MLB Player News

Darvish is slated to make his Padres debut in Sunday's Cactus League game against the Royals, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The Padres deliberately kept Darvish off their pitching schedule early in the Cactus League slate, with the reigning NL Cy Young runner-up limited to facing hitters in live batting practice and simulated games. Darvish still remains on track to handle a normal starter's workload by the start of the regular season, though manager Jayce Tingler has yet to say whether the 34-year-old would receiving the Opening Day nod April 1 versus the Diamondbacks. Coming off an abbreviated 2020 campaign with the Cubs in which he posted a 2.01 ERA and 0.96 WHIP to go with 93 strikeouts in 76 innings, Darvish looks like a safe top-10 pitching selection in fantasy drafts.

Wood adjusted his posture in his delivery during the offseason, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Wood said Thursday that he likes the way his slider looks following his offseason adjustment, as he's able to get better depth on the pitch. He's also working on a new changeup grip that he called a "work in progress." The veteran lefty started Thursday's spring game against the White Sox, tossing tossed one clean inning while striking out one batter. Wood is competing for a back-end rotation spot with the Giants during spring training after signing a one-year deal with the team in January. He made nine appearances (two starts) for the Dodgers last season, posting a 6.39 ERA and 15:6 K:BB over 12.2 innings.

Lugo is feeling good as he recovers from February elbow surgery and doesn't expect to miss too much time, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Lugo underwent a procedure to remove a loose body from his right elbow in mid-February. The surgery was expected to keep shut him down for six weeks, so he won't be able to start ramping up until late March. He'll open the year on the injured list and doesn't have a precise return timeline, but he seems optimistic about his progress.

Woodruff (back) will face hitters Thursday, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Woodruff was scratched from his Tuesday start with back stiffness, though the Brewers said at the time that the issue wasn't a big deal. He threw a bullpen session that same day and will now throw live batting practice Thursday, leaving him with plenty of time to get up to speed by Opening Day, assuming he avoids any setbacks.

Smyly allowed one hit over two scoreless innings against the Orioles in his Grapefruit League debut for Atlanta on Wednesday, striking out the side in the second inning, Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. "This whole spring I've felt great," Smyly said afterward. "I feel like I have a great idea of the kind of pitcher I am. It takes a long time for a lot of guys to figure it out. The game is always evolving. You have to keep making adjustments. But I feel like I'm in a really good place with how to pitch, how to attack hitters. I'm just trying to carry that over."

The veteran southpaw has battled injuries throughout his career but has had stretches of dominance in between IL stints, including a stunning 35.2 percent strikeout rate over 26.1 innings last season for the Giants. Atlanta may have the rotation depth to weather an extended absence from Smyly, but if he can pitch like he did in 2020 for significantly more than just five starts, it would provide a big boost to the team's chances of defending its NL East crown.

Rasmussen is being stretched out to handle a multi-inning role, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

Rasmussen opened Wednesday's game and was the first Brewers pitcher to throw more than an inning this spring. Manager Craig Counsell confirmed after the game that he's being built up to cover two to three innings in relief, similar to the role Brent Suter filled last year. While that means Rasmussen will likely be ticketed to pitch in the middle frames, it does give his fantasy value a slight boost, as it will give him the opportunity to rack up more than one or two strikeouts per outing. Rasmussen averaged 12.3 K/9 in his 2020 rookie season, so he could provide some help in the strikeout department if he gets the innings.

Snell gave up one walk and secured one strikeout across one inning in Wednesday's Cactus League contest versus Milwaukee.

Snell needed only 15 pitches to get through his lone frame, using a double play to wipe out a walk to the second batter. He figures to build up over the spring and should be given a longer leash with San Diego this season than the Rays allowed him in 2020, when Snell never went deeper than 5.2 innings.

Kershaw will start Friday's Cactus League contest against Kansas City and is scheduled to throw two innings, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.

The future Hall of Famer will get his first opportunity to face opposing batters in 2021 during Friday's exhibition game. Though fellow fantasy studs Walker Buehler and Trevor Bauer have already made their spring debuts, Kershaw remains the odds-on favorite to get the ball on Opening Day against Colorado.

Davies pitched two scoreless innings in Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Mariners. He walked one and struck out two.

Davies looked good in his team debut, recording his six outs without allowing a hit. The 28-year-old seems to be in line to serve as the Cubs' No. 3 starter this season. Davies posted a sub-3.60 ERA the past two years, so he could be a decent fantasy option, though he doesn't offer a ton of strikeouts.

Liberatore fired a scoreless fifth inning in Tuesday's Grapefruit League tie with the Marlins, allowing no hits or runs, issuing two walks and a balk, and recording a strikeout.

Liberatore packed quite a bit into his one-inning Grapefruit League debut, but he fortunately worked out of his self-imposed two-out trouble by inducing an inning-ending flyball from Magneuris Sierra with the bases loaded. Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports the promising left-hander is expected to begin the year at Double-A Springfield, and he's likely to continue working out with Marlins prospects in Florida ahead of the expected early-May start of the minor-league season once the big-league club breaks camp.