be given every opportunity to win a spot in a Nationals' rotation that has plenty of arms in the mix but little established depth -- only MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin made 30-plus starts in the majors last year among the Nats' starting pitching options. Over 144.1 innings for the Chunichi Dragons in 2024, Ogasawara posted a 3.12 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 82:22 K:BB.

Blackburn (back) is a little behind the Mets' other rotation options at the start of spring training, Will Sammon and Tim Britton of The Athletic report.

This is no real surprise, as Blackburn underwent spinal surgery in October. The 31-year-old right-hander made only five starts for the Mets in 2024 after being acquired from the A's, stumbling to a 5.18 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 21:7 K:BB in 24.1 innings, and he's never thrown more than 111.1 innings in a big-league season. If he demonstrates he's fully recovered from the surgery and back to his pre-injury form, Blackburn should compete for the No. 6 starter role alongside Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill.

Canning may be the favorite to win the Mets' sixth starter job, Will Sammon and Tim Britton of The Athletic report.

His primary competition, Tylor Megill, still has minor-league options remaining, while Canning would need to clear waivers to be sent to Triple-A Syracuse. Whoever wins the job could begin the season working out of the bullpen, potentially in a piggyback role to take some of the load off Clay Holmes or Kodai Senga -- the Mets have three early off days, and may not need to use a sixth starter until Apr. 16. Paul Blackburn (back) might also put himself in the mix for the No. 6 starter job if he looks healthy and effective this spring.

Strider (elbow) could see action in at least one spring training game, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The right-hander is recovering from an internal brace procedure performed on his elbow last April, and after he threw another bullpen session Friday, general manager Alex Anthopoulos seemed optimistic that Strider could make his regular-season debut a little earlier than anticipated. "He's throwing bullpens, he looks good. Live [batting practice] will definitely happen in spring training, assuming no setbacks or things like that," Anthopoulos said Friday. The GM indicated that while Atlanta has an internal timeline for Strider, he wouldn't make it public just yet other than to say the 26-year-old ace would begin the campaign on the IL. "We have a calendar for him, but I think if we start saying, 'Hey, on this date he's doing this' and for whatever reason we decide to move it back a day or two, then it's a story and it's viewed as a setback or [that] we weren't forthcoming," Anthopoulos said. "So, what I can tell you is he will not be on the Opening Day roster, that has been decided."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday that May is a possibility to open the season in the bullpen, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

May is among the competitors for the final spot in the Dodgers' rotation. However, he cannot be optioned to the minor leagues, so he should be part of the Opening Day roster in some capacity. The 27-year-old missed all of 2024 and made a total of just 20 starts from 2021-23 due to injuries. May's absence in 2024 was due to his continued recovery from UCL and flexor surgery and later an esophageal tear, but he is healthy at the start of camp.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Friday that the team plans to use a five-man rotation until Shohei Ohtani (shoulder/elbow) is ready to pitch, which would seemingly leave Gonsolin in a competition for one remaining spot, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Manager Dave Roberts recently suggested that Ohtani could be ready to make his season debut on the mound sometime in May, though there's no concrete timeline yet. The Dodgers will shift to a six-man rotation at that point, but until then they will use a traditional five-man setup. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki are locked into four of the spots, which leaves Gonsolin, Dustin May, Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, Ben Casparius and perhaps others competing for the final slot. Roberts said Friday that Gonsolin and May will be considered for the bullpen if they don't make the rotation.

McGreevy added 15 pounds of muscle this offseason, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

McGreevy has a shot at winning one of the last spots in the Cardinals rotation in camp and he's taking the opportunity very seriously, saying he tried to trim as much body fat as he could while putting on the 15 pounds of muscle. "He looks good [this spring training]," said manager Oliver Marmol. "He put on some weight and had a really good offseason, and I'm excited to see what's coming out of that arm." The 24-year-old righty logged 150 innings at Triple-A and 23 innings in the majors last season. He registered an elite 62.5 percent groundball rate and 2.3 percent walk rate in the majors, leading to a 0.78 WHIP. McGreevy sits in the low-90s with his fastball, but he has a plus slider and his command might be double-plus. Andre Pallante and Steven Matz may have a leg up on him for the final two spots in the rotation, but McGreevy is arguably the most appealing of the three from a fantasy perspective.

Meyer (shoulder) threw live batting practice Friday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Meyer's 2024 season ended in early September due to right shoulder bursitis, but it appears he is entering camp this spring without any restrictions. The young right-hander, who was the third overall pick in the 2020 Draft, could have a leg up for one of the spots in the Marlins' rotation given the significant upside he offers. Meyer posted a 5.68 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 46:19 K:BB through 57 big-league innings in 2024, but he has a career 151:45 K:BB over 126 Triple-A innings.