MLB Player News

Barlow will be sidelined indefinitely after being diagnosed with right shoulder soreness Thursday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Fellow reliever Jimmy Lambert is also battling shoulder soreness and is expected to miss 10-to-14 days, while Barlow's absence is expected to be longer. The former Ranger is in camp as a non-roster invitee and could have pitched his way into a prominent role given the uncertainty in the White Sox's bullpen, but now his status is cloudy.

Lambert will be sidelined for 10-to-14 days after being diagnosed with right shoulder soreness Thursday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Lambert made one scoreless Cactus League appearance on Feb. 25 but hasn't pitched since. Now he'll be shelved for a while and seems likely to begin the season on the injured list. Lambert has collected a 4.33 ERA and 98:50 K:BB over 99.2 innings over parts of four seasons with the White Sox.

Manager Ron Washington said Thursday that Wantz will be used as a starter by the Angels this spring, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Wantz started a Cactus League game this past weekend and went two innings and will remain stretched out for the time being. The 28-year-old hasn't been deployed extensively as a starting pitcher since 2019 in the minors, but the Halos are in need of rotation depth. Ultimately, if Wantz makes the Opening Day roster it would still likely be as a reliever.

Stephenson (shoulder) admitted Thursday that he's not sure he'll be ready in time for Opening Day, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Stephenson was able to play catch Wednesday as he works his way back from right shoulder soreness. While the reliever is confident he'll be pitching in Cactus League games before the schedule runs out, he's less certain about getting in enough work to be ready by March 28. The good news is that this does not currently appear to be a long-term injury, rather Stephenson could just need more time to be fully ramped up. The setup man was signed to a three-year, $33 million contract in January.

Giles struck out the side in a perfect third inning during Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies.

The veteran righty wasn't facing minor-league scrubs either -- Giles fired nine of 15 pitches for strikes while fanning Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm. Giles is in camp as an NRI and has thrown only eight total MLB innings across the last three seasons, so he's a long shot to win a spot on the 26-man roster, but at one time he was an elite high-leverage reliever before a series of arm issues derailed his career. If Giles has regained something close to his old form, he could still have something to offer a big-league bullpen.

Giants manager Bob Melvin said Thursday that Hjelle is a candidate to move into the rotation with Tristan Beck (arm) sidelined, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Giants' starting pitching depth already seemed shaky and is now further thinned out with Beck out indefinitely due to an aneurysm in his upper arm. Melvin would prefer to keep Hjelle in long relief but now has no choice to consider him as a rotation option. The Giants also figure to look for help outside the organization. All 23 of Hjelle's major-league appearances have come in relief, but they've often covered multiple innings, and he was a starter almost exclusively in the minors.

Beck was diagnosed Thursday with an aneurysm in his upper right arm, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

The diagnosis was made after Beck visited with a vascular specialist regarding an issue with his pitching hand. Beck will weigh his treatment options over the next few days before deciding what to do, but surgery would seem to be a possibility. Giants manager Bob Melvin said Thursday that Beck won't be ready for Opening Day and could be sidelined for a while, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The right-hander had tentatively been penciled into the rotation, but his long-term status is now up in the air.

Atlanta reassigned Widener to minor-league camp Thursday.

Widener logged 49 appearances in the majors with the Diamondbacks between the 2020 and 2022 seasons before making a one-year stop in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2023 with the Samsung Lions. After compiling a 4.54 ERA and 1.32 WHIP over 115 innings for the Lions, Widener returned stateside this offseason, settling for a minor-league deal with Atlanta. As anticipated, Widener fell short in his bid for Atlanta's Opening Day roster, so he'll likely open the 2024 season as a member of the Triple-A Gwinnett rotation.

Pivetta is expected to start Saturday's split-squad game against Tampa Bay, Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Pivetta prepared for the outing by tossing two innings in the bullpen Wednesday. He had been tentatively scheduled to start Tuesday, but Kutter Crawford started instead. Saturday will be Pivetta's spring debut.

Winckowski walked one and struck out one over two hitless and scoreless innings in Wednesday's spring start against Washington.

Winckowski, making his Grapefruit League debut, walked the first batter he faced then retired six in a row, submitting his first piece of evidence that he should be Boston's fifth starter. The right-hander is transitioning from the bullpen -- he excelled in relief last season -- so Winckowski needs to show he can sustain through longer outings. His main competition for the final rotation spot is Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock.