MLB Player News

Alvarado (neck) will be on the Phillies' Opening Day roster, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

Alvarado has been limited to a single Grapefruit League appearance due to a neck issue. Previous reports indicated the lefty was likely to open the season on the injured list, but he's evidently convinced the Phillies that he's ready to go. The team will use a 10-man bullpen to start the year, so it can avoid using him in the first few games if he still needs time to finish building up.

The Orioles reassigned Diplan to minor-league camp March 27, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Diplan will open the season at Triple-A Norfolk, likely as a member of the bullpen. He reached the majors for the first time in 2021, making 23 appearances for Baltimore and submitting a 4.50 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across 30 innings.

The Orioles reassigned Garcia (elbow) to Triple-A Norfolk and placed him on the affiliate's 7-day injured list Tuesday, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.

Garcia likely won't report to Norfolk for at least a few more months, as he's expected to continue his rehab from his March 2021 Tommy John surgery at the Orioles' spring training facility in Florida. If he steers clear of any setbacks in the final stages of his throwing program, Garcia could make his debut for Norfolk at some point during the summer.

Mears (elbow) is expected to begin a throwing program next week, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

The Pirates placed Mears on the 60-day injured list March 15, so the 25-year-old right-hander is still in line miss the first two months of the season while he recovers from arthroscopic elbow surgery. The fact that he's on track to start throwing soon will at least give him a chance to rejoin the Pirates once the 60-day window comes to an end.

The Pirates placed Howard on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a mid-back strain, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.

According to Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com, Howard's back injury had resulted in him being shut down from throwing as of Monday, so he seems likely to require more than the minimum amount of time on the shelf. Howard collected 12 holds and struck out 60 over 45 innings while filling a setup role for the Pirates in 2021, but poor ratios (5.60 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) made it difficult to extract value from him even in NL-only leagues.

The Pirates placed Kranick on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a right forearm strain, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.

According to Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com, Kranick first experienced tightness in his right arm while throwing a live batting practice during the lockout. According to Conor Foley of The Scranton Times-Tribune, Kranick was deemed asymptomatic of the injury shortly after reporting to camp and has resumed facing hitters, but he'll still have to start the season on the IL after not making an appearance during the Grapefruit League slate. Pittsburgh will likely want to see Kranick make at least two rehab starts before activating him from the IL, and since he has minor-league options remaining, he could end up settling at Triple-A Indianapolis once he's reinstated.

Otto was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday.

Otto failed to win a spot in the Opening Day rotation but remains one of the team's top candidates to call on when they need another starter. The 26-year-old was knocked around to the tune of a 9.26 ERA in his six-start debut last season, but that hid a promising set of peripherals, as he was slightly better than average in all three of strikeout rate (25.2 percent), walk rate (7.2 percent) and groundball rate (44.4 percent).

The Angels released Ponce de Leon on Monday.

Ponce de Leon attended the Angels' big-league camp as a non-roster invitee, but he was reassigned to the minors last week after failing to secure a spot in the big club's Opening Day rotation or bullpen. Though Ponce de Leon was expected to provide starting depth at Triple-A Salt Lake, the Angels will instead allow him to pursue work elsewhere to begin the 2022 season.

Poche was optioned to Triple-A Durham on Tuesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

While Poche won't be on the team to start the year, the Rays will rotate through their relievers with options throughout the season, so he should get his chance before too long. The lefty has missed the last two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and had an unimpressive 4.70 ERA in his 51.2-inning debut back in 2019, though that came with a strong 34.8 percent strikeout rate.

Long has allowed five runs on six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts across 4.2 innings in three Cactus League games.

Long made a solid impression Monday versus the Athletics with a perfect inning. He's been hit by the long ball, allowing two home runs in his three appearances. The southpaw is still viewed as a starter by the Giants, but it's possible he could serve as a multi-inning reliever early in the season -- the five-man rotation is locked in but will still need to stretch out in the first few weeks.