MLB Player News

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said that he expects deGrom to be limited to around 75 pitches or five innings in Sunday's game against the Red Sox, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.

In an effort to help deGrom stay healthy after he was limited to just nine starts over the last two seasons while recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, the Rangers brought him along slowly during spring training. He made just three spring appearances and built up to four innings and 70 pitches in his final outing, so deGrom will see only a slight increase in his projected workload in his season debut. While the potential five-inning limit caps deGrom's upside as a DFS option for Sunday, fantasy managers in redraft leagues will likely still want to keep the right-hander in their lineups.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider labeled Rodriguez as a candidate to start Friday's game against the Mets at Citi Field, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.

With Toronto's ideal five-man rotation at full health heading into Opening Day, Rodriguez missed out on a starting spot and made his season debut out of the bullpen in Thursday's 12-2 loss to the Orioles, giving up three earned runs on three hits and one walk over one inning. Despite the poor showing, Rodriguez could move into the rotation next weekend after Max Scherzer aggravated a thumb injury in Saturday's 9-5 loss to Baltimore and was subsequently placed on the injured list. Per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that Scherzer is scheduled to visit a hand specialist Monday, when a timeline for the right-hander's return should come into focus. Rodriguez would be in line for at least two turns though the rotation while Scherzer is on the shelf.

The Blue Jays placed Scherzer on the 15-day injured list Sunday due to right thumb inflammation.

Per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, Scherzer's early removal from his start Saturday against the Orioles was attributed to right lat soreness, but the veteran right-hander said after the outing that his exit was related to the thumb injury that had been troubling him since spring training. The Blue Jays apparently concurred with Scherzer's assessment and are now listing him solely with the thumb injury. He'll be shut down for at least two weeks in hopes that the extended rest will resolve the issue. Toronto recalled left-hander Easton Lucas from Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding move to offer some extra coverage in the bullpen, but Yariel Rodriguez figures to get the first crack at filling Scherzer's spot in the rotation.

Ashcraft allowed two hits over a scoreless eighth inning in Saturday's 3-2 win over the Giants.

Ashcraft worked around traffic with the help of a double-play grounder to earn his first hold. Cincinnati's late-game deployments are under scrutiny after the club placed closer Alexis Diaz (hamstring) on the injured list, and Ian Gibaut blew a save Opening Day. Going back to Ashcraft's days as a starter, Reds coaches have mused about the right-hander's makeup being suited for the bullpen, including as a closer. On Saturday, he worked in a set-up role for Emilio Pagan. This is a not a situation where once Diaz is healthy, he'll automatically get the closer's role back. He had trouble throwing strikes in limited Cactus League usage, which did not please manager Terry Francona.

Williams didn't factor into the decision in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Royals. He went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk, striking out two.

Williams was electric in spring training, pitching to a 2.08 ERA over 17.1 innings with 26 strikeouts and just four walks, but he was not as crisp in his first regular-season start to open the year. He pitched to contact versus Kansas City and recorded an uninspiring two strikeouts while being pulled after just 74 pitches. The early hook prevented a chance at a quality start, and he could not nab a win either as his bullpen let him down in the 4-3 loss. He is tentatively lined up for a favorable matchup next week on the road against the Angels.

Lugo did not factor into the decision in Saturday's 4-3 win over Cleveland. He allowed three runs, four hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out four.

Lugo ran into trouble to open the second inning, allowing three consecutive hits to open the frame as Cleveland took a 1-0 lead. His control faded in the third inning with back-to-back walks to Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez, with Kwan coming around to score on a sacrifice fly. After a clean fourth, Lugo allowed a homer to Kwan in the fifth inning, which gave the Guardians a 3-1 lead. He avoided the loss thanks to his offense, which rallied in the middle stages of the game to secure the 4-3 win. Lugo was outstanding a year ago with a 3.00 ERA over 206.2 regular-season innings, so this could be just a bump in the road after he gave up more than two runs only once over his last eight regular/postseason starts in 2024. He will look for his first win in 2025 when he tentatively goes against Baltimore next week.

Irvin didn't factor into the decision in Saturday's loss versus the Phillies. He allowed two runs, seven hits and two walks over five innings, striking out two.

Irvin was a workhorse last year in Washington with 187.2 innings pitched, but he lasted just five innings in his first start of the season. He was lifted at 83 pitches, but he should be able to go longer as he continues to build up his pitch count. He held the Phillies scoreless through three innings before giving up a two-run homer to Bryson Stott in the fourth inning. The righty left the game in a 2-2 tie before the Washington bullpen surrendered nine runs over the final four frames. He will look for his first win of the season in an expected start next week against the Diamondbacks.

Luzardo (1-0) got the win on Saturday versus the Nationals, striking out 11 batters while allowing two runs on five hits and two walks over five innings.

The left-hander made his Phillies' debut and was electric aside from a two-run homer off the bat of Keibert Ruiz, Luzardo struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth inning and then watched his offense erupt for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to break open a 2-2 tie, putting him in line for the win. Sitting at 95 pitches, his day was done from there. Luzardo is lined up for a tough matchup against the Dodgers next week.

Scherzer was removed from his start Saturday against the Orioles due to right lat soreness, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Scherzer had been hoping to reach around 80 pitches during his first start of the season, but he was forced out of the game after just 45 pitches across three innings of two-run ball. Although the team attributed his removal to a lat issue, the veteran righty said after the game that "this is 100 percent related to the thumb," per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. Scherzer's thumb has been an issue since spring training, and he added that he was in "imminent danger" of doing more damage to it if he were to go back out for the fourth inning. Scherzer and the team will likely want to make sure his thumb and lat are no longer issues before he makes his next start, which could mean a trip to the injured list is coming.

Vasquez did not factor into the decision in Saturday's 1-0 win over Atlanta. He allowed four walks and four hits while striking out three across six scoreless innings.

Although he wasn't as effective as counterpart Spencer Schwellenbach, Vasquez was able to induce double plays in the first and fourth inning and got out of another sticky situation in the sixth to keep Atlanta off the board. Vasquez was able to beat out Stephen Kolek for the final spot in the Padres' rotation in spring training, and the former's performance Saturday has validated that decision for the time being. Vasquez's next start is tentatively slated for next weekend against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.