MLB Player News

The Athletics are evaluating Medina for a potential Opening Day bullpen role, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

After missing the second half of 2024 and all of 2025 following Tommy John surgery, Medina made his Cactus League debut Tuesday versus the Padres. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk in one inning, but Medina showed he still has a big fastball, topping out at 98.9 mph on the pitch. Medina is out of minor-league options and will have workload restrictions in 2026, which prompted his shift to relief this spring. The 26-year-old could eventually return to a starter role.

Scherzer said Tuesday that he is completely over last year's nagging thumb issues and will be ready to go at the start of the season, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Scherzer also confirmed that he will make his Grapefruit League debut Saturday against the Phillies and hopes to throw multiple innings. The 41-year-old agreed to terms with the Blue Jays just last week, but he's been throwing on his own and appears to be built up stamina-wise where he would normally be at this stage of spring training. Scherzer isn't guaranteed a spot in the Toronto rotation when the regular season begins, however, as Jose Berrios also appears to be over his 2025 injury issues.

The Marlins reassigned White (oblique) to minor-league camp Tuesday.

White was a long shot to make the Opening Day roster, anyway, but a recent oblique strain sealed his fate. He is not expected to be game-ready until late March, so White could get a late start to the minor-league season. The top prospect collected a 2.31 ERA and 145:51 K:BB over 89.2 innings across three minor-league stops in 2025.

Sheehan has yet to appear in a Cactus League game due to an illness he contracted at the start of Dodgers camp, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.

It seems Sheehan is over the illness, but he's still getting ramped up after it put him behind schedule. It's unclear when the right-hander will make his spring training debut, but he should have enough time to prep for Opening Day. Sheehan is a heavy favorite to open the season in the Dodgers' rotation after he posted a 2.82 ERA and 89:22 K:BB over 73.1 regular-season innings in 2025.

McLean has yet to report to Team USA while he recovers from an illness, but manager Mark DeRosa said Monday that the right-hander is tentatively scheduled to start March 10 against Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

According to Laura Albanese of Newsday, McLean had been experiencing vertigo-like symptoms, which have since subsided. McLean was able to throw a side session a couple days ago and is slated to throw on the back fields of Mets camp Wednesday, per Albanese. Assuming all goes well following that workout, McLean will join up with Team USA in Houston ahead of its first game of pool play Friday against Brazil before making a start four days later. McLean earned his spot on the USA roster after a stellar showing with the Mets following his late-season call-up from Triple-A Syracuse, going 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 48 innings through his first eight big-league starts. The Mets have already named offseason pickup Freddy Peralta as their Opening Day starter, but McLean is a good bet to make his 2026 debut at some point during team's first series of the season versus the Pirates.

Oviedo allowed two hits while striking out four over three scoreless innings in Monday's spring start against the Blue Jays.

As erratic as Oviedo was in his Grapefruit League debut last Wednesday, the right-hander was controlled Monday. He breezed through three frames on just 31 pitches (25 strikes). Oviedo has set himself up as the leading candidate for Boston's final rotation spot. His next outing is scheduled for March 7.

Cecconi allowed two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out four over 2.2 innings in Monday's spring start against Texas.

Cecconi had two scoreless frames in his second Cactus League outing before Wyatt Langford took him deep in the third. The Rangers worked counts in all three innings, and the right-hander's day was done after 52 pitches (33 strikes). Cecconi is much more established than he was in 2025, when he was new to the Guardians. Coaches reworked his mechanics and pitch mix, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com, adding a cutter and increasing his slider usage. The cutter was particularly effective Monday, generating six whiffs on 12 swings.

Singer allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out one over two-plus innings in Monday's spring start against the Cubs.

The numbers for Singer's Cactus League debut were ugly, and he was able to generate just one swing-and-miss. The optimistic view is that he managed to throw 46 pitches while throwing his entire arsenal and had three up-and-downs. All four runs scored in the first frame, when the right-hander had some bad luck -- a couple of weak contact hits fell in safely and left fielder Will Benson couldn't come down with a catchable ball.

Verlander will make his first Grapefruit League start in Friday's game against the Red Sox, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Verlander will be the last member of Detroit's projected season-opening rotation to take the hill this spring, and it will be his first game in a Detroit uniform since 2017 after rejoining the club on a one-year, $13 million contract last month. The 42-year-old isn't the same pitcher he was when he last played for the Tigers, but he should at least give the team a veteran option to reliably eat up some innings. Verlander turned in a respectable 3.85 ERA and 137 strikeouts across 152 innings for the Giants last year.

Valdez allowed two hits across three scoreless innings of work in Monday's Grapefruit League game against Atlanta. He struck out three.

Making his first spring start for the Tigers since inking a three-year, $115 million contract in early February, Valdez looked sharp across his 43 pitches. He threw 30 of those pitches for strikes and managed to scatter two harmless singles. The 32-year-old southpaw figures to slot in to the No. 2 spot in Detroit's rotation behind ace Tarik Skubal, giving the Tigers two of the top left-handed starters in the American League. Valdez has made at least 28 regular-season starts in each of the last four years, and he's compiled a sparkling 3.21 ERA during that time, making him an attractive fantasy option in his first season in Detroit.