MLB Player News
-
Tony Gonsolin SP | LAD
Dodgers' Tony Gonsolin: Starting second spring game
Gonsolin is scheduled to start Friday's Cactus League game against the Cubs, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Gonsolin didn't pitch for the Dodgers in 2024 while spending most of the season recovering from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in September 2023, but he was cleared to make three rehab starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City this past September. Though he looked sharp at Triple-A, Gonsolin was never reinstated from the injured list during the Dodgers' run to the World Series, but that wasn't the result of him suffering any sort of setback. Despite having had a normal offseason in addition to owning a sterling 3.19 ERA and 1.05 WHIP over 375.2 career innings in the big leagues, Gonsolin will have to fight for a spot in a talent-laden Dodgers rotation that added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki this offseason and also has Shohei Ohtani and Dustin May returning from Tommy John surgery. The Dodgers plan to open the season with a traditional five-man rotation before going to a six-man setup once Ohtani is fully stretched out for starting duty -- perhaps at some point in May -- so Gonsolin will be competing with Sasaki, May, Bobby Miller (concussion), Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski for one of two spots. Gonsolin has a minor-league option remaining, but since he's 30 years old and has a strong track record in the majors, he would likely work out of the big-league bullpen if he misses out on a rotation spot.
-
Yoshinobu Yamamoto SP | LAD
Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Solid in spring opener
Yamamoto pitched 1.2 scoreless innings in a Cactus League contest against the Cubs on Thursday, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out two batters.
Though he gave up three singles, Yamamoto avoided allowing any runs to cross the plate and threw 20 of his 27 pitches for strikes. The right-hander was on the mound for the opening of MLB's spring-training slate and could very well pitch in the first game of the regular season, as manager Dave Roberts said last week that he expects Yamamoto to start one of the Dodgers' two games against the Cubs in Tokyo, Japan on March 18-19. Yamamoto impressed in first taste of MLB last season, posting a 3.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 105:22 K:BB over 90 innings across 18 regular-season starts.
-
Davidjohn Herz SP | WAS
Nationals' DJ Herz: Cleans up mechanics over offseason
Herz focused on adding strength and cutting out unneeded movement in his pitching mechanics this offseason, leaving him optimistic that he'll be able to build off a promising rookie season in 2025, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports. "Everything's in the zone, everything's where you want it. And it's cool to see that all of my bullpens have been like that so far," Herz said Saturday, after his first official bullpen session of spring training. "Now it's time to translate to the game."
After some early struggles upon his initial call-up to the big leagues in early June, Herz settled in nicely following the All-Star break and was arguably performing as Washington's best starter by season's end. Altogether, Herz turned in a 4.16 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 106:36 K:BB in 88.2 innings with the big club, but he'll still have to fight for a back-end rotation spot throughout spring training. Herz displayed a well-developed fastball and changeup as a rookie, but honing the command of his breaking pitches this spring will likely be essential if he's to break camp with the big club. Herz has cleaned up his delivery from the windup and eliminated an unnecessary backward step he had been taking last season, resulting in a smoother operation.
-
Andrew Heaney SP | PIT
Pirates' Andrew Heaney: Inks one-year deal with Pittsburgh
Heaney agreed to a one-year, $5.25 million deal with the Pirates on Thursday that includes an additional $5 million of incentives, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.
Heaney enters 2025 having played the prior two seasons with Texas. For the Rangers, he recorded a 4.22 ERA across 66 games, 59 of which he started in. The southpaw should slot in as Pittsburgh's No. 4 starter, with Bubba Chandler, Bailey Falter and Mike Burrows competing for the final rotation spot while Johan Oviedo completes his recovery from December 2023 Tommy John surgery.
-
Bobby Miller SP | LAD
Dodgers' Bobby Miller: In concussion protocol
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that Miller will be in concussion protocol, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Miller had to be removed from Thursday's Cactus League opener against the Cubs after taking a comebacker to the head. He was able to walk off the field under his own power, but Roberts is unsure how long Miller will be out for.
-
Bobby Miller SP | LAD
Dodgers' Bobby Miller: Struck in head by comebacker
Miller was removed from Thursday's Cactus League appearance versus the Cubs after being hit in the head by a comebacker, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
Miller came into the game in the top of the third inning and walked the leadoff man. The second batter, Michael Busch, drilled an offering right back up the middle, which struck Miller in the head and caused him to fall to the ground. Miller was able to walk off the field under his own power but will likely undergo concussion tests.
-
Eury Perez SP | MIA
Marlins' Eury Perez: Goes on 60-day IL
The Marlins placed Perez (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Thursday.
The transaction frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for Seth Martinez, who has been claimed off waivers. Perez has been throwing off a mound and doing well as he continues his rehab from Tommy John surgery, but he is not expected to join the Marlins' rotation until around midseason.
-
Tylor Megill SP | NYM
Mets' Tylor Megill: Building up quickly
Megill entered camp further along than most Mets starters and was slated to throw three innings of live batting practice this week, Andrew Tredinnick of NorthJersey.com reports.
He already threw two innings in a live batting practice session and is ahead of Paul Blackburn (back) and Griffin Canning, the two other starters Megill is competing with for the final two spots in the Mets' six-man rotation. Once the trio starts pitching in games this spring, their performance will take precedence over who got built up quickest in camp, but it's at least good to know Megill is healthy and throwing. His goal this season is to trust his stuff and attack hitters in the zone more in order to keep his pitch count low after going six-plus innings in just four of his 15 starts in 2024.
-
Paul Blackburn SP | NYM
Mets' Paul Blackburn: Throwing to hitters
Blackburn (back) threw one inning of live batting practice Tuesday, Andrew Tredinnick of NorthJersey.com reports.
Blackburn worked with the Mets this offseason to refine his sinker and sweeper with the goal of adding more run to his sinker and more horizontal movement to his sweeper to make it less of a slurve. He got off to a rough start with the Mets after getting traded from the A's last season, including a hand contusion and a spinal fluid leak in mid-September that ended his season. He had surgery Oct. 11 that came with a three-to-five month estimated recovery, and we'll be at five months in mid-March. Blackburn is understandably a little behind the likes of Tylor Megill, who is reportedly furthest along of Blackburn and Griffin Canning, all of whom are competing for the final two spots in the Mets' six-man rotation.
-
Jarlin Susana SP | WAS
Nationals' Jarlin Susana: Already popping triple digits
Susana hit 100 mph with his fastball in his first bullpen session of the spring and looked dominant during a live batting practice session Wednesday as he worked in his slider, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.
The 20-year-old right-hander will continue to be developed as a starter in the minors, but Susana could likely make an immediate impact in the majors if he got fast-tracked as a reliever. Improving his command and refining his changeup will be Susana's main goals in 2025 after he posted a 4.34 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and eye-popping 157:48 K:BB through 103.2 innings last season split between Single-A and High-A.