MLB Player News

Hendricks tossed two scoreless innings in Monday's Cactus League game against the Padres. He allowed a hit and a walk, while striking out two.

Hendricks wasn't allowed to work very deep in his Cactus League debut, but the righty was sharp while he was in there. Hendricks is coming off of a strong 2020 campaign in which he posted a 2.88 ERA and 1.00 WHIP across 12 starts, and he should serve as the Cubs' ace in 2021.

Woodruff will not make his scheduled start Tuesday after experiencing slight back stiffness, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Manager Craig Counsell said the issue is no big deal, and that Woodruff will be moved back a couple days, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Josh Lindblom will get the start Tuesday instead. Counsell said there was flexibility built into the rotation schedule to account for minor issues like this. While the Brewers are downplaying the situation, fantasy managers should factor in slightly more risk with regards to Woodruff's health entering the season.

Greene is scheduled to start Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Angels, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Both of Cincinnati's top pitching prospects are slated to make their spring debuts in this one, as Nick Lodolo is expected to come in sometime after Greene exits. Greene's fastball velocity is reportedly all the way back to pre-surgery levels, so developing his offspeed pitches and his command will be the top areas of focus this year for the young fireballer.

Flaherty, who threw just 17 of 39 pitches for strikes in his Grapefruit League debut Sunday against Washington, confirmed he wasn't experimenting with any new pitchers or mechanics during his outing and blamed himself for simply executing poorly, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports. "Pitched horribly, set a horrible tone, but [Thomas] Parsons came in and did a really good job after me, and then Johnny Gant picked up from there," Flaherty said. "Bad way to set a tone for the team for spring, but the guys came and picked me up."

Flaherty labored through a 23-pitch first inning that started out positively enough with a strikeout but devolved into the right-hander allowing a single and two walks before the frame ended early due to his elevated pitch count. With the second inning even more nightmarish -- Flaherty surrendered three consecutive singles, uncorked two wild pitches and issued a walk before getting the hook -- his first taste of 2021 game action was undeniably disastrous. Making the poor showing all the more jarring was the fact Flaherty is considered the ace of the staff and was just designated the Opening Day starter, but he'll at least have plenty more opportunities to round into form over the next five weeks of Grapefruit League action.

Kelly will start Monday's spring game against the Brewers, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Kelly follows Zac Gallen in the spring rotation. The right-hander will be making his first game appearance since being shut down after five starts in 2020 due to thoracic outlet syndrome. He was pitching well at the time, having posted a 2.59 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over 31.1 innings.

Gallen allowed two hits and two walks while striking out one over two scoreless innings in Sunday's spring opener against the Rockies.

Gallen wasn't in midseason form, which is natural, and he told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he had minor delivery-related issues that he wants to clean up going forward. The right-hander was encouraged by catcher Carson Kelly saying his pitches had good "action and shape." Gallen threw 47 pitches (29 for strikes) and didn't get three outs during the first inning. The Diamondbacks opted to "roll" the first inning after he threw 20 pitches. As part of COVID-19 protocols, teams can "roll" an inning -- end the inning -- after a pitcher throws 20 pitches, which is where Gallen was at after striking out one, walking two and inducing a flyout.

Gomber tossed two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out one in Sunday's Cactus League win over the Diamondbacks. He didn't factor into the decision.

Gomber is competing for a back-end rotation spot with the Rockies after he was dealt to the team at the beginning of February. The southpaw made a good impression while starting the Cactus League opener. He threw 19 of his 25 pitches for strikes and worked around an error in the first inning against Arizona. Manager Bud Black was pleased with his aggressive pitching during his debut with the team. Gomber made 14 appearances (four starts) for the Cardinals last year and posted a 1.86 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over 29 innings.

Mikolas won't pitch in Monday's simulated game as previously scheduled since the Cardinals are showing caution early in camp, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

There was no announcement of any sort of injury, but it's an ominous sign the team is pushing back the outing coming off his first bullpen session of spring training Thursday. Mikolas missed the entirety of 2020 while recovery from surgery on the flexor tendon in his right forearm, so hopefully the Cardinals are simply being overly cautious for his first work against live hitters in camp.

Mets manager Luis Rojas said that Syndergaard (elbow) was cleared to throw sliders during his bullpen session Saturday, Justin Toscano of The Bergen Record reports.

Syndergaard had previously been limited to throwing fastballs in his side sessions, but his ability to incorporate breaking pitches into those workouts represents another small step forward in his recovery process from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander still won't be eligible to make his 2021 debut any sooner than early June after being placed on the 60-day injured list earlier in camp.

The Reds might choose to use Lorenzen in a bullpen role, even if he pitches well as a starter in spring training, if they decide they need him more as a reliever, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "It's got to be about what is the best thing for our team to maximize the chances for us to win," pitching coach Derek Johnson said. "I certainly think he can be a starter. I think he'd be a good one. I also think he's a pretty good reliever and if that's the case and we really need him in that spot, that may be the direction that we have to go."

The Reds are sort of locked in with Wade Miley as the fourth starter, at least to begin the season, as he's less suited to relieving. That leaves one starting slot open between Lorenzen, Tejay Antone, Jose De Leon and Jeff Hoffman. The Reds might ultimately decide they're better balanced with Lorenzen beginning the year in the bullpen and Antone starting, for instance. The team has suggested that they'd prefer a five-man rotation over a six-man one, at least for now.