MLB Player News

Alcantara will start Monday's spring game against the Mets, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

The 25-year-old will start the second game of spring training for the Marlins and should also be in the mix to start Opening Day. Alcantara pitched well in 2020 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 39:15 K:BB across 42 innings (seven starts).

Hendricks will start the Cubs' Cactus League opener against the Padres Monday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

More importantly, this puts Hendricks in line to start the team's regular season opener against the Pirates on April 1. With Yu Darvish now in San Diego, Hendricks is unquestionably the ace in Chicago. He posted a stellar 2.88 ERA and 1.00 WHIP across 12 starts during the shortened 2020 season.

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said Thursday that Gore is pitching well early in spring training, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports.

Gore reportedly had some delivery issues during summer camp ahead of the 2020 season, but Rothschild said that those concerns have been "worked out and plus" early this spring. The southpaw spent the entire 2020 campaign at the team's alternate training site and has made just five starts at the Double-A level. The Padres said last September that they want to use him as a starter once he reaches the majors. Although the team traded for Yu Darvish and Blake Snell during the offseason, Gore could contend for a spot in the big leagues at some point in 2021.

Mikolas threw his first bullpen of camp Thursday, Rob Rains of StLSportsPage.com reports.

Mikolas missed all of last season while recovering from surgery on his right flexor tendon, a procedure he underwent in late July. Previous reports indicated the Cardinals expected him to go through a normal spring training, and it appears that he is indeed on track for one so far.

Manager Mike Shildt announced Thursday that Flaherty would serve as the Cardinals' Opening Day starter April 1 in Cincinnati, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Flaherty will also get the ball for the Cardinals' Grapefruit League opener versus the Nationals, likely working two innings in his first outing of the spring. Though Flaherty endured a turbulent 2020 campaign that included a prolonged shutdown due to the Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak, the 25-year-old's standing as the staff ace never wavered. Even though his ERA rose to 4.91 over a small sample of 40.1 innings in 2020, Flaherty remained one of the top strikeout artists among starters, finishing with K/9 rate above 10.5 for the third straight season.

Manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday that Peralta will be stretched out during spring training as the Brewers prepare to have him handle a larger innings load in 2021, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

While Counsell didn't suggest that Peralta will be competing for a spot in Milwaukee's rotation, the team seemingly wants to maximize his use as a primary pitcher or multi-inning relief arm after he pitched effectively out of the bullpen in 2020. Over his 29.1 innings, Peralta posted a 3.99 ERA (2.40 FIP) to go with an exceptional 28.0 K-BB%. Since he doesn't have a starting role and likely won't be considered for save situations, Peralta will likely slide under the radar in fantasy, but he could have some sneaky value in the ratio and strikeout categories if he ends up approaching 100 innings over the course of a full season.

Soroka (Achilles) is on his usual schedule for side sessions to begin spring training, Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Per manager Brian Snitker, the right-hander is "doing fine."

It's still not clear yet whether Soroka will be ready for Opening Day, and Atlanta isn't going to rush his recovery from last year's Achilles surgery, but so far the 23-year-old's progress has been smooth. The next step for Soroka will be to pitch off a mound, potentially followed by some Grapefruit League action.

Carrasco was absent from the start of the Mets' full-squad workouts Monday but is not battling an injury, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Carrasco was one of four Mets who were away from the team for what manager Luis Rojas called "non-injury-related" reasons. All four are expected back by the end of the week, so Carrasco's preseason preparation shouldn't be significantly impacted.

Wheeler said Sunday after his second bullpen session of spring training that he has experienced no issues with his throwing since undergoing surgery in October to repair the fingernail on his right middle finger, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Wheeler underwent the same procedure on the fingernail during his time in the minors and bounced back effectively, and he's hoping his latest surgery will solve the matter once and for all. Even after ripping the fingernail off last September, Wheeler proceeded to make three starts to close out his first season in Philadelphia, managing to reach the eighth inning in two of them.

Kershaw indicated Sunday that he does not plan to retire following the 2021 season, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Kershaw's contract runs only through the current campaign, but the left-hander said he has plenty left in the tank and that he hopes to continue with the Dodgers next year and beyond. Though Kershaw has already compiled enough accolades to be a surefire future Hall of Famer, he is only 32 years old and is coming off a campaign in which he posted a 2.16 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 62:8 K:BB over 58.1 innings in addition to claiming his first World Series championship. It's hard to imagine the lifelong Dodger in any other uniform, especially given the deep pockets possessed by the organization.