MLB Player News

Megill will be among the competitors for the fifth spot in the Mets' rotation following the injury to Kodai Senga (shoulder), Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Adrian Houser appear locked into the first four spots, leaving Megill, Joey Lucchesi, Jose Butto and Max Kranick to fight for the final one. Megill offers arguably the best upside of the bunch, but he struggled in 2023, collecting a 4.70 ERA and 105:58 K:BB over 126.1 innings.

Cronenworth (wrist) will start at first base and bat third in Thursday's Cactus League game against the Dodgers.

Cronenworth didn't play after Aug. 25 last season due to a fractured right wrist, but he avoided surgery to address the injury and appears to have experienced no limitations thus far in spring training. With Xander Bogaerts making the move to second base in 2024 and Ha-Seong Kim entrenched as an everyday starter at shortstop, Cronenworth should see an even higher volume of starts at first base during the upcoming season than he did in 2023, when he made 94 starts at the position. Cronenworth is still expected to carry middle-infield eligibility in most leagues this season after he made 30 starts at the keystone in 2023.

Anderson agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract with the Marlins on Thursday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

The fit is sensible, as the Marlins desperately needed a shortstop and Anderson was in need of a starting opportunity, which he likely hopes will allow him to show his dreadful 2023 season was an aberration. Prior to delivering a disastrous .245/.286/.296 slash line last year, Anderson had slashed .318/.347/.474 over his prior four campaigns. The 30-year-old will settle in as Miami's everyday shortstop, pushing Jon Berti back to a utility role.

Keller agreed to a five-year contract extension with the Pirates on Thursday, Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com report.

Keller avoided arbitration for 2024 with a one-year, $5.44 million contract last month, but the new deal cancels out that agreement and will take effect beginning this season, per Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. The deal is worth $77 million in total and will buy out what would have been the first two years of Keller's free agency. Keller, who turns 28 in April, is coming off a 2023 campaign in which he won 13 games while posting a 4.21 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 210:55 K:BB across 194.1 innings covering 32 starts.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Thursday that Senga has been diagnosed with a moderate posterior capsule strain in his right shoulder, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Senga will begin the season on the injured list and will be shut down from throwing "until symptoms subside and strength returns," per Stearns. A more specific timetable won't be known for a while, but the absence does figure to be a fairly lengthy one. The Mets will need to dip into their rotation depth while Senga is on the shelf, with Adrian Houser, Tylor Megill, Jose Butto and Max Kranick all in the mix to see starts.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said recently that Arroyo will receive the bulk of his reps this spring at third base, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

He'll also be mixed in at first base. Arroyo is capable of playing both middle infield spots, as well, but it sounds like his focus will be on the corners, and he could even push for ample playing time at a third base spot that's wide open for the Brewers. Also competing for starts at the hot corner along with Arroyo will be Andruw Monasterio, Joey Ortiz, Tyler Black and Owen Miller. Milwaukee is also giving Sal Frelick some reps at third base, although it doesn't appear he's a real candidate for starts there, at least not initially.

Bouchard is the top candidate to start in right field for the Rockies to begin the 2024 season, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports.

Brenton Doyle and Nolan Jones will almost certainly account for the majority of at-bats in center and left field, respectively, to begin the season in Colorado. However, there are more significant questions in right field, with Bouchard and Hunter Goodman looking to be the primary options. Saunders suggests that the Rockies desire stability at the position, which could give Bouchard the edge to begin the campaign. In 140 career plate appearances, he's maintained a .432 wOBA, though he's also struck out at a 27.9 percent clip.

India (toe) took grounders at second and third base during the early days of spring training, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. He's also been exposed to the outfield.

India, who was Cincinnati's primary second baseman in 2023, was informed this offseason that Matt McLain (oblique) will see most of the opportunities at the keystone, leaving India to take on a utility role. That transition has begun. Reds manager David Bell said India will get opportunities at first base, second base, third base, left field and designated hitter. The 27-year-old India played third base in college, but the other fielding positions will be new.

Ashcraft added a changeup to his repertoire during the offseason, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Ashcraft busted out the new pitch during a live session last Saturday, throwing four of them. The right-hander said he's working on the pitch in camp and is not ready to use it in games. The change adds a fourth pitch to his arsenal, which includes a cutter, slider and sinker. "If I can throw the two-seamer for strikes and the slider for the strikes, I think everything else will take care of itself," Ashcraft said. While the Reds are delaying his Cactus League debut, the club maintains Ashcraft is on track for Opening Day.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are each expected to start a contest in the team's season-opening two-game set in Korea that begins March 20, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Glasnow and Yamamoto were both acquired in the offseason as part of a major overhaul of the team's pitching staff, and it appears that both hurlers will get a chance to make their regular-season Dodgers debut in Korea. It isn't yet clear which of the two will get the ball first, but Glasnow may be the slight favorite given that Yamamoto hasn't yet thrown an MLB pitch. Los Angeles has a unique opening schedule in that it plays three exhibition contests in California following the Padres series before resuming the regular season against St. Louis on March 28. With that in mind, it's possible that both hurlers could pitch twice within the team's first four regular-season contests.