MLB Player News

Ward (elbow) threw Friday as he makes his way back from Tommy John surgery, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Ward underwent the procedure in early June of last year. A typical recovery timeline would give him a chance to pitch late in the upcoming season, though he's unlikely to throw a significant number of innings.

Mengden signed a minor-league contract with the Royals on Tuesday.

Mengden spent last season with the KBO's Kia Tigers, finishing with a 3.60 ERA in 21 starts. Prior to that, the 29-year-old righty spent parts of five seasons with Oakland, recording a passable but unexciting 4.64 ERA in 302.2 innings. He's been decent enough that he definitely has a chance to provide rotation depth for the Royals this season, but his career 17.3 percent strikeout rate makes him little more than an innings eater without much fantasy upside.

Canterino resumed throwing live bullpen sessions at the Twins' minor-league camp Feb. 25 and appears to have made a full recovery from the right elbow strain that ended his 2021 season in mid-August, Aaron Gleeman and Dan Hayes of The Athletic report.

The same injury sidelined Canterino on two occasions in 2021, but both he and the Twins training staff seemed to be comfortable with his health heading into the upcoming season after he experienced no issues during his first live bullpen session in six months. A second-round draft choice of the Twins in 2019 following a prolific three-year college career at Rice, Canterino leaned on a mid-90s fastball and two plus off-speed offerings to generate excellent results in his first taste of full-season ball in 2021. Between stops at Low-A Fort Myers and High-A Cedar Rapids, the 24-year-old right-hander struck out 45 batters over 23 innings and held opposing hitters to a .125 average.

Poche (elbow) said Saturday that he received clearance to resume pitching ahead of fall instructionals, and he expects to be a full participant when the MLB lockout ends and big leaugers report to spring training, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The 28-year-old hasn't pitched in a competitive setting since the 2019 postseason after undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career in July 2020. The track record of pitchers returning from two reconstructive elbow injuries isn't a promising one, so the Rays could still look to limit his usage this spring out of an abundance of caution. When he was last healthy during his rookie season in the majors, Poche was one of the top strikeout artists among relievers, whiffing 34.8 percent of the batters he faced.

Bracho signed a minor-league contract with the Red Sox on Sunday.

Bracho will move on to his third organization in as many seasons after spending the entire 2021 campaign at Triple-A Sacramento in San Francisco's system. Over 49 relief appearances for the affiliate spanning 50 innings, Bracho submitted a 4.14 ERA and 1.56 WHIP while striking out 65. Prior to last year, Bracho spent parts of five seasons in the majors with the Diamondbacks from 2015 through 2020, posting a collective 4.82 ERA in 89.2 frames.

Pardinho (elbow) has been throwing off the mound at Blue Jays camp, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Pardinho underwent Tommy John surgery back in February of 2020. He returned to make two rookie-ball appearances in July of last year but was quickly shut down again due to setbacks. The Brazilian righty was seen as at least a moderately interesting prospect prior to his arm troubles, but he'll have to prove that he still has that potential after spending two full years on the sidelines.

Nittoli signed a minor-league contract with the Yankees on Dec. 15.

The 31-year-old right-hander is expected to report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the 2022 season. Nittoli made his MLB debut for the Mariners last June, giving up two earned runs over a lone inning out of the bullpen before he was outrighted off the 40-man roster just over a month later.

Weigel signed a minor-league contract with the Mariners on Monday, Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America reports.

Weigler appeared in three games out of the bullpen for Milwaukee in 2021, surrendering two runs on four hits and four walks while fanning nine over four frames. He didn't fare much better while at Triple-A Nashville, accruing a 7.27 ERA and 1.97 WHIP with a 48:38 K:BB over 43.1 innings. Weigel will likely need to show vast improvement in his command to make it back to the big leagues in the future.

Powers signed a minor-league contract with the Tigers on Tuesday, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.

The 29-year-old righty has yet to make his major-league debut. He had a poor 5.40 ERA in 48.1 innings at the Triple-A level in the Diamondbacks' and Padres' systems last season, though his 28.4 percent strikeout rate was at least somewhat encouraging.

Weiss signed a minor-league contract with the Angels on Nov. 28.

After being cut loose by Cleveland last May, Weiss landed a minor-league deal with the Mariners and finished the campaign at Triple-A Tacoma, with whom he posted a 4.31 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 39.2 innings. The 29-year-old right-hander, who last appeared in the big leagues in 2018 with the Reds, will likely report to Triple-A Salt Lake with his new organization.