MLB Player News

Gutierrez has tested positive for Stanozolol and received an 80-game suspension, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

The 24-year-old started the spring training opener for the Reds in February, but he won't be seeing game action anytime soon. Given the state of the minor-league season, Gutierrez could be sidelined for most of the 2021 season.

Syndergaard (elbow) was placed on the 45-day injured list Sunday, Andersen Pickard of MLBDailyDish.com reports.

Thor underwent Tommy John surgery in late March, but until now he remained on the 40-man roster given the shutdown and transaction freeze. Syndergaard will clearly miss the 2020 season, and he'll likely be unavailable for the start of next season as well. Offseason signees Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha are set to round out the starting rotation for the Mets.

Lorenzen has been throwing live batting practice and simulated games for about six weeks, sometimes throwing up to 90 pitches in an outing, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "I don't even need a spring training, to be honest," Lorenzen said. "My whole thing was no matter how much I throw right now, it's never going to be close to what I would normally throw in the season during this time or at the intensity just because of adrenaline and stuff like that."

Lorenzen doesn't need to be that far stretched out, as a reliever, but it's worth considering whether he and other relief pitchers might be asked to pick up more of the slack as starting pitchers will probably go far shorter than usual. Moreover, with the universal DH, a reliever than comes in to get the final out or two of one inning could pitch the next when normally he might get lifted for a pinch hitter in his team's half of the inning.

Gray has thrown with teammate Curt Casali three times a week in Nashville during the COVID-19 shutdown and has been throwing to hitters for a little more than a month, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "I'm hoping to come into this abbreviated spring and hit the ground running and start off around two innings and build up from there," Gray said.

The gist of the article was how Gray and teammate Michael Lorenzen both believe they won't need much time to get up to speed to be ready for the start of the season in late July. Nonetheless, it wouldn't be a surprise if Gray and other Reds starters still have shortened outings to begin the season.

Wheeler could miss time early in the season as his wife is due to give birth to the couple's first child around Opening Day, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

How exactly players will handle fatherhood is one of many questions that come with resuming the season in the middle of a pandemic. In a typical season, players usually miss roughly three days for paternity leave, but the upcoming season will of course be far from typical and may require different protocols. The Phillies' big offseason acquisition could wind up not missing a single start, but if he has to go through some sort of quarantine before returning to the club, he could miss nearly a quarter of the shortened season.

Irvin has a good shot to open the season on the Phillies' active roster, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Rosters will expand from 26 to 30 for the early part of the upcoming season, with the majority of those extra spots expected to go to relievers. Irvin is a strong candidate for one of those spots due to his ability to provide length out of the bullpen. He's unlikely to be particularly relevant for fantasy owners, though, as he failed to impress in his 41.2-inning debut last season, struggling to a 5.83 ERA.

While the Reds are going to emphasize adding players that can help them win now to their taxi squad, they will take some prospects, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "Our philosophical decision is to build that group to support the team to win this year," Reds' president of baseball operations Dick Williams said. "We're leaning toward putting players at that alternate site we know can come to the big leagues and help us win soon. We will make sure those needs are met first before we worry about prioritizing development."

Greene is likely to be one of those prospects added with an eye towards the future, just so that he can get some work in with the team's development staff after missing 2019 following his Tommy John surgery.

Henry will be on Arizona's taxi squad, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.

The 22-year-old southpaw has only logged three professional innings, all in short-season ball. He is unlikely to garner much, if any, action in the majors this season.

General manager Alex Anthopolous said Wednesday that the Braves will limit their starters to 2-to-4 innings their first couple times through the rotation, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

It's not overly surprising news given the elongated shutdown, but Anthopolous is the first GM to public say as much. Teams will have access to expanded rosters -- 30-man rosters to start -- so there's no real incentive to push starters right out of the gate following a brief secondary spring training. Fried still figures to see his fair share of innings during the 60-game campaign after posting a 4.02 ERA and 1.33 WHIP during his first full season as a starter in the majors last year.

General manager Alex Anthopolous said Wednesday that the Braves will be cautious with their starters, limiting them to 2-4 innings their first couple times through the rotation, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Chance are, this will be a common refrain from GMs in the weeks to come. Anthopolous is just the first to say publicly that the team's starters will be limited the first couple times out. With rosters expanded to 30 players early on, there will be plenty of depth, allowing clubs to play it safe with their top arms. Again, most teams will likely end up playing it this way, so this should not hurt Soroka's draft stock too much.