MLB Player News

Rocker allowed four runs on four hits while striking out one over one inning in Tuesday's spring start against the Royals.

Rocker's quest for a spot in the Rangers' rotation got off to a rocky start in his Cactus League debut. The right-hander hit the first batter faced and allowed loud contact during his one inning, during which he threw 22 pitches (14 strikes). Rocker told Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that he was leaving pitches up in the zone which contributed to three hard-hit balls. Early in camp, he appears to be outside the top five starters, but with a good spring season going forward, Rocker could force the coaching staff's hand.

Ortiz allowed six runs on six hits and one walk while striking out one over 1.1 innings in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Brewers.

Ortiz gave up three runs in the first and second innings before departing after 37 pitches (20 strikes). He had trouble finding the plate and paid for it. One silver lining was Ortiz's fastball velocity, which topped out at 97.6 mph. Another is that spring games don't count. The right-hander's career took a leap in 2024, when he posted a 3.32 ERA as a swingman for the Pirates, and Ortiz is expected to win a job as a full-time starter in Cleveland.

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.

Harrison is expected to pitch in Friday's game against the Brewers following starter Logan Webb, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Harrison said a couple weeks ago that he's rediscovered his fastball velocity after the pitch dipped below 93 mph on average last season, so it will be worth tracking his velocity in camp. It's also encouraging that he's getting into a spring game this week after ending the 2024 season with a shoulder injury. He is expected to open the year in the Giants rotation.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Grove (shoulder) will not be ready for the start of the season, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Grove was shut down with a shoulder injury during the NLDS last season, and he got a late start to his offseason throwing program. The 28-year-old made 39 regular-season appearances for the Dodgers last season, including two starts, and finished with a 5.12 ERA and 54:16 K:BB across 51 innings.