MLB Player News

Valdespina, who was hit below the belt on a comebacker on Monday, will visit a urologist Tuesday as a preventative measure, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Stefan Stevenson reports.

He is OK following what was likely quite a painful injury, but will be checked out by a doctor just to be safe. Valdespina, who reached Triple-A for the first time toward the end of last season and received an invite to big league camp this year, only struck out 41 batters in 64 innings of relief in 2016, so he does not project to be a very interesting reliever for fantasy purposes.

Jimenez is an "extreme long shot" to make the Opening Day roster, according to manager Brad Ausmus, MLB.com's Jason Beck reports.

The team has not completely eliminated the idea that Jimenez could break camp on the 25-man roster, but it sounds like the Tigers are planning on him starting the year back at Triple-A Toledo. He has the repertoire of a future closer, but is unlikely to work the ninth inning for the big league club while Francisco Rodriguez is around.

Manaea, who came on in relief of starter Kendall Graveman in the second inning of Monday's 5-4 Cactus League victory over the Giants, gave up only one walk over two innings. He struck out two.

Manaea was highly impressive against Giants starters, particularly with his changeup. The pitch was responsible for both of his strikeouts, the second which came against Buster Posey with Denard Span on first. Manaea's work drew praise from teammates and Posey himself, and the second-year hurler gave himself some high marks as well. "I think I threw every single one for a strike," Manaea said. "[My slider] was probably the best I've thrown in a couple years. Last year was different because I wasn't on the team, and this year I'm a little more confident coming in and can work on things and not really have to worry about trying to impress everyone."

Graveman drew the start and fired a scoreless inning in Monday's 5-4 Cactus League win over the Giants, giving up one double and one walk while also recording a strikeout.

Graveman set down Denard Span and Brandon Crawford before running into trouble, issuing a free pass to Buster Posey and a double to Hunter Pence. However, he wiggled out of trouble by fanning the dangerous Brandon Belt to wrap up the inning. "I need to get ahead of hitters and not have those two-out walks, but I'll take the positives," Graveman said. "I felt good, I thought my stuff was good. Then, to get in a situation with two outs where you need to make pitches, and we did."

Johnson allowed three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four over 2.2 innings in Monday's game against St. Louis.

Johnson was not pleased with his effort Monday, surrendering a two-run homer and walking three batters after getting ahead 1-and-2 in the count. He was particularly focused on the inconsistent command of his fastball, which is not a good sign for a pitcher that has pedestrian stuff. The ability to place the ball in desired locations is key to Johnson's success.

Garton returned from his illness and pitched 1.2 innings Monday, allowing one run with one strikeout in the win over the Phillies.

The right-hander only allowed one hit in his return outing, although that happened to be a solo shot from Maikel Franco. He posted a 4.35 ERA across 39.1 innings in his rookie campaign last season, and likely will serve as a middle reliever for the Rays this season.

McHugh is behind the rest of the Astros starting pitchers in his throwing arm after coming into spring training with a "general dead arm," Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Although the dead arm set him behind in his throwing program, the right-hander feels confident that he'll be able to get in the four starts he needs to be ready for the beginning of the season. He's been throwing for about a week now, and will likely toss his first bullpen session early next week. When he's able to return, he'll slide into the middle of Houston's rotation, where he posted a 4.34 ERA while registering 8.6 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 184.2 innings last season.

Pomeranz (elbow) threw a 45-pitch side session Sunday, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports.

Pomeranz is scheduled for his first live batting practice session later this week and is on pace to be ready for the start of the season.

Leone struck out three while allowing one hit, one walk and one run over an inning of work in his spring debut Sunday against the Phillies.

Leone joined the Jays during the offseason, marking the 25-year-old's third change of uniform through his first four years in the league. The righty was impressive his rookie season in Seattle, achieving a 2.17 ERA with 70 strikeouts over 57 appearances (66.1 innings). Since then, Leone's struggled, to say the least, tallying just 44 MLB innings while seeing his career ERA balloon to 4.07. Leone is still young, and the Jays are hopeful he'll develop into a strong middle-relief option in the years ahead.

Putnam (elbow) has thrown off a mound several times over the past month and faced live hitters last week for the first time since last June, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Putnam was a key bullpen piece last season, posting a 2.30 ERA in 25 appearances before his barking elbow was no longer manageable and he underwent surgery to remove bone fragments from his arm. The 29-year-old hurler admitted to feeling "a little bit of residual soreness" this spring, but he chalked that up to not having pitched in a while.