MLB Player News

Rasmussen is expected to begin the season at the Brewers' alternate training site, but he could still make his MLB debut this season, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

As Haudricourt notes, the hard-throwing righty still needs development. He has never pitched above Double-A and had an 11.4 percent walk rate at that level last year. Rasmussen's upper-90s fastball could earn him low-leverage chances as the Brewers cycle in fresh relievers this season.

Lauer will pitch one inning in Sunday's intrasquad game, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

This will be his first game action of summer camp as he was delayed due to a COVID-19 testing issue -- he indicated he was in close contact with someone who tested positive, so he needed to self quarantine and test negative. Lauer is behind in the competition for the fifth-starter spot, so he will likely open the year as either a true reliever or piggyback starter. As he gets stretched out, Lauer could provide another left-handed presence in the Brewers' rotation.

Martinez allowed one run and two walks across three innings in Friday's intrasquad game start, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander also recorded a pair of strikeouts during the outing, which likely qualified as his penultimate tune-up for the regular season. The question of whether Martinez will begin the 2020 campaign as a closer or starter remains; however, the placement of Giovanny Gallegos, who arrived in summer camp Saturday after extensive travel delays, on the 10-day injured list for undisclosed reasons Saturday does potentially increase the chances of Martinez being shifted to a ninth-inning role for the time being.

Mikolas worked up to 60 pitches in Friday's intrasquad game start, allowing two runs on three hits across five innings, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander threw 33 of his pitches for strikes and surrendered a two-run homer to Matt Carpenter, but he was largely effective overall while also increasing his pitch count by seven over his prior outing Sunday. Mikolas appears to be on track to open the season in his expected role of No. 2 starter.

The Diamondbacks announced Saturday that Kelly will begin the season in the starting rotation, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.

The 31-year-old was considered the favorite for the No. 5 spot in the rotation with the absence of Mike Leake (opt out), and he was able to hold off Alex Young to secure the job. Kelly made 32 starts in his first big-league season in 2019 and had a 4.42 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 158:57 K:BB across 183.1 innings.

Stripling in lined up to start the Dodgers' second game of the regular season, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Stripling has yet to be announced as the Dodgers' fifth starter, but given the staff's current work schedule -- Stripling will throw a simulated game Saturday while his primary competition for the role, Dustin May, piggybacked with Walker Buehler in an intrasquad game Friday -- the most likely scenario is that Stripling starts and follows Clayton Kershaw in the rotation in order to give Buehler additional time to ramp up to a full workload. Meanwhile, May could continue to piggyback with Buehler early in the campaign, per Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register.

Kershaw unofficially threw 90 pitches over 6.1 innings in an intrasquad game Friday, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out 11 batters, per Alanna Rizzo of Spectrum SportsNet LA.

Kershaw reached the 90-pitch mark for the second straight outing and struck out a combined 19 hitters over those appearances. He appears fully healthy and ready to handle a regular workload when he takes on the Giants on Thursday in the Dodgers' first game of the regular season.

May could be part of a piggyback pairing with Walker Buehler early in the season as Buehler builds up to a full workload, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

May remains in contention for the Dodgers' fifth-starter role, but he may instead form a 1-2 punch with Buehler while the latter builds up to a regular workload. May looked strong in an intrasquad appearance Friday, pitching four scoreless innings while allowing two hits and two walks and striking out five, per Alanna Rizzo of Spectrum SportsNet LA.

Buehler and Dustin May could form a piggyback pairing early in the season while Buehler builds up to a full workload, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Buehler reportedly followed a less frequent pitching schedule than his rotation mates during the MLB shutdown and thus needs more time to ramp up to a full starter's workload. He tossed two innings in an intrasquad game Friday, which puts him well behind schedule with Opening Day less than a week away. As such, May -- who also remains in contention for the fifth starter spot -- could be called upon early to form a 1-2 punch with Buehler until the latter is no longer limited.

Mahle went four innings in Friday's scrimmage, allowing four runs on three hits, with the big shot coming on a three-run homer by Matt Davidson. But he also struck out seven without allowing a walk, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Mahle was paired up against Wade Miley, whom he might work in tandem with early in the season as Miley builds up his endurance.