The Yankees optioned Hampton (elbow) to Double-A Somerset on Thursday.

Hampton underwent Tommy John surgery in February of 2025 and missed all of last season, and he was in big-league camp while going through his rehab program. As the 2026 season nears, the right-hander is still progressing toward a possible return in May or June.

Buehler said Thursday that his right elbow stopped hurting about a month ago after trying various treatments, vitamins and supplements, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports.

Buehler has had two Tommy John surgeries with the second coming in August of 2022. The right-hander's claim of being pain free comes as new teammate Joe Musgrove is returning from Tommy John surgery and is sharing some of the experiences Buehler had in the past. The 31-year-old Buehler had a 2.90 ERA across his first five seasons in MLB but has a 4.83 ERA across the past three years, and he's especially struggled the last two seasons since the surgery.

Mathews allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits while striking out seven over 2.2 frames in Thursday's Grapefruit League appearance against the Pirates.

Mathews served up a home run in his final inning of work after Nolan Gorman had committed an error. The lefty's outing was very encouraging on the whole, though. Mathews averaged 95.2 mph with his four-seamer, induced 12 whiffs on 50 pitches and didn't issue a walk to go along with his seven punchouts. The lefty had been shaky in his first two appearances of the spring, so this was a nice step in the right direction. Mathews is slated to open 2026 in the Triple-A Memphis rotation.

May yielded one hit and one walk over three scoreless frames in his Grapefruit League debut Thursday versus the Pirates.

The Cardinals had May work on the side and on the backfields early on in spring training to ease him into his buildup. May was sporting big velocity Thursday, averaging 97.8 mph with his four-seamer and topping out at 99.3 mph. It's a good sign after his velocity on the pitch dipped to a career-low 95.4 mph in 2025. May has some bounce-back potential after inking a one-year, $12.5 million contract with the Cardinals this winter.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that Yamamoto is slated to throw three innings for Team Japan in Friday's World Baseball Classic game versus Team Chinese Taipei, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Yamamoto also went three frames in his second Cactus League outing. The right-hander is scheduled for multiple turns for Team Japan and is tentatively penciled in to be the Dodgers' Opening Day starter March 26 against the Diamondbacks, though Roberts has held off on making that official.

Atlanta optioned Lara to minor-league camp Thursday.

Lara got a cup of coffee in the majors last season but didn't make an appearance. The 23-year-old was moved to a relief role in the minors in 2025 and will continue to work on throwing more strikes at Triple-A Gwinnett. The hard-throwing Lara struck out 104 over 68.2 frames between Double-A Columbus and Gwinnett last season but also issued 65 walks and held a 7.73 ERA.

Springs allowed three hits and a walk over 2.1 scoreless innings in Wednesday's Cactus League loss to the Diamondbacks. He struck out four.

Springs allowed the first two batters he faced to reach base but ultimately worked through traffic to deliver a scoreless outing. The performance marked an improvement from the 33-year-old's first Cactus League appearance against the Royals on Friday, when he allowed four earned runs, including a home run, over 1.2 innings. The southpaw appeared in 32 games (30 starts) in 2025 spanning 171 innings, posting a 4.11 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with a career-low 7.3 K/9. Springs is expected to slot into the middle of the rotation for his second season with the Athletics in 2026.

Griffin gave up two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings in Wednesday's exhibition game against Team Venezuela. He struck out one.

Seeing his first game action of the spring, the 30-year-old left-hander tossed just 15 strikes on 29 pitches but avoided any damage against a star-studded lineup headlined by the likes of Ronald Acuna, Jackson Chourio and Salvador Perez. Griffin is expected to break camp in the Nationals' rotation after signing a one-year, $5.5 million deal to return to MLB from Japan, and the addition of a split-finger fastball to his low-velocity arsenal could allow him to handle a regular turn, or transition to a swingman role if Washington gets unexpected contributions from younger arms.

Peterson gave up one hit and two walks over three scoreless innings during Wednesday's exhibition game against Team Israel. He struck out four.

The Israeli WBC lineup doesn't have any big MLB names in it, and Peterson had little trouble navigating his three frames on 48 pitches (28 strikes). The southpaw is locked into a rotation spot for the Mets after throwing a career-high 168.2 innings in 2025, but his 4.22 ERA and 1.37 WHIP were significant downgrades from his 2024 numbers.

The Diamondbacks optioned Ray to minor-league camp Thursday, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.

Ray was added to Arizona's 40-man roster this offseason but never had a real chance to crack the Opening Day roster. The 24-year-old permitted four runs (two earned) with a 2:2 K:BB over 1.1 frames in his lone Cactus League appearance. Ray will open the 2026 season in the Triple-A Reno rotation.