MLB Player News

Soroka (Achilles) will throw an inning or two in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against Boston, 680 The Fan Atlanta reports.

Soroka has made slow but steady progress as he works his way back from Achilles surgery. He's seemingly avoided setbacks, but the team has been careful not to rush him. The fact that he's about to pitch in game action represents a significant step in his recovery process, though his expected return date remains unclear. The most optimistic timeline provided by the team would see him rejoin the rotation by mid-April, though a late April or early May return wouldn't be a surprise.

Corbin threw 57 pitches over four scoreless innings of relief in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

The left-hander also got some extra work in the bullpen before entering the game and allowing only two Cards to even reach base against him. Corbin appears on track to start the third game of the season, April 4 against the Mets, but the Nats should officially announce their rotation plans sometime this week.

Eflin (back) will get the start Monday in the Phillies' Grapefruit League finale against the Blue Jays, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Eflin will rejoin the Phillies' spring pitching schedule for the first time since March 13, but he's been able to stay relatively on track in his build-up program over the past two weeks while he's managed a minor back injury. Rather than pitching in the Grapefruit League last week when his turn came up, Eflin completed a simulated game without issue. Assuming he's able to cover around 4-to-5 innings Monday, he should head into Opening Day with few restrictions. Eflin is lined up to start the Phillies' third game of the regular season Sunday versus Atlanta.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Monday that he expects Kim (back) to miss 2-to-3 turns through the rotation before returning from the 10-day injured list, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Sidelined by a sore back for a good chunk of camp, Kim appears to have moved past the health concern at this point, but he's still in the process of building up for starting duties. Kim covered two innings Saturday against the Marlins in his spring debut, but the Cardinals likely want to see him to increase his pitch counts in two more simulated games before they're comfortable integrating him in the rotation, likely in mid-to-late April. Once Kim is ready to go, Daniel Ponce de Leon or John Gant will be the most likely candidates to lose out on a rotation spot.

Musgrove tossed five scoreless and hitless innings against Cleveland in Sunday's Cactus League contest, allowing two walks and striking out six.

The right-hander finished his spring slate with a flourish, and he worked up to 70 pitches in the exhibition tune-up. Musgrove concludes Cactus League play with a 3.50 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 17:7 K:BB over 18 innings. He's set to fill the No. 4 slot in the Padres' starting rotation this season.

Flaherty, the Cardinals' Opening Day starter, allowed an unearned run on three hits over three innings in a Grapefruit League loss to the Marlins on Saturday. He struck out four.

The right-hander had already worked up to 90 pitches against MIami on Monday, so Saturday's outing was more of an interim tune-up designed to keep Flaherty's arm conditioned ahead of Opening Day. He worked up to 55 pitches, throwing 38 for strikes, and wrapped up spring with his only scoreless effort in four trips to the mound.

Houser is slated to start the Brewers' third game of the season April 4 against the Twins, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

The back end of the Milwaukee rotation was unsettled heading into spring training, but Houser, Brett Anderson and Freddy Peralta were able to lock up the final three spots, resulting in Josh Lindblom moving to the bullpen and Eric Lauer and Jordan Zimmermann getting demoted to minor-league camp. Houser may not head into Opening Day with much job security, however, coming off a 2020 campaign in which he saw his strikeout rate plummet steeply and his ERA climb by nearly a run and a half from 2019. He didn't restore much faith over his five starts this spring, giving up 12 runs (11 earned) on 19 hits and five walks over 12 frames.

Eickhoff was reassigned to minor-league camp Sunday.

Eickhoff struggled over a limited sample during spring training, as he posted an 11.25 ERA and 2.50 WHIP in four innings across two appearances (one start). As a result, the 30-year-old will likely begin the year at Triple-A Syracuse but could fill in if New York's pitching staff deals with injuries during the regular season.

The Cardinals placed Mikolas (shoulder) on the 10-day injured list Sunday.

Mikolas' move to the IL to begin the season was inevitable after he was shut down in mid-March after experiencing shoulder soreness. The right-hander has since been cleared to resume throwing off flat ground, and he should be able to step on the mound for a bullpen session early this week before the Cardinals head north for the start of the season. Assuming he avoids any further setbacks with his shoulder, Mikolas will still need a few more weeks to get his arm fully ramped up and conditioned for a starter's workload, so he likely won't be ready to make his 2021 debut until late April or early May.

The Cardinals placed Kim (back) on the 10-day injured list Sunday.

Kim looks to have moved past the back tightness he battled earlier in camp after he was able to toss two innings Saturday against the Marlins in his first spring appearance in three weeks. However, because of the time he missed in camp, Kim will remain at the Cardinals' alternate site to complete at least two more outings to build up his pitch count before the organization deems him ready to slot into the big-league rotation. Daniel Ponce de Leon is expected to make one or two starts in place of Kim while he's on the shelf.