MLB Player News

Manager David Bell said Monday that Duarte has made the Reds' Opening Day roster, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The 25-year-old righty will be one of 11 relievers joining the Reds for Opening Day. Duarte will be getting his first taste of the big leagues in 2022, after the Reds elected to add him to the 40-man roster over the winter following a successful 2021 campaign spent between four levels of the minors. Over his 19 appearances spanning 23.2 innings last season, Duarte submitted a 4.56 ERA and 1.39 WHIP while striking out 32 and securing eight saves.

Manager David Bell said Monday that Farmer has made the Reds' Opening Day roster, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Cincinnati will make Farmer's addition to the roster official by selecting his contract at some point shortly before Thursday's Opening Day game in Atlanta. The right-hander earned a spot in the bullpen after striking out nine and allowing three baserunners over five innings in Cactus League play.

The Rangers optioned Alexy to Triple-A Round Rock on Monday.

Alexy's demotion was expected after the Rangers informed Spencer Howard that he will open the season as the team's No. 5 starter. In the meantime, Alexy will continue to pick up regular starts for Round Rock in anticipation of a spot in the big-league rotation opening up at some point.

Mayza gave up one hit and struck out two in a scoreless inning during Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees.

Not that it means a lot to work the ninth inning in a spring game, but Mayza did get credit for a save as he faced a handful of Yankees minor-leaguers plus journeyman depth catcher David Freitas. After posting a career-high 18 holds, a 0.98 WHIP and a solid 27.1 percent strikeout rate in 53 innings for the Blue Jays last season in his return from Tommy John surgery, Mayza figures to be the team's top left-handed option out of the bullpen in 2022.

Dominguez has allowed one run on three hits in four innings this spring, striking out eight batters while walking none.

Dominguez saved 16 games with a 2.95 ERA and a 32.0 percent strikeout rate as a rookie back in 2018, but he took a step back in 2019 before missing most of the last two seasons due to Tommy John surgery, throwing just a single inning late last year. His past experience in the ninth inning made him look like a dark horse closer candidate at the start of the offseason, but the additions of Corey Knebel, Brad Hand and Jeurys Familia pushed him down the depth chart. If he carries his spring form into the regular season, however, it's not out of the question that he could quickly rise back up the ranks.

The Twins announced Monday that Duran will be included on the Opening Day roster.

Duran was limited to just 16 innings in 2021 -- all at Triple-A St. Paul -- due to an elbow issue, but he made enough of an impression in spring training to push his way on to the Opening Day roster. During Grapefruit League play, Duran has turned in six scoreless innings while striking out eight batters and reaching triple digits with his fastball. He could easily be sent to Triple-A with a slow start to the season, but he could also quickly find a high-leverage role in the bullpen.

The Cardinals selected Pallante's contract Monday and added him to the Opening Day roster.

The 23-year-old produced 3.2 scoreless innings on the mound this spring, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four over three appearances. Though he made 22 starts between Triple-A Memphis and Double-A Springfield in 2021, Pallante is expected to serve as a multi-inning arm out of the bullpen for St. Louis.

Howard is day-to-day after recently experienced back spasms, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

Howard is currently not throwing, putting his availability for Opening Day in question. The reliever appeared in 54 games with the Pirates in 2021, struggling to a 5.60 ERA and 1.47 WHIP over 45 innings while securing 12 holds and blowing his only save opportunity. One silver-lining to the season was that Howard produced an eye-popping 12.0 K/9, improving on a career-best 11.6 K/9 from the year prior.

The Twins selected Coulombe's contract Monday and added him to their Opening Day roster.

The veteran lefty was attending MLB camp as a non-roster invitee and pitched his way into the Minnesota bullpen this spring, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings with two hits and two walks while striking out six in five appearances. Coulombe previously spent the 2021 campaign with the Twins, compiling a 3.67 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 34.1 innings.

Melancon has been "toying" with new grips on pitches, explaining his poor results thus far in Cactus League outings, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Melancon is experimenting with new grips on his cutter, two-seam fastball and changeup, the last of which he plans to incorporate more heavily into his mix in 2022. The Diamondbacks' projected closer has allowed six runs on seven hits and four walks over 3.1 innings. Saying he's "not concerned" about the results at this point, Melancon talked about testing multiple grips in the relatively safe environment of spring training action, and he can always revert to previous grips. As for the changeup, he said, "I didn't have a change-up for a long time. I've developed one. My goal is to throw one this year and use it often. That's been a major part of this for me." So, the pitcher feels there's nothing to see here in terms of his Cactus League performance.