MLB Player News

Small has allowed one run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts over 3.2 innings across two Cactus League games.

Small isn't getting a particularly long look so far, which doesn't bode well for him making the major-league bullpen. Small worked as a starter in the minors up until last season. He has 10.1 major-league innings under his belt with the Brewers, but he's yet to display much success in the majors. The southpaw would likely end up in a low-leverage role if he happens to break camp with the Giants.

The Rockies optioned Hollowell to Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday.

Hollowell made 26 relief appearances for the Rockies last season and had a 5.88 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 32:18 K:BB across 33.2 innings. The 26-year-old struggled during spring training with seven runs allowed, including three homers, across 4.2 innings.

The Rockies optioned Pint to Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday, Patrick Lyons of Just Baseball reports.

Pint gets the boot even after tossing six scoreless innings this spring, though that did come with a 5:4 K:BB. The hard-throwing right-hander has major control issues but the swing-and-miss stuff to be a late-inning reliever if he can just get the walks to a passable level.

Diaz topped out at 98 mph with his fastball while striking out the side in a perfect fifth inning during Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

Seeing his first game action in almost exactly a year after he blew out his knee in the WBC last March, Diaz fanned Jesus Sanchez, Avisail Garcia and Jon Berti and showed no rust at all in his return to the mound. The right-hander fired nine of 14 pitches for strikes, and he's on track to resume the closing duties that saw him record exactly 32 saves in 2021 and 2022 for the Mets.

Iglesias walked one and struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief during Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Twins.

The Atlanta closer followed Spencer Strider in the game and took over for the sixth inning, fanning Willi Castro and Carlos Santana before escaping a bit of a jam created by an error on the part of minor-league second baseman Luke Waddell. Iglesias has a 4:2 K:BB through three spring innings, and he appears on track to be ready for Opening Day after reaching 30 saves for the fourth time in his career in 2023.

Sewald struck out two over a hitless and scoreless inning in Monday's spring game against Oakland.

Sewald made his fourth Cactus League appearance and left a scoreless spring intact after pitching a perfect seventh inning. His velocity was down compared to last season, per Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports, but manager Torey Lovullo downplayed that as the normal ramping up through the course of spring training. Additionally, none of the 14 pitches (nine strikes) he threw were a changeup -- a pitch he's incorporating to his arsenal this spring to prevent batters from keying in on his fastball. "I need something to drop to make my fastball look even more like it rises," Sewald told Jesse Borek of MLB.com about the new pitch. "So that's kind of the point -- that people can't cheat to my fastball." Sewald's allowed two hits and one walk while striking out three over four scoreless spring innings as he prepares to be Arizona's closer.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday that Wilson is one player who has caught his attention in camp, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Wilson is with the Dodgers on a minor-league contract, so he's not on the 40-man roster and is far from guaranteed to break camp with the big club. However, given Roberts' comments, there's at least a chance that the left-hander hurler could make the Opening Day roster, and he's made his presence known with a 10:1 K:BB over four innings across four spring outings (though he's also given up two runs on five hits). Wilson has had plenty of success in the majors with 18 career saves and 132 career holds, but he hasn't pitched in the big leagues since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of 2022.

Gilbreath (elbow) is expected to face hitters by late March, MLB.com reports.

Gilbreath underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2023 and is progressing in his recovery. He'll begin the season on the injured list, though it's unclear how long he'll remain sidelined in the new campaign.

The Nationals optioned Ward to Triple-A Rochester on Monday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Ward spent all of last season on the Nationals' active roster or on the injured list after Washington selected him in the Rule 5 Draft, but his 6.37 ERA and 1.61 WHIP over 35.1 innings out of the bullpen suggested that he wasn't quite big-league ready. Now that he's eligible to be optioned to the minors, Ward could end up spending the bulk of the campaign at Rochester, where he'll be a part of the rotation after he was limited exclusively to relief work in the big leagues in 2023.

The Pirates reassigned Heller to minor-league camp Sunday, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

The 32-year-old holds a 3.06 ERA over 50 career relief appearances at the big-league level over parts of five seasons, but his resume wasn't enough to win him a spot in the Pirates' Opening Day bullpen. After missing much of the 2021 and 2022 seasons while recovering from arm injuries, Heller enjoyed good health in 2023, but control proved to be a concern for him at both the major-league and Triple-A levels. He'll likely need to string together some quality outings at Triple-A Indianapolis early on in the season to garner a look in Pittsburgh.