MLB Player News

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski confirmed Monday that Wheeler and the Phillies have been in negotiations on a long-term contract extension, Chris Nelsen of the Associated Press reports. "Zack would not mislead you. Of course, we've talked," Dombrowski said, after Wheeler relayed last Wednesday that he had been in touch with the Phillies on a new deal. "It is a priority. We would love to get that deal done."

Wheeler is heading into the final season of the five-year, $118 million deal he signed with the Phillies in December 2019. Though he's been an All-Star for only one of the first four seasons of his deal, Wheeler has provided an excellent return on the Phillies' investment, going 43-25 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 21.3 K-BB% across 101 starts. He's set to turn 34 years old in May, but Wheeler has shown no signs of decline and has arguably supplanted Aaron Nola -- who inked a seven-year, $172 million deal with the team in November -- as the staff ace. Wheeler said he prefers to have an agreement on an extension in place prior to Opening Day, and both sides should have plenty of incentive to hammer out a deal before spring training comes to a close.

Gray will be the Cardinals' Opening Day starter March 28 against the Dodgers, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The team has not yet officially made the announcement, but Goold says that's coming. Gray is the obvious choice to garner the Opening Day nod for St. Louis after signing a three-year, $70 million contract in November. He was the American League Cy Young runner-up as a result of a 2.79 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 183:55 K:BB over 184 innings covering 32 starts for the Twins in 2023.

Dunning will get the start Friday in the Rangers' Cactus League opener against the Royals, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.

Dunning will draw the start Friday, with Cody Bradford scheduled to follow. Dunning posted a 12-7 record in 2023 with a 3.70 ERA and 140:55 K:BB over 172.2 innings, earning a raise to $3.323 million for 2024 in his first year of arbitration eligibility. He'll open the season at the back end of Texas' starting rotation.

Cobb (hip) threw 12 pitches off a mound Sunday and will have another session Tuesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Cobb had left hip surgery in October and isn't expected to be available until the middle of the season. Previous reports indicated he may begin facing hitters in spring training, but he's still got a long way to go before he can push for a rotation spot. With Cobb out early in the season, Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn are considered frontrunners to round out the Giants' rotation.

Skubal touched 100 mph on his last pitch of live batting practice Tuesday, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Skubal averaged 95.8 mph with his four-seamer last season in his first year back from elbow surgery after averaging 94.1 mph with his four-seamer in 2022 before the operation. While reading too much into the velocity of one pitch in live BP isn't advisable, it certainly seems like an encouraging sign for the lefty's ability to hold or perhaps even improve upon his velocity gains in 2024.

Bubic (elbow) is scheduled for a bullpen session Tuesday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Bubic hasn't thrown off the mound since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2023, and the left-hander should be able to return sometime over the summer if there's no major setbacks. Bubic started three games in 2023 prior to the injury and went 0-2 with a 3.94 ERA, 16 strikeouts and two walks over 16 innings pitched.

Anderson (elbow) told reporters Tuesday that he's hoping to be ready to return by the middle of the summer, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

It's a vague timetable, which is not unexpected with Anderson about 10 months removed from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander also revealed that he's altered his delivery a bit since resuming a throwing program, dropping his arm angle so he's not as over-the-top as he used to be. Anderson showed initial promise but struggled in 2022 before missing nearly all of 2023, so Atlanta won't necessarily be counting on him to contribute in 2024.

Bradish (elbow) played catch from 90 feet Tuesday, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.

It was revealed last week that Bradish is dealing with a partial UCL tear in his right elbow, but he's now played catch a couple times after being given a platelet-rich plasma injection. The right-hander will begin the season on the injured list and it's up in the air as to when he might be game-ready, but the hope is that the rest and rehab route will work.

Strider unveiled a curveball during a live batting practice session against Matt Olson on Monday, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

After the BP session, Strider was reluctant to label his new toy as a true curveball, instead suggesting it was just a modified version of his slider. "The terminology, you know, on all this stuff - sweeper, slider, cutter, curve, slurve, who knows what anything does? I think it's just manipulating the ball a little more, seeing what kind of different shapes I can get." The right-hander has become one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball while relying on two pitches, a fastball that in 2023 had an average velocity of 97.2 mph (93rd percentile) and a slider that generated a 55.3 percent whiff rate. Strider did sprinkle in a changeup once in a while last year (7.3 percent), but if he can add another breaking pitch as well, at-bats against him could become even more frustrating.

Ryu is expected to finalize a four-year contract with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization in the coming days, Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency reports.

Ryu started 11 games for the Blue Jays this past season after completing his recovery from June 2022 Tommy John surgery, posting a 3.46 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with a 38:14 K:BB across 52 innings. The 36-year-old became a free agent this offseason, and after apparently not receiving any MLB offers to his liking, he's elected to return to the KBO, where he began his professional career before heading to North America in 2013. Though the length of his deal with Hanwha isn't known, given his advancing age, Ryu's MLB career could well be over.