MLB Player News

Garcia will be away from camp for "several days" due to the league's health and safety protocols, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

Garcia had been scheduled to pitch in Thursday's spring game behind Lance McCullers, but he'll no longer be able to do so. Once he's able to return, the right-hander should compete for a spot in the starting rotation after Framber Valdez suffered a fractured left ring finger Tuesday.

Valdez has been recommended for surgery to repair the fractured ring finger on his pitching hand, which would likely keep him out for the 2021 season, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Valdez will receive a second opinion on the injury before a decision on surgery is made, but the Astros are bracing for the possibility of the 27-year-old being sidelined for the entirety of the upcoming campaign. Even if Valdez avoids surgery, he'll almost certainly open the season on the injured list while he waits for the fractured digit to fully heal. Valdez's absence -- however long it might be -- should improve the odds of youngsters Luis Garcia and Forrest Whitley getting early opportunities out of the Houston rotation.

Gilbert will start Sunday's Cactus League game against the Angels, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

The highly touted prospect will get his chance to face a formidable lineup that should include the likes of Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, which should serve as a good litmus test for where he is in his development. Gilbert's last time on a mound in a live game also came against the Angels on March 10 of last year before spring training was shut down due to COVID-19, and the right-hander projects to get at least a couple more starting opportunities before likely beginning the season at Triple-A Tacoma.

Montas, who was cleared to join spring training Thursday after a bout with COVID-19, is still experiencing some light chest congestion but has been able to get through workouts without issue thus far, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander also dealt with body aches and headaches while going through the virus, but he's been free of those since quarantining in his Arizona home for 14 days. Montas has been in the process of ramping back up after his late start, although he was throwing live bullpens before the diagnosis. The soon-to-be 28-year-old is trying to focus on having fun on the mound again in 2021 after a mostly miserable 2020 in which he produced a 5.60 ERA and 1.51 WHIP, and he's also looking to reincorporate a splitter that worked very effectively for him in 2019 after relying heavily on just his fastball and slider last season.

Berrios threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in his spring debut Thursday, reaching 95 mph on the radar gun. Berrios reduced the intensity of his early offseason workouts in an attempt to preserve his energy for a full 162-game season, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Berrios struggled in the second half of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, so he'll need to avoid fades in longer seasons to reach his stated goal of more than 200 innings. Either way, his outing Thursday showed he's in near regular-season form at this point.

The rescheduling of Paxton's Wednesday start against the Cubs wasn't due to any health concern with the left-hander, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports. "Pax is completely healthy," manager Scott Servais said. "It's just kind of shifting things around a little bit, lining up our rotation going from there. ... But there's absolutely nothing wrong health-wise with Pax. We're just going to give him a couple more days before he goes back out there."

The veteran isn't slated to take the mound until at least early next week at this point, as the Mariners have mapped out their starting pitching assignments through the weekend. Servais' assurance that Paxton's health isn't at cause for the shuffle is certainly encouraging after the southpaw's 2020 season with the Yankees was mostly derailed by forearm and back injuries.

Kluber pitched two perfect innings and struck out two batters during Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against Toronto.

Kluber looked great in his first appearance in pinstripes, needing only 22 pitches -- 15 of which were strikes -- to retire six batters. Most importantly, he emerged from the outing healthy after missing nearly all of last season due to a shoulder injury. Kluber's performance Wednesday is certainly uplifting for the Yankees, who are counting on the veteran to fill a spot near the front of their rotation.

Manning pitched two scoreless innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies. He allowed one hit and struck out one.

Manning threw 25 pitches (16 for strikes) and was effective in his spring debut. The 23-year-old is one of the team's top prospects and will compete for a rotation spot to begin the season, though he could begin the year in the minors and make his MLB debut later in the summer.

Wacha, who fired a scoreless first inning during his Grapefruit League debut against the Red Sox on Tuesday, continued his effective 2020 practice of relying on his changeup during the outing, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports. "It's been my best swing-and-miss pitch, so I figured I'd throw it more and see if I can get a little bit more weaker contact with it and try to pitch off my best pitch a little more," Wacha said. "I think that's a big part of it, to pitch toward your strengths and understanding what your strengths are."

Despite a forgettable 1-4 record, 6.62 ERA and 1.56 WHP across 34 innings over eight appearances (seven starts) for the Mets last season, Wacha did have success with his changeup, generating an impressive 40.8 percent whiff rate while throwing the pitch a career-high 29.2 percent of the time. He deployed it at key moments with success again Monday while overcoming a leadoff walk to Enrique Hernandez, striking out J.D. Martinez before getting Rafael Devers on an inning-ending groundout. Wacha threw 21 pitches overall during his one frame, and he projects to take the next step toward prepping for his projected mid-rotation role in the coming season with a potential start against the Twins on Sunday.

Valdez was diagnosed with a fractured left ring finger Wednesday, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

Valdez was able to continue pitching during Tuesday's spring game after he took a groundball off his left hand during the first inning. While he said after the game that he was fine, he was further examined by team doctors Wednesday and diagnosed with a fracture. General manager James Click said that the southpaw will need to undergo further imaging before determining a timetable for his return.