MLB Player News

Eovaldi allowed four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four in Sunday's spring start against the Diamondbacks.

Eovaldi threw a spring-high 75 pitches in his third Cactus League outing. He told Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News he was off mechanically and struggled to locate his fastball. Beyond that, the right-hander said he felt fine and was pleased with his curveball, which elicited seven swing-and-misses (14 thrown) and none were hit into play. Eovaldi believes he knows what went wrong for him Sunday and how to correct it. Nothing has been decreed yet, but Eovaldi is a good bet to start Opening Day.

Burnes allowed two hits and a walk while striking out five over four innings in Sunday's spring start against the Rangers.

Early on this spring, Burnes has lived up the six-year ($210 million) contract the Diamondbacks handed him during the offseason. The right-hander has allowed just one run during his four Cactus League starts and struck out 13 over 9.1 innings. "I think kind of the last piece was pairing both the cutter command with the spin and we were able to do that today," Burnes told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic following the game. He threw 57 pitches (39 strikes), putting him on schedule for a full workload once the regular season kicks off. Burnes should get another three starts to build up and work on little things that may crop up between now and Opening Day.

Spence gave up two runs (one earned) over 3.1 innings with three strikeouts and two walks in Sunday's Cactus League loss to Arizona. He has a 1.13 ERA with a 6:2 K:BB in eight innings this spring.

Spence may be the leading candidate for the fifth starter role and has outperformed Joey Estes and Osvaldo Bido so far this spring. However, the final two spots in the Oakland rotation are uncertain at this point. While Spence had a subpar strikeout rate last season (19.4 percent), he did have an above-average groundball rate (48.4 percent) and swinging-strike rate (10.4 percent).

Snell is slated to pitch in one of two exhibition games in Tokyo, Japan on March 15 and 16, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts implied that the southpaw will start the team's home regular-season opener in Los Angeles on March 27, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

A pair of Japanese-born hurlers -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki -- have been tabbed to start for the Dodgers in the regular-season-opening two-game series against the Cubs in Tokyo on March 18 and 19, but it doesn't appear that either of those pitchers will get the ball again for the team's stateside opener against Detroit on March 27. Instead, Snell is likely to get the call for that contest after joining Los Angeles on a five-year, $182 million contract in late November. Snell made his second spring start Sunday against the Athletics and gave up four runs on five hits over 3.2 innings, but he struck out five batters, averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball and threw 67 pitches, so he appears to be ramping up well for the regular season.

Estes gave up two runs over 3.2 innings with two strikeouts and one walk in Sunday's win over the Dodgers. He has a 5.87 ERA with a 5:1 K:BB in 7.2 innings this spring.

Estes is competing for a spot in the rotation but likely isn't making enough of an impression to win a job. Meanwhile, Mitch Spence has pitched well, and Osvaldo Bido may still be a lock despite struggling (12.91 ERA). If Estes loses out on a rotation spot, it's not clear if he'll move to the bullpen or to the rotation at Triple-A.

Valdez allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks while striking out one in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins.

Valdez had a rough outing on the surface, but he built up to 60 pitches before throwing 15 more in a bullpen session. Per Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle, Valdez had no concern about his line, instead noting that he was focusing on the movement on his pitches in favor of trying to rack up strikeouts or precisely hit his spots.

Freeland has allowed one earned run and maintained a 3:1 K:BB across five innings in Cactus League play.

Freeland has made two starts this spring, ramping up to 42 pitches in the latter. Despite the solid results, he allowed five baserunners across three frames in his second outing and has not missed many bats. Freeland has also had a WHIP of 1.40 or worse in seven of his eight seasons in the majors, making him very difficult to trust for fantasy purposes.

Cole (elbow) was recommended to have Tommy John surgery, but he will receive a second opinion during the upcoming week before deciding on a treatment plan, a source tells Jim Bowden of The Athletic.

If the second opinion confirms the original diagnosis, Cole is expected to go under the knife for Tommy John surgery, which would bring an end to his 2025 season before it even began. The right-hander originally reported that he was struggling with his command in his most recent spring outing Thursday, which started him down the path of getting imaging on his elbow. If Cole does in fact require the season-ending procedure, it would be another big hit to a Yankees rotation that will already be without Luis Gil (lat) for at least the first three months of the season.

The Royals optioned Avila to minor-league camp Sunday.

Avila made three appearances out of the bullpen during spring training, tossing six innings of one-run ball while allowing five hits and two walks and striking out seven batters. The 23-year-old ended the 2024 campaign with Triple-A Omaha and will likely return to the International League to begin the 2025 season.

Berrios allowed three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out one over four innings during Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays.

The veteran right-hander allowed just one run across his first two appearances of the spring, but Brandon Lowe tagged him for a three-run homer during the third inning Sunday. After posting a 3.60 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 153:54 K:BB across 192.1 innings last season. Berrios is locked in as a mid-rotation starter for Toronto, though his career-worst 7.2 K/9 in 2024 will limit his fantasy upside if repeated.