MLB Player News

Alcantara will break camp as a member of the rotation and is slated to make his first start March 31 at home versus the Rockies, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

The Marlins have whittled down their rotation candidates over the last two days, assigning Wei-Yin Chen to the bullpen to begin the season and releasing Dan Straily on Monday. Those decisions suggest that Miami is going all in on the youth movement, likely affording the 23-year-old Alcantara some security as he joins his first Opening Day roster. Expect some uneven performances from the right-hander, who boasts a big fastball but struggles to control it and lacks a deep arsenal of secondary offerings to lean on when the heater isn't working for him.

Gonzalez was designated for assignment by the Giants on Monday.

Gonzalez was dropped from the team's 40-man roster in order to free up a spot for Tom Murphy, who was claimed off waivers. The young right-hander made his big-league debut in 2018, struggling to a 5.73 ERA and 1.77 WHIP through 22 innings.

Gausman (shoulder) allowed three hits and three walks over 3.1 scoreless innings while striking out five in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays.

The right-hander will begin the season on the IL, but his shoulder didn't seem to be an issue Sunday and the delay in his season debut is simply due to him needing to build up his pitch count. Barring a setback, Gausman should be activated and take the mound ahead of an April 5 home start against the Marlins.

Stripling limited the Angels to one run over three innings in Sunday's 8-4 exhibition loss, scattering three hits and one walk and striking out none.

Though Stripling failed to record a punchout in his final spring tuneup, he at least induced three swinging strikes and recorded eight of his nine outs via groundballs or infield flies. With Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) and Rich Hill (knee) both bound for the injured list to begin the season, Stripling will break camp as a member of the rotation and make his first start Friday at home versus the Diamondbacks.

Nicasio's spot on the Phillies' Opening Day roster appears safe after Victor Arano and Yacksel Rios were optioned Saturday.

The Phillies have a deep bullpen, but Nicasio always seemed likely to make the team after being acquired from Seattle in December. The veteran stumbled to a 6.00 ERA last season, but his 2.99 FIP told a different story, and he's had a FIP under 3.00 for three of the last four years. He may be a pitcher whose peripherals always overrate him, as his ERA is 0.73 runs higher than his FIP over the course of his eight-year major-league career, but he should at least provide adequate middle-relief innings for the Phillies this season.

Corbin gave up three runs on 10 hits and a walk over six innings while striking out seven during Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros.

Jake Marisnick took him deep in the third inning, the first homer Corbin has allowed all spring. The southpaw didn't dazzle in his first camp with the Nats, but his 19:3 K:BB over 24 innings is sharp and he looks ready for the regular season. Corbin's lined up to make his Washington debut March 31 at home against the Mets.

Williams hurled three scoreless innings against the Orioles on Sunday. He gave up three hits and no walks while striking out two batters.

While his 2018 second-half 1.38 ERA is unsustainable, he figures to see solid matchups as Pittsburgh's No. 3 starter. Prior to his overachieving 2018, when he compiled a 3.11 ERA in 170.2 innings, he registered a 4.07 ERA in 150.1 innings as a rookie. His projected earned-run average for 2019 likely lies somewhere in between the results from his first two campaigns.

Flaherty's second start of the season is slated for the Cardinals' home opener April 4, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

Flaherty, who fired four scoreless, one-hit innings in a Grapefruit League win over the Marlins on Sunday, is slated to make his season debut as the Cardinals' starter in the second game of a season-opening four-game set versus the Brewers. That will line him up to start the first home opener of his career versus the Padres. The 23-year-old right-hander enjoyed a solid spring, complementing a 1-1 record with a 2.12 ERA and .183 BAA across 17.0 Grapefruit League frames.

Kelly will be the Diamondbacks' fifth starter, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports.

Kelly bounced back from a pair of poor starts at the beginning of spring to record a 4.60 ERA, though his 10:8 K:BB isn't particularly impressive. It's hard to tell exactly what Kelly will offer this season, as he's spent the last four years in South Korea, but the Diamondbacks evidently trust him enough to give him a spot for now.

Darvish (finger) expects to be ready for the start of the season, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.

Darvish has been battling a blister, but he got through 4.2 innings in a minor-league outing Sunday while protecting his finger with a bandage. He'll throw a bullpen session in the next few days once the bandage comes off. Assuming that goes well, he'll start Saturday or Sunday against the Rangers.