MLB Player News

Martinez (shoulder) returned to camp Wednesday and resumed his throwing program with a session of flat-ground catch, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

Martinez had been away since Saturday due to the birth of his daughter. The right-hander continues to track toward a possible May return, with mound work presumably the next step on his rehab checklist.

Kershaw (shoulder) indicated Wednesday that he will need around 20 days to get fully up to speed, Pedro Moura of The Athletic reports.

Kershaw felt good after a semi-live batting practice session Wednesday, but he's apparently still weeks away from being ready to rejoin the Dodgers' rotation. The southpaw is scheduled to throw two innings of live BP on Monday. Kershaw is expected to open the season on the IL; if he continues to progress without any setbacks, a return in 20 days would line him up to debut against the Cardinals on April 9.

Kershaw (shoulder) threw one inning of live batting practice Wednesday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Manager Dave Roberts said Kershaw felt good after the 22-pitch session, and the southpaw will throw two innings in another live BP session in Los Angeles on Monday. Kershaw remains without a timetable for his return; the earliest he could be activated from the IL is April 5 against the Rockies.

Paddack appears well positioned to break camp as a member of the Padres' rotation, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Manager Andy Green has been cagey about the Padres' rotation plans, but all signs point to Paddack opening the season in the big leagues, barring the late addition of another veteran starter to the mix or an organizational desire to delay the right-hander's MLB service clock. While Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer and Matt Strahm seem to have locked up their rotation spots, there's still two openings left vacant with the likes of Robbie Erlin, Luis Perdomo, Bryan Mitchell, Jacob Nix (elbow) and Brett Kennedy (lat) having removed themselves from consideration based on poor performance or injury this spring. That leaves Paddack and two other prospects (Logan Allen and Cal Quantrill) left standing in the competition, with Paddack having vastly overshadowed both thus far. Though Paddack battled some command issues while raising his pitch count to 75 in a minor-league game Tuesday, the Padres' decision to have him throw on the back fields rather than against the Diamondbacks' big-league lineup that same day can be viewed as a positive. San Diego is scheduled to face Arizona in its second series of the season, with Paddack a candidate to take the hill for one of those three games.

Darvish (finger) played catch without any issues Wednesday, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

This is encouraging news. Darvish exited his spring start Tuesday due to a blister on his right ring finger, but the issue doesn't appear to be anything that will affect his status for the start of the season. The right-hander is expected to throw a bullpen session Friday, and if everything goes as planned, he could remain on schedule for his start Sunday. According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, Darvish's next outing will likely determine whether his first start of the season needs to be pushed back.

Quantrill is expected to make his final Cactus League appearance in Sunday's finale versus the Cubs and remains a candidate to crack the Padres' Opening Day rotation, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer and Matt Strahm already appear to have secured their places in the rotation, but Jacob Nix's elbow injury along with poor springs from Bryan Mitchell, Luis Perdomo and Robbie Erlin has paved the way for a trio of prospects to vie for the final two starting spots. Chris Paddack and Logan Allen are held in higher esteem as prospects and have largely outperformed Quantrill this spring, but the 23-year-old could boost his chances of breaking camp with the big club with a strong showing this weekend. The uncertainty that Quantrill will actually beat out Paddack or Allen for a job in addition to his meager production in the minors render the athletic right-hander little more than a late-round flier in NL-only formats.

Lauer is a candidate to receive the start for the Padres' Opening Day game March 28 versus the Giants, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Lauer has been dominant through his first two Cactus League starts, striking out eight while covering six no-hit innings. That's probably enough for him to secure his place in a low-grade Padres rotation to begin the season, and he could line up for Opening Day depending on how the Padres arrange their pitching schedule for their final three games in Arizona this weekend. After an off-day Thursday, Lauer and Joey Lucchesi are in line to start either Friday against the Rockies or Saturday versus the Angels. If Lauer gets the Saturday nod, it would put him on schedule to take the hill for the opener on his typical four days' rest.

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.