MLB Player News

Martinez started a Grapefruit League game against the Mets on Wednesday and allowed six earned runs on six hits, a walk, a wild pitch and a hit batsman across 3.2 innings. He struck out six.

The right-hander was truly all over the spectrum in what would turn out to be his final Grapefruit League start due to the cancellation of the remainder of spring training due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Martinez gave up a pair of extra-base hits overall, allowing a double to Robinson Cano and a two-run home run to J.D. Davis, who he also plunked during the outing. While the wild performance put somewhat of a damper on what has otherwise been a strong spring for Martinez, the six strikeouts were certainly a positive. Given his relatively solid form throughout Grapefruit League play, Martinez would seem to have a strong shot at a spot in the Opening Day rotation; however, with the first game of the season now delayed by at least two weeks past its original March 26 date, it's also possible veteran Miles Mikolas (forearm) has enough time to get healthy and reclaim one of the two spots currently considered as available.

Buehler hurled four innings against Milwaukee in a Cactus League game Wednesday, allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out four.

Buehler struggled with his command in his third spring start but was able to limit the damage to one run, lowering his Cactus League ERA to 3.24. The 25-year-old will occupy the No. 2 spot in the Dodgers' rotation when the regular season commences.

Alcantara allowed one run on three hits and two walks over five innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees. He struck out four.

The right-hander appears to be on the right track heading towards Opening Day. After issuing seven free passes with only one strikeout in his first 3.2 spring innings, Alcantara has posted a more reasonable 7:4 K:BB through his last 8.1 frames.

Fried gave up two hits and five walks over 4.2 scoreless innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Twins. He struck out three.

While the southpaw was able to escape with no damage, the five free passes are hard to ignore. Fried now has a 5:9 K:BB through 7.2 spring innings despite his seemingly respectable 3.52 ERA, but he still has a couple weeks to iron out the kinks before Opening Day.

DeGrom allowed one run on one hit over four innings while striking out three in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals.

His 2-1 pitch to Matt Carpenter in the fourth inning caught too much of the plate and was blasted over the left-field wall, but otherwise deGrom was untouchable Wednesday. The perennial Cy Young candidate now has a 1.29 ERA, 0.29 WHIP and 5:0 K:BB through seven spring frames as he gears up for Opening Day.

Strasburg retired the first 12 batters he faced in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros, finishing the outing having given up one run on two hits over five innings. He struck out four.

He'd last pitched in a bullpen session last Wednesday, so Strasburg was well rested heading into this one. The right-hander has a 7:1 K:BB through 6.1 spring innings, and if he remains on a five-day schedule from here on out, he'd be set up to take the hill against the Mets on Opening Day -- perhaps a sign the Nats don't feel Max Scherzer (side) will be ready for that assignment.

Nola (illness) completed a bullpen session Thursday consisting of around 35-to-40 pitches, Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic reports.

Nola was scratched ahead of his scheduled Grapefruit League start earlier this week after coming down with the stomach flu, but he's feeling better now and doesn't expect the missed outing to impact his readiness for Opening Day. The right-hander acknowledged he'll likely make one fewer spring start than initially planned, but he believes he'll need just one more Grapefruit League outing and a simulated game to get where he needs to be from a workload standpoint. The Phillies haven't officially named Nola their Opening Day starter, but there's little doubt he'll be on the bump March 26 against the Marlins if the coaching staff thinks he's ready to go.

Cueto was named the starting pitcher for San Francisco's Opening Day game against the Dodgers, Kerry Crowley of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Jeff Samardzija will pitch the second game of the season against the Dodgers. Cueto allowed five runs on nine hits across 1.2 innings during Tuesday's 16-3 spring loss to the Cubs. The veteran right-hander missed a majority of the 2019 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The 34-year-old returned to make four September starts and posted a 5.06 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and gathered 13 strikeouts across 16 innings.

Mikolas (forearm) was slated to play catch Wednesday for the first time since his second platelet-rich plasma injection, the Associated Press reports.

The right-hander had Wednesday set as his projected date to resume throwing, and it appears he'll hit the mark precisely. Mikolas remains on track to miss the start of the regular season, but if Wednesday's session and subsequent steps go off without setbacks, he could be ready for a debut sometime in April.

Hendricks is competing with Yu Darvish to start in Chicago's Opening Day game against the Brewers, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Chicago skipper David Ross is refusing to commit to an Opening Day arm this early in spring training. Hendricks has been very sharp to begin camp, posting a dominant 1.00 ERA and 0.44 WHIP across nine innings. The 30-year-old has surpassed Jon Lester in the Cubs' starting rotation, but it has yet to be determined where teammate Yu Darvish will be slotted after dealing with an illness to begin spring. Hendricks sported a 3.46 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 150:32 K:BB across 177 innings (30 starts) for the Cubs in 2019.