MLB Player News

VerHagen will begin the season as a member of the Cardinals' bullpen, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

VerHagen and Jake Woodford were both in contention for the fifth starter's role, but the two will instead head to the bullpen as multi-inning options after manager Oliver Marmol announced Wednesday that Jordan Hicks secured the final opening in the rotation. The 31-year-old right-hander has previously seen big-league action in parts of six seasons with Detroit from 2014 through 2019, but he spent the past two years in with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan, where he was one of the top starters in Nippon Professional Baseball. He returned stateside this winter on a two-year, $5.5 million deal with St. Louis and looked to have an inside track on a starting role, but a 10.13 ERA and 1.50 WHIP over his eight innings during the Grapefruit League slate prompted the Cardinals to go in a different direction.

Guerra consistently hit 98-99 mph during Cactus League play, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The right-handed reliever isn't guaranteed a spot on the Padres' Opening Day roster, though he finished spring training on a positive note by pitching four straight scoreless outings and frequently approaching triple-digit velocity. However, Guerra has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, and he has thrown only 50 frames across both the majors and minors since 2019. One thing working in his favor as he seeks a spot on the 28-man Opening Day roster is that he is out of minor-league options.

Manager Oliver Marmol said Wednesday that Hicks will be part of the Cardinals' Opening Day rotation, John Denton of MLB.com reports. Hicks will make his first start Tuesday against the Royals in St. Louis.

The Cardinals said at the end of March that Hicks would serve as a reliever in 2022 with a potential for save chances, but the club will reverse course with Jack Flaherty (shoulder) on the injured list to begin the regular season. The right-hander hasn't yet started at the major-league level, and he posted a 5.40 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 10 innings across 10 relief appearances last year. Despite his low innings counts over the past three years, the Cardinals are viewing him as a traditional starter rather than an opener, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. Hicks may have lighter workloads in his first couple of outings, but the Cardinals plan to have him steadily build up his pitch counts during his starts.

Wilson secured a spot in the Pirates' Opening Day rotation and is scheduled to make his first start of the season Sunday in St. Louis, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

Wilson emerged from the Grapefruit League season with a 6.94 ERA and seven walks allowed over 11.2 innings, but he at least excelled at making bats miss by racking up 16 strikeouts. After Wilson posted a lowly 14.3 percent strikeout rate over 100.2 big-league innings between Atlanta and Pittsburgh in 2021, the limited spring sample offers some encouragement that the 24-year-old might be able to take a big step forward in that area. Even if the uptick in strikeouts carries over to the regular season, Wilson will still need to curb both his walks and home runs allowed before he emerges as a usable option in most mixed leagues.

Lawrence was recalled by the Rockies on Wednesday.

Lawrence was sent to Triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday, but he'll join the Rockies' Opening Day bullpen after Lucas Gilbreath (undisclosed) and Robert Stephenson (undisclosed) were placed on the COVID-19 injured list Wednesday. Lawrence made 19 relief appearances for the Rockies last year and posted an 8.64 ERA and 2.40 WHIP in 16.2 innings.

Stephenson was placed on the COVID-19 injured list Wednesday.

Stephenson won't be available out of the bullpen to begin the regular season, but it's not yet clear whether he's tested positive for COVID-19. Justin Lawrence and Jordan Sheffield were recalled from Triple-A Alburquerque after Stephenson and Lucas Gilbreath (undisclosed) landed on the COVID-19 IL.

Gilbreath was placed on the COVID-19 injured list Wednesday.

It's not yet clear whether Gilbreath has tested positive for COVID-19, but he'll be unavailable for the start of the regular season. Robert Stephenson (undisclosed) was also placed on the COVID-19 IL, so Justin Lawrence and Jordan Sheffield were called up to provide bullpen depth to begin the year.

The Mets designated Yamamoto for assignment Tuesday.

Yamamoto failed to land a spot on the Mets' Opening Day roster, and he'll now lose his spot on the 40-man roster ahead of the regular season. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he'll be a candidate to provide rotation depth this year if the Mets' pitching staff deals with additional injuries.

Thompson worked 1.1 scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League finale against the Mets, allowing one walk and striking out two. He also threw a wild pitch.

Control issues are nothing new for Thompson, who posted a 7:3 K:BB through 5.2 innings this spring after managing a 12.4 percent walk rate in his rookie campaign last year, split between the Padres and Nationals. The 24-year-old right-hander has the stuff to emerge as a high-leverage arm if he can learn to harness it, but for now Thompson will handle a middle-relief role for Washington.

Cousins struck out two batters and picked up a save in Tuesday's spring game.

Cousins was knocked around a bit this spring, allowing five earned runs over 4.2 innings. However, he did post a 6:1 K:BB and ended the exhibition season on a high note. He won't be in position to pick up saves when the regular season gets underway, but he does figure to be part of the Brewers' late-inning mix, and the 13.2 K/9 he posted in his rookie season suggests he does have closer's stuff.