MLB Player News

The Tigers optioned Wentz to Double-A Erie on Wednesday.

Though Wentz was participating in big-league camp, he was never a realistic option for the Opening Day roster. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2020, Wentz made his return to game action last May, ultimately picking up 13 starts for Erie. Over his 53.1 innings with the affiliate, Wentz submitted a 3.71 ERA and 58:33 K:BB. He may need to do a better job of curbing his walks at Erie early on during the upcoming season before a promotion to Triple-A Toledo is considered.

Whitlock allowed three hits and two walks over two scoreless innings in Tuesday's spring training game against the Rays.

Whitlock followed game starter Rich Hill, who threw two scoreless innings himself, albeit with less base traffic than Whitlock. The two are ostensibly competing for the No. 5 starter job, but the Red Sox understand what Whitlock meant to them last season as a bullpen workhorse. He came up through the Yankees' system as a starter but underwent Tommy John surgery several years ago, and Boston may have found an ideal spot for him as a multi-inning reliever who could also potentially fill a closer role.

Hill allowed two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings in Tuesday's spring training game against Tampa Bay.

Hill kicked off his bid to become the Red Sox's fifth starter Tuesday. Boston manager Alex Cora set the first four in the rotation after he named Michael Wacha as the fourth starter Tuesday. That leaves one job for Hill or Garrett Whitlock, who followed Hill on Tuesday with a couple of scoreless innings himself. However, the Red Sox grew fond of Whitlock's versatility in the bullpen last season, and Cora hasn't ruled out using him to close out games. The 42-year-old Hill will likely be the fifth starter when the regular season opens, but that leaves him on shaky ground when Chris Sale (rib) eventually returns.

Wacha will slot in as Boston's fourth starter, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora confirmed that news Tuesday morning after Wacha worked around four hits to throw three scoreless innings Monday. The right-hander's overall numbers in 2021 -- 5.05 ERA and 4.47 FIP in 29 games (23 starts) for Tampa Bay -- may not entice fantasy managers, but Wacha's final eight appearances tell a different story. He posted a 3.20 ERA and 3.14 FIP to end the season, while holding batters to a .193 batting average and .331 slugging percentage. The difference, he told Christopher Smith of MassLive.com, is that he scrapped the cutter he was throwing in favor of throwing his curveball more often.

Montas started Tuesday's Cactus League loss to the Royals and fired 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing four hits while recording a strikeout.

The right-hander, who, along with rotation mate Sean Manaea has been the subject of trade rumors in recent days, faced 11 batters. Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports Montas hit 96 mph on the radar gun in four of his first five pitches and logged 41 offerings overall. Montas also utilized both his splitter and slider effectively, and if he remains with the team, he's considered the leading candidate to serve as the Opening Day starter versus the Phillies on April 8.

Ryu is scheduled to start Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Tigers, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.

Though he'll be making his spring debut later than most of Toronto's healthy pitchers, Ryu shouldn't be too far behind them from a conditioning standpoint. Before he reported to spring training once the lockout ended, Ryu had been taking part in workouts in South Korea with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization. He contracted COVID-19 during his training program, but he was asymptomatic after testing positive for the virus and made a swift recovery. He'll head into his age-35 campaign coming off a down 2021 in which he finished with a 4.37 ERA, his worst mark in any of his seven MLB seasons where he made multiple starts.

The Tigers optioned Faedo (elbow) to High-A Lakeland on Tuesday, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

On the comeback trail after his January 2021 Tommy John surgery, Faedo appears to be ready for game action. He started throwing bullpen sessions two months ago before throwing his first live batting practice session last week, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com. Though Faedo's last minor-league action came at Double-A Erie, the Tigers will have him drop down a level to begin the 2022 campaign so he can pitch in more favorable weather in Florida as he looks to shake off the rust following the lengthy layoff. He should report back to Erie or perhaps even Triple-A Toledo as the temperatures climb later in the spring.

Valdez signed one-year, $3 million contract with the Astros on Tuesday to avoid arbitration, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com reports.

It's a solid figure for Valdez's first year of arbitration eligibility, which isn't a major surprise given he delivered a 3.14 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 125:58 K:BB across 134.2 innings (22 starts) last season. The 28-year-old will once again be a major piece of Houston's starting rotation in 2022.

Montgomery signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Yankees on Tuesday to avoid arbitration, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com reports.

Montgomery was a solid rotation piece for New York last season with a 3.83 ERA over a career-high 157.1 innings, and he'll receive a raise for his penultimate year of arbitration eligibility after making $2.13 million in 2021. The 29-year-old southpaw will be a key rotation piece again for the Yankees this year.

Allard did not allow a hit and struck out two over two scoreless innings in Tuesday's spring training start against the Diamondbacks.

Allard made his Cactus League debut as a starter and pounded the strike zone to the tune of 17 strikes among his 25 pitches. It's not certain the lefty will be a starter in 2022, but he was used as both a starter and reliever in 2021, often throwing multiple innings in a piggyback, bulk-inning role. Allard showed promise when he first entered the rotation last season, but a 10-start stretch in July and August, during which he yielded a 6.54 ERA, sent him back to the bullpen. The Rangers have several pitchers they'll try in the rotation ahead of Allard, who will build up innings as insurance and could be a multi-inning reliever when the regular season begins.