MLB Player News

Littell's contract was selected by the Giants on Friday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Littell served as a non-roster invitee this spring but was unable to break camp with the club after he posted a 4.50 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in 10 innings. He should mainly pitch in lower-leverage roles for San Francisco.

Hentges will take the rotation spot that had belonged to Logan Allen, who was demoted Wednesday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

Allen beat out Cal Quantrill for Cleveland's fifth starter job but lost the position after struggling to a 9.19 ERA in his first five starts. The team won't turn to Quantrill to replace him, however, but will lean on Hentges instead. Hentges has given up four runs (three earned) in 5.2 innings of relief in his major-league debut this season. He skipped over Triple-A after struggling to a 5.11 ERA in 26 starts at the Double-A level in 2019.

Ponce de Leon was placed on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation Friday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

The move was backdated to Thursday, so Ponce de Leon could be eligible to return as soon as May 9, but it's unclear if the issue is minor enough for that to be a possibility. Jake Woodford was recalled in a corresponding move.

Solomon was optioned to the alternate training site Friday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander was promoted at the start of the week but didn't make an appearance during this stint in the majors. Solomon appeared in two games earlier this season and allowed one hit and one walk with two strikeouts over two scoreless innings.

Scrubb (shoulder) was activated from the 10-day injured list Friday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

The 26-year-old opened the season on the shelf with inflammation in his right shoulder, but he's now healthy and ready for his 2021 debut. Scrubb made his big-league debut last season and posted a 1.90 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 24:20 K:BB across 23.2 innings.

Hernandez (biceps) threw a bullpen session Wednesday, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Hernandez couldn't complete three innings in his first start of the year before being shut down with biceps inflammation. Wednesday's milestone is a significant one, but he'll still have to build up his pitch count and likely appear in rehab games before returning to the active roster. It's not yet clear when the Marlins expect that to happen.

Megill landed on the 10-day injured list with a right forearm strain Friday.

Megill joined the big-league roster on Monday and made a pair of appearances before suffering the injury. In his first taste of big-league action, he threw two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out two. Kyle Ryan was recalled in a corresponding move.

Kelly revealed Friday that he underwent surgery on his right shoulder back in November, Rob Bradford of WEEI reports.

Kelly had reportedly been dealing with shoulder troubles since late in the 2019 season, which were eventually revealed to be related to a cyst on a nerve in his shoulder. Recovery from the procedure will wind up costing him the first month of the season, but he's expected to make his season debut in the second week of May.

Uceta will serve as the opener for what's expected to be a bullpen game Friday against the Brewers, Eric Stephen of SBNation.com reports.

The Dodgers entered the season with enviable rotation depth, but injuries to David Price (hamstring) and Tony Gonsolin (shoulder) will cause them to go with a bullpen game already before the first month of the season is complete. Uceta, who's yet to pitch above Double-A, has pitched almost exclusively as a starter in the minors, but it doesn't look as if he'll be asked to go deep in this contest. In 123.1 minor-league innings in 2019, he recorded a 2.77 ERA, 27.0 percent strikeout rate and 9.4 percent walk rate.

Fairbanks (shoulder) threw at Tropicana Field on Wednesday and is slated to face live hitters this weekend with an eye on being activated from the injured list thereafter, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Fairbanks apparently looked very good per Topkin, and if all goes well with the planned live session over the weekend, the right-hander will likely accompany the Rays on their West Coast road trip that begins Monday and then be activated at some point during the week. Fairbanks logged three appearances this season before suffering his shoulder strain, posting a 3.38 ERA and 1.88 WHIP across 2.2 innings.