MLB Player News

Cecconi allowed two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out one over two innings in Friday's spring start against the Reds.

Cecconi, who is among the group battling for the fifth starter job, may have fallen behind his main competitors, Tommy Henry and Ryne Nelson. One so-so spring outing shouldn't be the deciding factor, but both Henry (five scoreless innings) and Nelson (one run, five innings, 10 strikeouts) have been impressive early.

Nelson worked on his slider over the offseason, and it's looked sharp early in camp, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Coming off Arizona's loss in the World Series, manager Torey Lovullo told Nelson that he needed to be able to throw his slider more and not be so fastball reliant. The right-hander focused on it and has looked good through two spring starts. Nelson threw two scoreless innings with five strikeouts in his first outing and followed that up with one run allowed and another five strikeouts over three innings Thursday. "It's a focus on trying to keep [opposing hitters] off balance, keep them guessing and make sure that they can't just key on the fastball," Nelson said. "When I'm just pumping heaters in there, it's pretty easy to lock in." The battle for the final spot in the rotation should come down to Nelson or Tommy Henry, who has also impressed through two Cactus League outings. Slade Cecconi is also in the mix but struggled Friday when he allowed two runs on five hits and a walk over two innings in his second appearance.

Grove entered with two outs in the third inning of Tuesday's Cactus League game against the White Sox, though he's still being built up as a starter, Eric Stephen of SB Nation reports.

It's not unusual for a starter to pitch in relief during spring training, but Grove's outing was noteworthy in that manager Dave Roberts indicated he wanted the right-hander to get more experience coming into the game in the middle of an inning, suggesting his role for the beginning of the campaign has yet to be decided. The Dodgers beefed up their rotation with the additions of Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and James Paxton in the offseason, so even with Walker Buehler (elbow) slated to begin the campaign on the injured list, there isn't a guaranteed spot in the Opening Day rotation for Grove. He made three late-September relief appearances last year and pitched five scoreless innings with a 6:1 K:BB, yielding just one hit in that span.

Irvin has been used only in relief so far this spring, but manager Dave Martinez said he will be a part of the starting rotation, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports. Irvin gave up six earned runs on five hits and two walks in 1.2 innings during Friday's Grapefruit League game against Houston. "We've got to get him to relax a little bit. He's working on a bunch of different secondary pitches. I'm going to sit down and talk to him: His next outing, just get the ball in the zone and work ahead," Martinez said Friday.

The 27-year-old right-hander had allowed seven earned runs and seven hits in 3.2 innings through two spring outings, but it sounds like his manager isn't too worried. Still, Irvin's job can't be too secure after he had a 4.61 ERA with a mediocre 7.4 K/9 and troublesome 4.0 BB/9 last season in his first big-league action.

Freeland threw two perfect innings with one strikeout in Friday's Cactus League victory over Seattle.

Friday marked Freeland's first start this spring after he spent the offseason recovering from an oblique injury that put an early end to his 2023 campaign. Though his strong outing Friday was encouraging from a health perspective, Freeland is unlikely to be a reliable fantasy option in 2024 after posting a 5.03 ERA and 1.47 WHIP last year alongside a poor 5.4 K/9.

Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports Friday that Kershaw (shoulder) is with the Dodgers in camp and will be with the team until it heads to South Korea to open the 2024 season.

Kershaw underwent shoulder surgery in November to repair the gleno-humeral ligaments and capsule in his left shoulder. Plunkett notes that Kershaw is still in the early stages of his throwing program, and the veteran left-hander isn't expected to return to action until the summer. He's expected to return to Texas to continue his rehab once the Dodgers leave for South Korea.

Reds manager David Bell said Friday that Lodolo is still not 100 percent and will have his injured left leg "re-scanned," Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The southpaw missed much of the 2023 season with a stress reaction in his left tibia, and he's still having trouble getting past the injury. While Lodolo is able to throw without issue, he "still feels it" in his leg the day after, per Bell. Being ready for the beginning of the season is still possible if Lodolo can be game-ready by the end of next week, but that looks to be very much in question.

Webb (0-2) went three innings and struck out two while giving up one earned run on three hits and no walks in Thursday's 2-1 loss to Arizona. He was credited with the loss.

Webb finished second in the NL Cy Young race despite having a record of 11-13 last year. Webb's 216 innings pitched last season was more than anyone else in baseball, and he proved to be a workhouse for San Francisco despite getting 3.1 runs of support per game, the worst in baseball. The crafty right-hander will lead a pitching staff with lots of young raw talent, and he will look to build off his stellar 2023 campaign.

Walker experienced soreness in his right knee during a bullpen session Thursday and will rest for the next few days, Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

The veteran right-hander was recently away from the Phillies' camp for a few days due to personal reasons, and he's dealing with some soreness upon his return. Manager Rob Thompson called it "normal spring training soreness," so Walker could seemingly be back on the mound soon.

Harrison threw two hitless innings Sunday versus the Rangers, striking out four and hitting a batsman. Harrison has used his cutter more after developing it in 2023 but used it on a limited basis, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Harrison relied on the cutter, which sat in the 90-91 mph range, to maintain an advantage over hitters when he got ahead in the count. The southpaw is expected to make a big leap in 2024 after making seven major-league starts with a 4.15 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 35:11 K:BB across 34.2 innings last season. With the Giants' rotation already hammered by injuries, Harrison is expected to be the No. 2 starter behind ace Logan Webb.