MLB Player News

Bibee allowed two hits and one walk while striking out three over three scoreless innings in Thursday's spring start against Arizona.

Bibee sparkled in an efficient Cactus League debut, throwing 37 pitches (23 strikes). He made himself into the Guardians' ace in 2024 and looked nearly ready to handle that role again Thursday. A key to the right-hander's development was learning to control his emotions on the mound and not letting one adverse event affect him, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports. "I think [I'm] definitely a little more under control than last year's spring training," Bibee said. Evidence of that came in his final inning Thursday. After committing a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, Bibee turned his focus to the batter and got Geraldo Perdomo on a called third strike.

With Luis Gil (lat) set to miss extended time at the beginning of the campaign, Stroman is likely to be part of the Yankees' season-opening rotation, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Gil isn't expected to be able to resume throwing for at least six weeks, which means that he isn't likely to be able to enter New York's rotation until sometime in June, at the earliest. As a result, Stroman, who has 252 career regular-season starts in 261 total outings to his name, is the logical choice to fill Gil's starting spot. Stroman posted a 4.31 ERA and 1.47 WHIP across 154.2 regular-season innings covering 30 appearances last year, and he may have to pitch well early on to keep his rotation role. Among the pitchers who could push Stroman is rookie Will Warren, who struggled in a six-outing cup of coffee in the majors last season but has looked great in spring training so far, allowing just one run while registering an 11:2 K:BB over eight frames.

Ryan threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts and a walk in his spring training debut in Thursday's win over the Yankees. "Great introduction to the season for Joe. He looked good," manager Rocco Baldelli told the Minnesota Star Tribune. "He even threw a nice slider or two, that little sweepy pitch that he throws, and showed a little feel for it. He's out there facing a good lineup, and he goes right at them."

Ryan reached 93-94 mph with his fastball and faced most of the starters in the Yankees lineup. Ryan suffered a Grade 2 teres major strain during a start Aug. 9 and missed the rest of the regular season, but he had an MRI in November that showed a "complete resolution" of the shoulder strain and entering spring training health. It looks like he'll be full speed for Opening Day.

Cole allowed six runs on five hits -- including two home runs -- over 2.2 innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League loss to the Twins. He struck out two and did not issue a walk.

Despite the result, manager Aaron Boone described Cole's outing as "another really good step in the process," per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "I got my work in," Cole said after the game. "Not great command; I kept trying to work the fastball over and over again." Cole was pulled with two outs in the second inning but returned for the third -- allowed under spring training rules -- and totaled 54 pitches in his second appearance of the spring. While Cole's numbers were down last season following his return from an elbow injury, his track record keeps him on the SP1/SP2 border for many.

Woo struck out six over 2.1 scoreless innings in Thursday's Cactus League game against the Angels, giving up just one walk and one hit.

Woo dominated in this abbreviated outing, striking out the side in the first inning and generating a 59 percent whiff rate across his 37 pitches. Health concerns have kept the 25-year-old right-hander in the middle rounds of fantasy drafts this spring, but Woo excelled when available last season in the form of a 2.89 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 101:13 K:BB through 121.1 frames (22 starts). With the benefit of throwing at the pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park for home games, Woo carries plenty of upside in 2025 but will need to prove he can handle a full workload before establishing himself as an upper-echelon starter.

Eflin threw 2.2 innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against Pittsburgh, giving up three runs on three hits and two walks.

After allowing one run on four hits over two innings in his first start of spring training, Eflin now carries a 7.71 ERA and 1.93 WHIP with just one punchout across 4.2 frames. Fantasy managers will want to see some improvement out of the veteran right-hander in the second half of the spring schedule, as Eflin is still getting tuned up, per Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. "I feel like the stuff is good," Eflin said. "Command could be a little runner. Trying to sync up my mechanics a little bit." With the status of Grayson Rodriguez (triceps) uncertain, Eflin's spot atop Baltimore's rotation could take on even more importance by the time the regular season begins.

Hernandez was reassigned to minor-league camp Wednesday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Hernandez allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in four innings this spring, and he'll now head over to the minor-league side, which was expected. The righty spent 2024 with Double-A Erie and could head there again in 2025, though a promotion to Triple-A Toledo could also be in order. Either way, Hernandez is unlikely to make much of an impact with the Tigers this year.

Flores (shoulder) was reassigned to minor-league camp Wednesday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Flores has been rehabbing a shoulder injury this spring and was given a platelet-rich plasma injection in January to address some soreness. He was likely to begin the season at Triple-A Toledo anyways, but his lack of Grapefruit League playing time probably sealed the deal. Flores will provide organizational depth this season.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Thursday that Rodriguez is dealing with right triceps soreness and will undergo testing, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Rodriguez showed diminished velocity during Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Twins, averaging just 93.2 mph in the start and getting clocked as low as 89.5 mph with his four-seamer. The righty said after the outing that he simply felt "sluggish" and was not injured, but a day later he now has soreness in his pitching arm. The Orioles expect to know more about Rodriguez's status Friday after the test results are in, but a trip to the injured list could certainly be in the offing. If Rodriguez does indeed need an IL stint, Baltimore could consider Albert Suarez or Cade Povich for its rotation.

Matthews was removed from Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees due to an apparent ankle injury, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Matthews slipped on his right foot/ankle while fielding a grounder in the fourth inning. He was able to walk off the field under his own power, which is a positive sign, but the Twins will likely take a closer look at the 24-year-old to confirm he didn't suffer any serious damage.