MLB Player News

The Braves optioned Soroka (shoulder) to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday.

Soroka's demotion was telegraphed weeks ago, when it was revealed the shoulder soreness that surfaced early in camp would prevent him from cracking the Braves' Opening Day rotation. The right-hander has since resumed a throwing program and most recently faced hitters in live batting practice, so he could soon be ready to pitch in a simulated or minor-league game. He'll still need multiple outings to get his arm conditioned for a starter's workload, making it unlikely that he'll resurface in the big leagues until late April or early May, if an opening in the rotation even exists at that time.

The Cardinals optioned Gomber to Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Gomber was an adequate short-term rotation option for the Cardinals in the second half of 2018, as he turned in a 4.26 ERA and 53:22 K:BB across 57 frames in his 11 starts. However, with St. Louis returning most of its key starting options to full strength this spring aside from Carlos Martinez (shoulder), Gomber suddenly found himself buried on the depth chart. He'll head to Memphis to continue receiving regular starts while John Gant and Dakota Hudson vie for the final spot in the big-league rotation.

Fried tossed five scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out seven.

The left-hander has been impressive all spring and now boasts a 16:5 K:BB across 15.1 innings. Fried's path to breaking camp in the rotation is complicated by the fact that the Braves won't need a fifth starter until April 7, which gives Kevin Gausman more time to build up his pitch count after a late start to his spring, but based on performance alone Fried would seem to have earned a spot. The same could be said for Touki Toussaint and Kyle Wright, however. The club could well keep all three young arms on the 25-man roster, using whomever isn't starting in long relief, but a demotion to Triple-A Gwinnett to stay stretched out also remains on the table.

Walker (elbow) had a 20-pitch bullpen session Tuesday, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

The throwing session was Walker's first since undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in April of 2018. "Obviously, it's been a long, grinding process, and these are when you start to see some really good moments for these guys, a smile on their faces. I think it was a good day for Taijuan," said manager Torey Lovullo. Walker will slowly ramp up over the next few months and could be an option for the Diamondbacks after the All-Star break.

DeSclafani will pitch fourth among Reds starters to begin the season, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Luis Castillo will get the Opening Day nod for the Reds, followed by Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark and then DeSclafani. That means that DeSclafani has to face the Brewers instead of the Pirates for his first start.

Gray will start the Reds' second game of the season against the Pirates on March 30, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Gray threw 70 pitches in a spring training game Tuesday against the Indians that was mostly against their minor-league hitters, though he did face Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis multiple times. "Overall, I feel good and got to work on a lot of stuff," Gray said. "It was obviously a little later start to spring than I would have liked but sometimes those things are out of your control. I feel very good and look forward to what's ahead."

Anderson ditched his altered delivery in Tuesday's spring start, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, and allowed two earned runs over four innings. He allowed six hits and posted a 4:1 K:BB in the outing.

Anderson attempted using a Nolan Ryan-like, over-the-head windup to begin the spring, but he allowed nine earned runs over 10 innings, and decided to put a halt to the experiment in Tuesday's start. The results were mixed, but better, and manager Craig Counsell said Anderson had "the best velocity" he's had this spring. It's not clear which approach Anderson will choose to employ moving forward, but regardless, he figures to find himself somewhere in the Brewers' rotation when the regular season begins.

Manager David Bell announced Tuesday that Castillo will start Opening Day against the Pirates, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Castillo has produced sub-par results in spring training with a 12.46 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over four appearances, but he still receives the Opening Day nod over veterans Sonny Gray and Tanner Roark. The 26-year-old made 31 starts for the Reds in 2018, compiling a 4.30 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 165:49 K:BB across 169.2 innings.

Greinke was named the Diamondbacks' Opening Day starter versus the Dodgers.

The announcement comes as little surprise as Greinke receives the team's Opening Day nod for the third time in four years. The 35-year-old had a subpar 4.37 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 7.6 K/9 during his first year in Arizona in 2016, but has since posted a 3.20 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 9.1 K/9 across the past two seasons.

Hill has a 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 11 strikeouts against no walks through 11 innings in Cactus League play this spring.

Hill has historically struggled in spring training during his career, but he's been solid in the Cactus League this spring and looks to be healthy ahead of the regular season. He had a 3.66 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over 132.2 innings last year, and the 39-year-old has emerged as a candidate to start Opening Day for the Dodgers with staff ace Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) confirmed to be sidelined. As long as he stays healthy and part of the rotation, Hill is a good candidate to act as a ratio stabilizer, although he shouldn't be considered likely to log a high number of innings given his age and injury history.