MLB Player News

Ponce de Leon fired three scoreless innings in a Grapefruit League loss to the Mets on Friday, allowing two hits while recording four strikeouts.

The right-hander encouragingly refrained from issuing any free passes, a particularly gratifying outcome for Ponce de Leon considering how hard he worked on his command during the offseason. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports Ponce de Leon effectively utilized his high fastball and curveball during the outing while also experimenting with a new grip on his slider picked up from teammate Austin Gomber. Ponce de Leon remains a candidate for one of the Cards' two open rotation spots, but manager Mike Shildt envisions the 28-year-old fitting in seamlessly almost anywhere on the staff. "He can make a real impact because his stuff is really good," Shildt said. "He's got multiple weapons that the eye test will tell you and the measurables will tell you that are real weapons."

Hudson allowed two earned runs on three hits across 2.2 innings in a Grapefruit League loss to the Braves on Thursday. He struck out four.

The right-hander was making his second appearance of the spring, and after cruising through a pair of frames versus the Mets in his debut Saturday, Hudson wasn't anywhere near as smooth Thursday. The right-hander will work as a starter again in 2020 after posting an impressive 16-7 record and 3.35 ERA across 33 appearances last season, but the Cardinals have opted to stretch him out in long relief thus far this spring while auditioning a number of candidates for their two current vacancies in the rotation.

Kelly pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday in his first appearance of spring training, allowing one hit and striking out two. His fastball velocity was in the mid-90s and his curveball clocked in at 89 mph, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Kelly struggled to stay healthy at the end of last season, logging only five innings in September. He indicated following Wednesday's outing that he feels healthy this spring due in part to an altered offseason training regimen focused on finding the right strength training for his lean body type. Kelly also visited the Driveline Baseball complex over the winter and emerged with a slightly different fastball grip aimed at improving his spin rate. That could help Kelly maintain more consistency this season -- he posted a 5.28 ERA prior to the All-Star break in 2019 but improved that mark to 3.48 during the second half.

Cabrera started Wednesday's Grapefruit League win over the Astros, firing two scoreless innings during which he allowed one hit and no walks while recording two strikeouts.

The hard-throwing left-hander, who's considered one of many candidates for one of the two open spots in the Cardinals' rotation to start the season, made a very strong case for his candidacy in his first taste of spring action. Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cabrera allowed just one ball to leave the infield over his pair of frames and was able to hit 96 mph on the radar gun with his sinker. The 23-year-old also recorded two called third strikes with his curveball and was extremely sharp, throwing 19 of 23 pitches for strikes, including 10 over an 11-pitch stretch in the second inning. Goold also reports Cabrera is focused on being more aggressive this spring, especially with his breaking pitch, with the goal throwing it from the same arm slot and with the same velocity as his fastball.

Lambert spent the offseason reworking his mechanics in an effort to increase his fastball velocity and allow his changeup to gain more effectiveness, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

After getting a callup from Triple-A Albuquerque last June, Lambert found minimal success, turning in a 7.25 ERA, 1.74 WHIP and 5.7 K/9 across his 19 starts. Those poor results prompted the Rockies to have him skip his final start of the season in September so he could get a head start on modifying his delivery in 2020, something he hopes can make him a full-time contributor in the Colorado rotation. Competing with the likes of Antonio Senzatela, Jeff Hoffman and Chi Chi Gonzalez for one of two available rotation spots this spring, Lambert helped his case for an Opening Day roster berth with a strong outing in his Cactus League debut Tuesday. He kept the Indians off the board in two innings, striking out three while allowing no hits and issuing a walk.

The Giants want Gott, who is one of only a couple relievers assured of making the Opening Day roster, to be versatile enough to pitch at any time, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

The 27-year-old righty is out of minor-league options, so he should make the 26-man roster out of camp, but it doesn't sound like he is being groomed for a ninth-inning role. Manager Gabe Kapler said that if a pitcher grabs a hold of the closer role during spring training, he would name an official closer, but he is also open to going into the season with undefined roles. Tony Watson is the most accomplished reliever of the bunch, so he is the de facto favorite to lead the team in saves, but this could be a situation where there is not one pitcher getting enough consistent save opportunities to provide fantasy value in mixed leagues.

Coonrod has added a cutter to his arsenal this spring, Mark W. Sanchez of KNBR.com reports.

The 27-year-old righty made his big-league debut last season and finished with a 3.58 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 50 percent groundball rate. Strikeouts eluded him (17.5 percent strikeout rate) and he issued too many walks (13.2 percent), but he was nonetheless effective. His average fastball velocity (96.6 mph) ranked in the 93rd percentile while his curveball spin was in the 90th percentile. With the addition of a cutter, he may be able to keep hitters off balance, which could lead to more strikeouts. Tony Watson is the de facto favorite to open the year as the closer, but there are no defined roles at this point in camp, so Coonrod could pitch his way into a high-leverage role. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out two and blowing a save in one inning during his first appearance of the spring.

Nelson has been shut down from throwing after experiencing lower-body discomfort coming out of Wednesday's bullpen session, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Nelson's latest health-related setback is presumably related to the groin and lower-back injuries that had hampered him earlier in camp. Though Opening Day is still about a month away, Nelson's shutdown likely means that even if he's cleared to resume a throwing program next week, he won't have enough time to get the innings he needs this spring to stake his claim to a rotation or bullpen spot.

Diaz gave up two runs on three hits in an inning of work Wednesday against the Astros, Mike Puma of The New York Post reports.

While his fastball was topping out at 98 mph, Diaz wasn't able to put it where he wanted within the strike zone -- the same issue that marred his 2019 campaign. "I felt good out there," he said through an interpreter after the outing. "A little bit anxious because it was the first time being out there in a real game and facing real batters, but other than that I felt really good." Diaz needed 25 pitches to escape the inning, so he at least got his work in, but the 25-year-old will need to tighten his command before Opening Day if he wants to avoid being on the hot seat as the Mets' closer right out of the gate.

Manager Brian Snitker said Webb (elbow) is healthy and throwing well during Braves camp, but the right-hander is still about a week away from being cleared for his Grapefruit League debut, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Snitker had similar comments about fellow reliever A.J. Minter (shoulder), who is being brought along slowly this spring after his 2019 season ended in early September due to injury, just as Webb's did. The delay in the two pitchers' schedules probably won't put either at risk of missing Opening Day, though the fact that both have minor-league options remaining could factor into Snitker's roster decisions. Webb seemingly has a better case for a spot in the Atlanta bullpen by virtue of his performance last season prior to requiring arthroscopic elbow surgery. Over his 36 appearances, Webb posted a 1.39 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 28:12 K:BB in 32.1 frames.