MLB Player News

Elder appears likely to get a start or two early in the season with Atlanta playing 13 consecutive days to begin its schedule, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Elder is battling Joey Wentz for the fifth starter role, but that competition will probably extend into the regular season with the team having to give serious thought to deploying a six-man rotation for the first couple weeks. Elder made 28 starts for Atlanta in 2025, posting a 5.30 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 131:51 K:BB in 156.1 innings.

Wentz appears likely to get a start or two early in the season with Atlanta playing 13 consecutive days to begin its schedule, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Wentz is battling Bryce Elder for the fifth starter role, but that competition will probably extend into the regular season with the team having to give serious thought to deploying a six-man rotation for the first couple weeks. Wentz produced a 4.92 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 64:23 K:BB in 64 innings over 14 appearances (13 starts) for Atlanta in 2025.

Sale topped out at 96 mph with his fastball in his first game action of the spring Sunday, allowing two hits and striking out three over two scoreless innings against the Twins, Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The veteran southpaw tossed 37 pitches and fired first-pitch strikes to all eight batters he faced, and Sale even had to make a tough defensive play on a Trevor Larnach chopper. After he missed significant time last summer due to a rib fracture, it was a very encouraging performance from Sale to begin his spring. In two seasons with Atlanta, he's averaged 151.2 innings with a 2.46 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 11.6 K/9.

Burrows pitched two innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League matchup against the Cardinals, allowing no runs on one hit and a walk while striking out two.

It was an encouraging Astros debut for Burrows, who got the start against a St. Louis lineup that featured some projected Opening Day starters. Burrows, who joined Houston via trade in December, is coming off a solid rookie season with the Pirates, where he posted a 3.94 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP and 9.1 K/9 across 96 innings. The right-hander is expected to slot into the middle of a new-look Astros' rotation.

Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Monday that Jones (elbow) should be ready for game action when he's eligible to return from the 60-day injured list in late May, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

It's not clear whether that means he will be ready to pitch for the Pirates at that point or ready to pitch on a rehab assignment. Jones underwent an internal brace procedure on his right elbow last May and is "coming out really good" following a live batting practice session Friday, per Tomczyk. The 24-year-old made 22 starts for the Pirates in 2024, posting a 4.14 ERA and 132:39 K:BB across 121.2 frames.

Bradish allowed two runs on three hits and one walk in two innings during Sunday's Grapefruit League game against Detroit. He struck out two.

Following a clean first inning, Bradish struggled in the second frame while yielding a pair of runs. The 29-year-old right-hander threw 22 of his 35 pitches for strikes, and his sinker topped out at 95.8 mph. The Orioles are expected to have some form of limitations in place for Bradish in 2026 -- Tommy John surgery has held the righty to 14 starts since 2024 -- and Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com also notes that Bradish is prioritizing his health as opposed to increasing his velocity. Baltimore's plans for his workload could become clearer as spring training progresses.

Greene is working on adding a two-seam fastball to his arsenal, Charlie Goldsmith of The Dayton Daily News reports. "It's going to be a great offering," Greene said. "I'm excited to get going. You'll see it a good bit." The Reds are working in Greene slowly, as he essentially pitched a simulated game Sunday and will make his spring training debut on Friday.

Greene heavily relied on a four-seamer last season, throwing it 54 percent of the time, along with a slider (35 percent) and a splitter (11 percent). Perhaps the two-seamer could replace the splitter at times, as the latter pitch yielded a .310 batting average and .655 slugging percentage during the regular season in 26 batted ball events, while netting only three strikeouts.

Young was charged with a blown save during Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Tigers, allowing one run on three hits and one walk in two innings. He struck out two.

Young served up a solo home run to Austin Slater in the third inning. The 27-year-old right-hander is in contention to begin the season in Baltimore's rotation, but he'll need to bounce back soon in order to keep pace with the club's other candidates. After posting a 6.24 ERA and 1.54 WHIP over 12 regular-season starts in 2025, Young appears initially to be the least likely of Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells and Cade Povich to crack the Opening Day rotation.

Bello allowed four runs on four hits and one walk while striking out two over 1.1 innings during Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. He didn't factor into the decision.

Bello got off to a rocky start in his first action of the spring, as he was touched up for four runs in the top of the first inning and then removed in the middle of the frame after hurling 24 pitches. He would return for the top of the second inning and responded well by firing a scoreless frame. Bello put together the best season of his young career a year ago, posting a 3.35 ERA with 124 strikeouts over 166.2 regular-season innings, so there's little reason to worry about a poor outing this early in the spring.

Manoah walked two batters and didn't allow a run over two innings during Sunday's Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks. He didn't factor into the decision.

Manoah looked solid in his first start this spring and managed to work around a pair of walks by inducing two double plays. The right-hander's fastball was clocked at 93-to-94 mph in the first inning, which is a substantial uptick after he was sitting between 89 and 92 mph last September in the minor leagues, per Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. Manoah's velocity dipped a bit in the second inning, as his fastball sat around 91-92, but it was still a successful spring debut for the 28-year-old, who will need to impress in camp to earn a spot in the Angels' rotation.