MLB Player News

Payamps was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays on Saturday.

Payamps has been waived four times during the offseason, but he'll return to the Blue Jays after he was recently waived by the Red Sox. The right-hander has been unable to firmly secure a roster spot to this point in the offseason, but he'll now compete for a bullpen role with Toronto heading into the regular season.

Pearson (groin) played catch from 90 feet Saturday, Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reports.

Pearson was diagnosed with a Grade 1 right groin strain Thursday, but the team didn't sound too concerned about the injury. The right-hander felt good after his throwing session Saturday, but he'll be re-evaluated Sunday. It's not yet clear whether the injury will impact his availability for Opening Day. A better timetable for his return could be known based on how he feels after his evaluation Sunday.

Castillo (elbow) was placed on the 60-day injured list Saturday.

Castillo's placement on the injured list is simply procedural since he was recently diagnosed with a UCL tear that will require Tommy John surgery. As a result, he'll miss the entire 2021 campaign and could also be sidelined to begin 2022. The move will clear a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Jordan Humphreys, who was claimed off waivers in a corresponding move.

De Los Santos is showing off increased velocity this spring, touching 96 mph in an appearance Saturday against Toronto, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

De Los Santos' fastball averaged a modest 93.3 mph when he last appeared in the majors in 2019. He didn't get any big-league opportunities last season and wound up getting designated for assignment. He's shown very little in 30 big-league innings (three starts and nine relief appearances) thus far in his career, but he's still just 25 years old, so it's certainly possible that a jump in velocity could get him back onto the active roster as at least a middle reliever at some point this year.

Kimbrel allowed four earned runs on four hits in an inning of work in Friday's Cactus League game against Cleveland. He struck out one.

This was not the type of Cactus League debut Kimbrel was looking for coming off a 2020 season in which he posted a 5.28 ERA across 15.1 innings. The veteran closer was even worse in 2019, posting a 6.53 ERA in 20.2 innings of work. This is just one outing, of course, but if Kimbrel continues to struggle during spring training, fantasy managers won't have much confidence in him to start the year. The Cubs may also lose confidence quickly, leaving Rowan Wick (ribs) and possibly Brandon Workman as options to take over as the closer at some point.

Crochet is viewed by manager Tony La Russa as "a valuable part of the final third of the game," James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Crochet was viewed as a starter by the White Sox when they selected him 11th in last year's draft, but he shot straight to the majors in September without any previous professional experience and impressed, making five scoreless appearances in the regular season and one more in the playoffs. The White Sox are now faced with the choice of keeping him in that relief role as a big-leaguer or sending him down to the minors to stretch out, and appears as though they're choosing the former. He's seemingly thought to be ready for high-leverage work, though he won't provide a ton of fantasy value in standard setups as a single-inning reliever unless he's getting saves, which won't be happening as long as Liam Hendriks is healthy.

Martin was scratched from his scheduled relief outing during Saturday's game against Arizona due to back spasms.

Martin was expected to make his Cactus League debut Saturday, but he'll be pushed back due to his injury. The severity of the issue remains to be seen, and it's not yet clear when the southpaw will be ready to return.

Fulmer (personal) is starting Saturday's spring game against the Orioles, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Fulmer was away from the team for several days following the birth of his child, but he'll take the mound to begin Saturday's contest. Barring any setbacks, the right-hander will have plenty of time to build up in time for Opening Day.

Voth would be an option for the final spot if the Nationals open the season with a six-man rotation, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

The right-hander is currently battling Joe Ross and Erick Fedde for the No. 5 job, but with Jon Lester (thyroid surgery) now questionable for Opening Day another spot could open up, and given the overall state of the team's veteran and injury-prone top of the rotation, all three could wind up getting turns in the early part of the season. The Nats also only have two scheduled off days over the first three weeks, giving them extra incentive to take it easy on the likes of Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. Voth made 11 starts in 2020, but his 6.34 ERA and 1.51 WHIP over 49.2 innings limit him to being a deep-league streaming option at best even if he does break camp in the rotation.

Mata has been diagnosed with a slight tear of the UCL in his throwing arm, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

Mata's injury will sideline him for some amount of time, but the Red Sox are going to try and repair the tear through treatment and are not planning to send him for surgery as of now.