MLB Player News

Barlow will be sidelined indefinitely after being diagnosed with right shoulder soreness Thursday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Fellow reliever Jimmy Lambert is also battling shoulder soreness and is expected to miss 10-to-14 days, while Barlow's absence is expected to be longer. The former Ranger is in camp as a non-roster invitee and could have pitched his way into a prominent role given the uncertainty in the White Sox's bullpen, but now his status is cloudy.

Lambert will be sidelined for 10-to-14 days after being diagnosed with right shoulder soreness Thursday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Lambert made one scoreless Cactus League appearance on Feb. 25 but hasn't pitched since. Now he'll be shelved for a while and seems likely to begin the season on the injured list. Lambert has collected a 4.33 ERA and 98:50 K:BB over 99.2 innings over parts of four seasons with the White Sox.

Manager Ron Washington said Thursday that Wantz will be used as a starter by the Angels this spring, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Wantz started a Cactus League game this past weekend and went two innings and will remain stretched out for the time being. The 28-year-old hasn't been deployed extensively as a starting pitcher since 2019 in the minors, but the Halos are in need of rotation depth. Ultimately, if Wantz makes the Opening Day roster it would still likely be as a reliever.

Stephenson (shoulder) admitted Thursday that he's not sure he'll be ready in time for Opening Day, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Stephenson was able to play catch Wednesday as he works his way back from right shoulder soreness. While the reliever is confident he'll be pitching in Cactus League games before the schedule runs out, he's less certain about getting in enough work to be ready by March 28. The good news is that this does not currently appear to be a long-term injury, rather Stephenson could just need more time to be fully ramped up. The setup man was signed to a three-year, $33 million contract in January.

Pivetta is expected to start Saturday's split-squad game against Tampa Bay, Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Pivetta prepared for the outing by tossing two innings in the bullpen Wednesday. He had been tentatively scheduled to start Tuesday, but Kutter Crawford started instead. Saturday will be Pivetta's spring debut.

Winckowski walked one and struck out one over two hitless and scoreless innings in Wednesday's spring start against Washington.

Winckowski, making his Grapefruit League debut, walked the first batter he faced then retired six in a row, submitting his first piece of evidence that he should be Boston's fifth starter. The right-hander is transitioning from the bullpen -- he excelled in relief last season -- so Winckowski needs to show he can sustain through longer outings. His main competition for the final rotation spot is Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock.

Sborz allowed two runs on a hit and a walk while striking out one over one relief inning during Wednesday's spring game against the Dodgers.

Sborz made his Cactus League debut, and the results were different from the last time he pitched in a competitive environment; the right-hander shut the door on Arizona for the final out of the 2023 World Series. Giving up a two-out, two-run home run to the No. 9 hitter Wednesday wasn't ideal, but it should not prevent Sborz from filling an expected role as part of manager Bruce Bochy's high-leverage bullpen crew. He could see save opportunities for a team with a volatile closer situation.

Bradford allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two over two scoreless innings during Wednesday's spring start against the Dodgers.

Bradford made his second Cactus League start in a quest to claim the fifth spot in the rotation. To that end, he's reintroduced a curveball to his repertoire to go along with a four-seamer, slider and changeup. "It's just to have something to steal strikes with," Bradford said. "It was a good pitch for me [in college], so I'm trying to get back to basically figuring out how to do that again." Or, if the rotation doesn't work out for Bradford, the lefty could land a bullpen spot. He pitched in both roles in 2023, including five relief appearances during Texas' postseason run, when he allowed one run over 7.2 innings.

Mariners manager Scott Servais said Santos (lat) checked out well after playing catch Tuesday, Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710 AM reports.

According to Servais, Santos was throwing hard while playing catch, but he's still not been cleared to advance to mound work as he looks to shake off right lat soreness. Santos could get the green light to throw a bullpen session after he plays catch again later this week.

Stephan will be shut down for three weeks with a deep bone bruise in his right elbow, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

Stephan's elbow is structurally sound, but the Guardians will shelve the reliever for a while to let him recover from the bone bruise. Considering that Opening Day is just over four weeks away, Stephan undoubtedly will require a stay on the injured list. The 28-year-old has been a key setup man for Cleveland, posting a 3.73 ERA and 27.5 percent strikeout rate over the last three seasons.