MLB Player News

Garcia was scratched from the lineup ahead of Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins with an illness, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.

Garcia showed up to the ballpark Saturday with a sore throat and fever and was sent home. Expect Garcia to be shelved for a couple days, but it doesn't appear to be any sort of long-term issue for the Nationals' second baseman. Darren Baker stepped into Saturday's lineup in place of Garcia.

Kelly signed a minor-league contract with the Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

After a long stint in the Korea Baseball Organization with the LG Twins, Kelly returned stateside last summer, linking up with the Reds on a minor-league deal. He was quickly moved up to the big-league roster and made a pair of appearances out of the Cincinnati bullpen, registering a 5.06 ERA and 4:1 K:BB across 5.1 innings. The 35-year-old will report to Triple-A Reno with his new organization and will look to impress early on during the minor-league season with the hope of getting a promotion to Arizona.

The Rockies placed Lawrence on waivers Saturday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Lawrence regressed notably last season, finishing the year with a 6.49 ERA and 1.78 WHIP over 59.2 innings. He is now available to be picked up by any team willing to bring him in as additional bullpen depth, though he's still eligible to pitch for Colorado while on waivers.

Manager Terry Francona said Saturday that Steer (shoulder) could begin the season on the injured list, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Steer was scratched from the lineup ahead of Saturday's game against the Padres due to his injured shoulder, and he elected to receive a cortisone shot after an examination, per Wittenmyer. This will force the 27-year-old to pause all activities for the next few days, and there's no telling at this point how long it will be before he's cleared to play in games.

The Mets placed Scott (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Feb. 12 make room for the signings of Pete Alonso and Drew Smith (elbow), Joe DeMayo of SNY reports.

The 25-year-old right-hander underwent a hybrid Tommy John and internal brace procedure on his elbow last September and is set to miss the entire 2025 campaign. Scott could be a factor in the Mets' rotation plans in 2026 if he makes a full recovery.

Garcia was scratched from the lineup ahead of Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.

It's unknown why Garcia was taken out of the starting nine, but the Nationals should offer some clarity in the near future. Darren Baker will step in to cover second base and bat sixth.

Smith has been dealing with a bone bruise in his ankle since last June, but he doesn't think the issue has affected his swing, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Smith rolled his ankle against the Yankees in a game last summer while trying to break up a double play, but the issue didn't lead to him missing any time. However, Smith's offensive numbers took a nosedive after the incident, as he batted just .215 with five home runs over 74 games across the remainder of the regular season. Manager Dave Roberts suggested Saturday that the ankle issue may have been at least partly to blame for the All-Star catcher's dropoff, stating, "I do believe the foot was kind of impeding the swing." Due to the lingering effects of the bone bruise -- which he has stated mainly affects him when he runs -- Smith didn't make his Cactus League debut this season until Friday, when he went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts while starting behind the plate. There doesn't seem to be any concern that Smith is in danger of missing any regular-season time due to the injury, though it's worth noting that general manager Brandon Gomes implied that the Dodgers' depth could lead to more off days for Smith in 2025, stating, "Having a really deep lineup assuming we're healthy allows you to potentially give him a day here and there where maybe we wouldn't have in the past."

Manager Carlos Mendoza said that Acuna is fine after getting hit in the arm by a pitch in the second inning of Saturday's game, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

The Mets will take another look at him Sunday, but it seems Acuna escaped the incident with nothing more than a bruise. In five games this spring, the 22-year-old infielder has gone 2-for-10 with an RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases -- one of which came after he was plunked Saturday.

Assad (oblique) will begin the season on the injured list, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.

Assad is aiming to resume throwing off a mound sometime next week, but the Cubs have determined that he won't have enough time to work his way back before the beginning of the season. With Assad now out of the running, Colin Rea, Jordan Wicks and Ben Brown will spend the rest of camp competing for the fifth spot in Chicago's Opening Day rotation.

Atlanta reassigned Shreve to minor-league camp Saturday.

Shreve fired three scoreless innings during Grapefruit League play, but Atlanta will opt to keep him in their minor-league system to begin the new season. The 34-year-old southpaw posted a 2.65 ERA and 0.85 WHIP across 34 frames in Triple-A last year, and he could earn a call to the majors with similar production.