MLB Player News

Bello (forearm) played catch from 75 feet Tuesday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Bello was shut down for nearly a week before playing catch Monday. He extended the session Tuesday, with manager Alex Cora indicating everything went well. Bello, one of seven candidates for the rotation, is expected to take a little longer than the rest to join the spring rotation.

Kluber will make his first spring start Feb. 28 against the Marlins, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora revealed his planned rotation for the first few spring games with Kluber being the first projected regular member of the rotation. The manager did not mention projected starters beyond Tuesday's night game against Miami. A slate of minor league pitchers will throw Friday's seven-inning exhibition against Northeastern University, a traditional spring kickoff for Boston. Saturday's starter is TBA while Josh Winckowski (Sunday) and Kutter Crawford (Monday) will follow.

Wentz seems unlikely to earn a rotation or bullpen spot with the Tigers to begin the year, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Wentz made seven starts for Detroit last year and posted a solid 3.03 ERA, but Spencer Turnbull and Matthew Boyd are back in the mix, joining Eduardo Rodriguez, Matt Manning and newcomer Michael Lorenzen. A number of those pitchers missed significant time in 2022, however, so Wentz figures to provide good insurance if a need arises in 2023. He's off the fantasy radar at the moment but could see his value rise if he gets a regular gig in the majors.

Mahle (shoulder) threw live batting practice Tuesday, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

It marks his time facing hitters this camp after Mahle missed the final few weeks of last season with a shoulder injury. "I thought he looked strong," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "His camp right now is going to be basically a normal camp for him. He looks really good right now. He's feeling right where he wants to be." Not only is Mahle entering camp healthy, he's also coming in with a new slider after working at Driveline over the winter. The righty holds a 3.95 ERA and 396:128 K:BB over 348.1 innings since the start of the 2020 season.

Whitlock (hip) is being eased into pitchers' fielding practice during camp, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Going through full fielding drills will be the last thing Whitlock does this spring as he comes back from hip surgery. The good news is he's been throwing regular bullpen sessions and his arm feels on track, so there shouldn't be any question about the pitcher's Opening Day availability. Whitlock is expected to be part of the Red Sox' rotation.

Sale (wrist) will throw live batting practice Saturday, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.

Sale threw another bullpen session Tuesday and will face hitters for the first time in camp this weekend. The veteran left-hander missed most of the 2022 season with a stress fracture in his ribcage, a fractured finger and a fractured wrist, but all appears to be good with Sale so far this spring. It's not clear when he might make his Grapefruit League debut, but the expectation is that he'll be ready for Opening Day.

Ryan has added a new slider and a split-finger pitch to serve as his changeup this spring, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. "Joe's slider, to me, really stood out. I'd call it a new pitch. He may call it the same pitch and a different version of it. But that's really exciting," said manager Rocco Baldelli.

Ryan threw his fastball 60.1% of the time last season with success (.300 slugging against), but he gave up eight of his 20 home runs allowed on his slider (.497 slugging allowed). He also visited the Driveline baseball performance center to help with the new pitches. Ryan doesn't have great velocity (91.5 average mph fastball), but he has an extremely deceptive four-seam fastball that helped him generate an above-average 9.2 K/9 and 12% swinging-strike rate. As a flyball pitcher (27.7% GB%), home runs can be a worry (1.2 HR/9), so an improved offspeed repertoire could work wonders. Monitor the progress of his new pitches this spring.

Bello (forearm) threw off flat ground Monday.

This marks the first time Bello has thrown a baseball in nearly a week after the right-hander experienced tightness following a side session. Boston manager Alex Cora said the club will evaluate Bello on Tuesday before determining a next step.

DeGrom (side) played catch Monday for a second consecutive day, Jesse Borek of MLB.com reports.

DeGrom is ramping up at a measured pace after the Rangers held him back from throwing last week. Texas manager Bruce Bochy would not put a firm date on when the right-hander will throw a bullpen session, but the manager expects that to occur later this week.

Dunning (hip) struck out five on Monday in a live bullpen session, Jesse Borek of MLB.com reports.

Dunning saw his 2022 season come to an early end in September because of season-ending hip surgery. The right-hander's ability to face hitters this early in camp suggests he's back to full health, but he'll still have to battle for a spot in the back end of the Texas rotation if he endures no setbacks in camp. Dunning finished last season with a 4.46 ERA, 137:62 K:BB and 1.43 WHIP over 153.2 innings, but he finds himself further down the depth chart to begin 2023 after the Rangers picked up Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney during the offseason.