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Kris Bubic SP | LAD
Royals' Kris Bubic: Good start to spring
Bubic has allowed just one run and three hits over five innings across his two spring starts so far. He's struck out four and walked two.
Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports Bubic was satisfied with his breaking balls as he struck out three in three innings versus the Athletics on Thursday. In addition to a curveball, the lefty has debuted a slider in spring training, which could make him harder to hit in 2022. He's also working on upping his velocity on his fastball from the 90.9 mph average he had last season. Bubic is expected to work more toward the back end of the Royals' rotation, though he'll likely face pressure from prospects like Jonathan Hernandez, Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch to maintain a starting role this season.
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Aaron Civale RP | CHC
Guardians' Aaron Civale: Strikes out seven Thursday
Civale allowed a run on two hits and struck out seven over four innings in a no-decision versus the Mariners on Thursday.
Civale was excellent in his second spring start. He's allowed three runs, five hits and a walk across seven innings through those two appearances. The right-hander is a lock for the Guardians' rotation this season -- he should be toward the front end of the starting group behind ace Shane Bieber. Civale was limited to 124.1 innings in 21 starts last year, recording a 3.84 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 99:31 K:BB while missing time to a finger sprain in the second half of the campaign.
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Lucas Giolito SP | SD
White Sox's Lucas Giolito: Avoids arbitration
Giolito and the White Sox agreed to terms on a one-year, $7.45 million deal Friday, avoiding arbitration.
Giolito had his third straight strong season last year, with his ERA rising negligibly from 3.48 to 3.53. He did experience a drop in strikeout rate, which came in at 27.9 percent after finishing north of 32 percent in each of the previous two seasons, but the overall package is still enough to make him a frontline starter.
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Wade Miley SP | CIN
Cubs' Wade Miley: Shut down for 10 days
Miley has been shut down for 10 days due to left elbow inflammation, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.
Miley was delayed to start camp, but the Cubs claimed that wasn't due to an injury but rather due to the team's program for veterans. As it turns out, he's dealing with an injury after all, as an MRI revealed inflammation after he complained of elbow soreness. He's expected to resume throwing once his 10-day shutdown period is over, but he'll still have to finish his spring build-up at that point, so he'll miss multiple weeks to begin the season even if he avoids further setbacks.
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Merrill Kelly SP | ARI
Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Sticking around through 2024
Kelly signed a two-year, $18 million extension with Arizona that includes a team option for a third season Friday.
Kelly hasn't been anything special since making his major-league debut at age 30 back in 2019, but he's been perfectly adequate rotation filler, posting a 4.27 ERA. His low 20.2 percent strikeout rate caps his fantasy upside, but his 6.6 percent walk rate has largely been able to offset that, allowing him to prevent runs at a roughly league-average rate. He's now 33 years old and will be 35 by the time his extension ends, but the Diamondbacks evidently feel that he could still have something to offer at that age.
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Max Meyer SP | MIA
Marlins' Max Meyer: Moves to minor-league camp
Meyer was reassigned to the Marlins' minor-league spring training Friday, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.
Meyer received a late-season promotion to Jacksonville last year but spent most of the campaign at Double-A Pensacola, where he posted a 2.41 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 113:40 K:BB over 101 innings. It was the first professional season for the 2020 third-overall pick, and the 23-year-old could see the majors later this year if he continues that level of production at the Triple-A level.
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Luis Severino SP | ATH
Yankees' Luis Severino: Confirmed for Saturday's start
Severino (arm) will start Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Tigers and expects to throw about 60 pitches, Marly Rivera of ESPN.com reports.
Severino has recently been slowed by arm soreness, but he had no issues during Wednesday's bullpen session and is poised to return to game action. The 28-year-old was previously expected to throw about 40 pitches, but the increased workload Saturday is a good sign for his potential availability for Opening Day, barring any further issues.
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Kyle Muller SP | ATH
Braves' Kyle Muller: Rough outing Friday
Muller allowed four runs on six hits and two walks over 1.2 innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays. He struck out two.
The left-hander remains in the race for a rotation spot, but Friday's outing did him no favors. Muller's 8.53 ERA and 7:3 K:BB through 6.1 spring innings would seem to put him behind Kyle Wright, Huascar Ynoa and Tucker Davidson, and he will likely begin the season with Triple-A Gwinnett.
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James Paxton SP | BOS
Red Sox's James Paxton: Throwing bullpen sessions
Paxton (elbow) has progressed to throwing a bullpen session and is ahead of schedule in his recovery from elbow surgery, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.
Paxton was throwing off flat ground in mid-March, and he's apparently advanced to mound work over the past couple weeks. The veteran left-hander is returning from Tommy John surgery in April of 2021 and hadn't been expected to see game action until the middle of summer, but it's possible he'll be ready to return a bit earlier.
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Jacob deGrom SP | TEX
Mets' Jacob deGrom: Officially scratched Friday
DeGrom (shoulder) was officially scratched from his scheduled Grapefruit League start Friday and will undergo an MRI, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.
The 33-year-old experienced some shoulder tightness while playing catch Thursday, and his availability for Opening Day is now in jeopardy. DeGrom was limited to 15 starts last season due to elbow issues, and a shoulder injury is an ominous way to begin the 2022 campaign. He should be considered day-to-day until the team provides more information on the injury.