MLB Player News

Lopez threw 44 pitches (25 strikes) in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees, allowing one hit and two walks over 1.2 scoreless innings. He struck out one.

The right-hander has yet to give up a run this spring, posting a 3:3 K:BB over 3.2 scoreless innings in two starts. Lopez had a breakout 2024 in his return to a starting role, delivering a 1.99 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 148:42 K:BB in 135.2 innings for Atlanta, and he's aiming to handle a 200-inning workload in 2025.

The Brewers agreed to terms on a one-year, $4 million contract with Quintana on Monday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Quintana was left dangling on the free-agent market into March but has finally found a new club. The deal is worth $4-5 million, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com, with more possible in incentives. It's not clear whether the veteran left-hander will have enough time to ramp up for Opening Day, but once he's ready Quintana will join the Brewers' rotation. The 36-year-old made 31 regular-season starts for the Mets last season, collecting a 3.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 135:63 K:BB over 170.1 innings.

The Pirates claimed Lawrence off waivers from the Rockies on Monday, Patrick Lyons of JustBaseball.com reports.

Lawrence posted a 6.49 ERA and saw his strikeout rate dip to just 16.1 percent and sinker velocity fall to 94.6 mph on average in 2024. However, he had an above-average 24.4 percent strikeout rate from 2022 to 2023 and his sweeper has been a very effective pitch at times. Lawrence is under team control through 2028 and the Pirates felt he was worth a roll of the dice.

Miami reassigned Tarnok (ankle) to minor-league camp Monday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Tarnok had been attending big-league spring training as a non-roster invitee, but he never made a serious run for a spot on Miami's season-opening roster after injuring his left ankle last week. Once healthy, the right-hander will likely serve as a swingman for Triple-A Jacksonville.

Baldwin has a chance to open the season as Atlanta's starting catcher after Sean Murphy suffered a fractured rib Friday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

The injury will keep Murphy out for the rest of the spring, and at a minimum, he'll be out for the first week or two of the season. Baldwin, the club's top prospect, slashed .276/.370/.423 with 18 home runs between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett in 2024. He is not yet on the 40-man roster, which could work against him if Atlanta is confident Murphy will not miss much time. However, Baldwin offers much more upside than the other catching options in camp (Chadwick Tromp, Sandy Leon and Curt Casali).

Murphy will be out for 4-to-6 weeks after being diagnosed Monday with a fractured rib on his left side, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Murphy suffered the injury when he was hit by a pitch Friday, and he will need a stint on the injured list to begin the season. The door is now open for top prospect Drake Baldwin to begin the season as Atlanta's starting catcher. However, Baldwin is not on the 40-man roster, so the club could go with Chadwick Tromp and one of Sandy Leon or Curt Casali if they're confident Murphy's absence will be relatively brief.

Faucher has tossed three scoreless innings across his three Grapefruit League appearances, allowing one hit and hitting another batter while striking out two.

Though the sample size is small, Faucher's excellence thus far in spring could give him an early leg up on emerging as the Marlins' preferred option at closer heading into Opening Day. While his ratios over his 53 total appearances with Miami in 2024 aren't eye-popping (3.19 ERA, 1.40 WHIP), he shined after the All-Star break with a 2.75 ERA (2.10 FIP) and 21.2 K-BB% before spending most of September on the injured list due to a shoulder impingement. Now healthy again, Faucher has resembled the dominant reliever he was over his final two months of the 2024 campaign.

Cronin (knee) is scheduled to make his second appearance of Grapefruit League play Monday versus the Astros, Kevin Barral of FishonFirst.com reports.

In his first season with Miami in 2024, Cronin submitted a 4.35 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 72:25 K:BB across 70.1 innings over 56 relief appearances, but he didn't pitch in the final week of the campaign after landing on the injured list due to left knee tendinitis. The injury doesn't seem to have delayed him in spring training, but Cronin may need to close camp on a high note to ensure he clinches a spot in Miami's Opening Day bullpen. He lacked command in his first spring outing Thursday against St. Louis, recording two outs while allowing two earned runs on two hits while also hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch.

Grichuk will be included in the lineup in Monday's Cactus League game against the Cubs after missing a couple of days with lower-back tightness, Jack Sommers of SI.com reports.

Grichuk was initially scratched from Arizona's spring lineup Saturday due to what the team referred to as glute discomfort, but the injury was apparently back-related. Assuming he emerges from spring training fully healthy, Grichuk looks poised to fill a short-side platoon role for Arizona at designated hitter or in the corner outfield.

Fraley went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and a stolen base in Sunday's spring game against the Cubs.

Fraley launched his first homer and stole his first base in Cactus League action Sunday. At the very least, he'll be in the lineup against right-handers this season; the outfielder has a .504 OPS in 229 career plate appearances against southpaws. If healthy, Fraley's in line for 110-120 games, which is enough for him to post 20-plus steals, as he's done in each of the last two seasons.