MLB Player News

Meyer (shoulder) threw live batting practice Friday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Meyer's 2024 season ended in early September due to right shoulder bursitis, but it appears he is entering camp this spring without any restrictions. The young right-hander, who was the third overall pick in the 2020 Draft, could have a leg up for one of the spots in the Marlins' rotation given the significant upside he offers. Meyer posted a 5.68 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 46:19 K:BB through 57 big-league innings in 2024, but he has a career 151:45 K:BB over 126 Triple-A innings.

Alvarez retooled his swing mechanics at Maven Baseball Lab this offseason on the recommendation of J.D. Martinez, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports. "I think I can put the ball in the air more, hit the ball to the opposite way more," Alvarez said this week. "I'm very powerful; I don't have to pull every pitch."

The 23-year-old catcher is coming off a disappointing 2024 campaign at the plate, managing just 11 homers and a .710 OPS in 100 big-league games after slugging 25 long balls over 123 games for the Mets in 2023. Alvarez's decline was fueled by an increase in his groundball rate (career-high 52.2 percent) and decrease in his hard-hit rate (30.8 percent, nearly a five percent drop from the year before). While at the lab, Alvarez focused on tweaking his stance and lower-body movement to eliminate a tendency to pull off the ball rather than staying square and driving pitches back up the middle. "He wants to be a complete hitter, not just a power hitter," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "In order for anyone to be a complete hitter, you need to use the whole field." Alvarez's career .221 batting average in the majors doesn't suggest he'll suddenly be challenging for batting titles, but there is plenty of room for improvement in his 2024 performance.

The Diamondbacks signed Graveman (shoulder) to a one-year, $1.35 million contract Friday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

The deal could reach $3.3 million if he hits all of his incentives. Graveman underwent right shoulder surgery in January of 2024 to repair a torn labrum and clean up his rotator cuff. He is now considered fully healthy, although the Diamondbacks figure to ease him into things in spring training. If he's healthy and able to regain his pre-surgery form, Graveman could be part of the late-inning bullpen mix in Arizona. The 34-year-old has a 2.74 ERA and 193:82 K:BB over 187.1 innings since 2021, when he became a full-time reliever.

White will spend most of spring training working as an infielder in an attempt to win a roster spot as a super-utility player, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The 30-year-old is out of minor-league options, and adding some positional versatility should help his bid for a roster spot with Atlanta in need of a utility infielder. White has four appearances at second base as a big leaguer but has otherwise exclusively played the outfield, though he did see infield action earlier in his baseball career.

Giants manager Bob Melvin said the team will "take a hard look" at Encarnacion in the designated hitter spot, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Melvin added that Encarnacion "impressed us last year" during a 35-game cameo, slashing .248/.277/.425 with five home runs. While Encarnacion had a 28.6 percent strikeout rate and just a 4.2 percent walk rate, he also boasted an absurd 95 mph average exit velocity and 15 percent barrel rate. The 27-year-old can also be used at first base and the corner outfield spots, but his clearest path to playing time is at DH, where his chief competition will be Wilmer Flores (knee).

Acuna (knee) said Friday that he's planning to "take it easy" on the basepaths as he returns from left ACL surgery, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Acuna estimated that he's running at "90 to 95 percent" and said his surgically repaired left knee feels much more stable than his right knee did following a prior ACL surgery. However, it sounds as though he does not intend to be as aggressive on the bases as he was before this most recent operation. While it's an understandable stance to take as Acuna tries to stay healthy, it does put a damper on his stolen base outlook for fantasy purposes. Acuna will not play in Grapefruit League games and is expected to miss roughly the first month of the season, although there's been no concrete timeline provided by Atlanta.

Garcia signed a minor-league contract with the Dodgers on Thursday that includes an invitation to spring training, Aram Leighton of JustBaseball.com reports.

Garcia split the 2024 season between the Angels and Red Sox and struggled to a 4.88 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across 59 innings. He still maintained a solid 53:15 K:BB so there is some hope for a bounceback, though he'll have to fight for a roster spot in a loaded Dodgers' bullpen.

Though veteran newcomer Ryan Pressly figures to be Chicago's nominal closer, Hodge should still see save opportunities this season, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

This aligns with previous rumblings that Hodge would still be in the mix for saves even with Pressly joining the Cubs via trade. It remains to be seen how exactly duties will be split up, and Pressly is probably the top Chicago reliever to target at the moment, but Hodge should remain on the fantasy radar heading into the season. The 24-year-old impressed as a rookie last year, posting a 1.88 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 52 strikeouts across 43 innings to go along with nine saves.

Shaw's chances of starting the season as Chicago's regular third baseman seemingly improved when the club missed out on free agent Alex Bregman, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports.

Shaw has seemingly had the inside track on the starting gig at the hot corner in recent weeks, though Bregman was looming in the background. However, now that the latter has signed with the Red Sox, Shaw seems to have a clearer path to the role. The 23-year-old will still need to have a solid spring, and the Cubs could still look to add a veteran option before camp ends, but any move now might be more along the lines of improving the bench. Shaw's fantasy outlook is on the rise, and he could be a breakout performer in 2025 given his prospect pedigree.

General manager Mike Rizzo said Thursday that Sykora likely won't be ready to pitch in games until May due to a hip injury, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.

Per Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports, the right-hander underwent "minor labrum surgery" this offseason. Sykora enjoyed a great season at Single-A Fredericksburg last year, finishing with a 2.33 ERA and 0.91 WHIP alongside a 129:27 K:BB across 85 innings. However, his hip will force him to miss the first portion of the 2025 minor-league season. Once the 20-year-old is healthy, the Nationals may elect to bump him up to High-A Wilmington given the success he had in his first year as a pro.