MLB Player News

Marquez (hamstring) is set to make his Cactus League debut Saturday against the Mariners, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

He'll do so in a piggyback role after Saturday's starter Kyle Freeland, which is fairly custom in spring training games. Marquez tweaked his left hamstring in mid-February and had to bow out of the World Baseball Classic, but all signs point to him being fully cleared for the beginning of the 2023 regular season.

Sanchez (shoulder) threw another bullpen session Thursday, Joe Frisaro of ManOnSecondBaseball.com reports.

Sanchez now has three mound workouts under his belt as he continues his recovery from October arthroscopic shoulder surgery. There's no exact timetable for when he might be an option for the Marlins, but the talented 24-year-old is making steady strides in his rehab program.

Megill is hoping his curveball can become a reliable fourth pitch, Abbey Mastracco of The New York Daily News reports.

The right-hander has featured a four-seam fastball, slider and changeup, and giving hitters another offering to worry about would help solidify Megill's future in the rotation. "Threw a couple [curves] today for strikes and that was the biggest thing," he said after Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins. "I'm excited to try and drop them in there and then use it as a two-strike pitch as well. If I can get that over the plate for strikes, and then with two strikes mix the variation of speed up, then go top-to-bottom zone-wise with my other pitches." A closer in college at Arizona, Megill broke camp in the Mets' rotation last year due to injuries and went 4-0 in April with a 1.93 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 27:6 K:BB through 28 innings before eventually fading and moving to the bullpen. With New York's veteran starters all healthy in camp, however, the 27-year-old isn't likely to begin 2023 in the rotation, though he should see some starts throughout the year with the Mets planning to use a six-man rotation during long stretches with no off days, according to Tim Britton of The Athletic.

Peterson is expected to be in the mix as part of a six-man rotation the Mets plan to use at points this season, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

The team will utilize a traditional five-man setup for most of the season, but the plan is to insert a sixth starter during long stretches with no days off. That means both Peterson and Tylor Megill could wind up making a handful of starts even if everyone stays healthy (which, of course, is unlikely). It makes sense both because it will give the regular starters extra rest but also because Peterson and Megill on paper look like two of the better sixth/seventh starters in baseball.

Oviedo has added a sinker to his pitch mix, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.

Oviedo added the variation at the suggestion of coaches, who noted the natural sink that he had on his four-seam fastball. He mixed the pitch in during his outing Wednesday against the Tigers, though he surrendered four earned runs on five hits across two innings. Nevertheless, Oviedo remains in the mix for a spot in the Pirates' rotation to begin the season.

Urias pitched 2.2 innings in a Cactus League contest against Cincinnati on Tuesday, allowing one run on two hits and no walks while striking out four batters.

The lone run against Urias came after he left the game -- he gave up a leadoff single to Luke Maile in the third inning, struck out the next two batters, then watched Maile come around to score after giving way to a reliever. It was a strong debut for Urias, who threw 41 pitches. He's expected to make one more exhibition start before leaving the Dodgers to join Team Mexico for the World Baseball Classic, per Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register.

Musgrove (toe) is expected to miss at least two regular-season starts, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Musgrove will be shut down from throwing for at least two weeks after fracturing his left big toe when he dropped a kettle ball on his foot while working out. When exactly he'll be ready to rejoin the Padres' rotation seems like an open-ended question, as he'll surely need additional X-rays to see how the bone is healing. The Padres had been leaning toward going with a six-man rotation at the start of the season, but those plans are now up in the air.

Lodolo threw two scoreless innings in his spring training debut against the Dodgers but struggled at times to adjust to the pitch clock, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "Biggest thing was the pitch clock," Lodolo said. "Once or twice it got me there. I think it was in the stretch in the first inning, I was like, 'I got four seconds, we've got to go.'"

Lodolo came into the outing wanting to work on his changeup, but at times his competitive juices took over and he didn't remember to work on that pitch until the second inning. You can expect to hear similar reports about other pitchers, especially at the beginning of spring training.

Ashcraft allowed two runs over two innings on three hits, a walk, a wild pitch and a hit batter in his spring training debut against the A's on Wednesday, striking out two. A primary focus for Ashcraft was working on his slider, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Ashcraft threw his slider just over 27% of the time during his rookie 2022 campaign and got better results than when using his cutter or sinker. "It's come a long way. I threw 10 out of 15 [sliders] over the plate for strikes. It's hard to complain," Ashcraft said. "We've still got a little bit to go with it. We're going to see what happens with it."

Rogers gave up two hits and struck out four over two scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox.

He fired 22 of 32 pitches for strikes and got all four of his K's on his changeup in a strong spring debut. Rogers regressed to a 5.47 ERA and 1.50 WHIP last season, losing over six points off his K% from 2021 (28.5 percent down to 22.2 percent), but the Marlins are counting on the 25-year-old southpaw to rebound and serve as a mid-rotation staple for them this year.