MLB Player News

Williams hurled five shutout innings against the Phillies on Thursday, giving up three hits and one unearned run while striking out four batters.

The right-hander worked admirably through three errors, something which could plague Pittsburgh pitchers all season long. While it's unlikely Williams will duplicate his overall 3.11 ERA in 2018 or his 1.00 ERA stretch in 12 starts (71.2 innings), the nearly universal expectation of regression may help undervalue his ADP.

Wheeler allowed two hits and struck out four in 5.1 scoreless innings Thursday against St. Louis.

Wheeler has looked sharp over his last two starts, as he's failed to surrender a run in 9.1 frames. The 28-year-old right-hander will carry a 2.25 ERA with eight punchouts over 12 innings into his next spring outing.

Wacha allowed five hits and two walks and struck out two in five scoreless innings Thursday against the Mets.

Wacha allowed seven batters to reach base, but he managed to escape without surrendering a run in his fourth start of the spring. He's posted a 1.93 ERA with nine strikeouts over 14 innings in spring games.

Darvish pitched four innings of one-run ball in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Rangers. He allowed three hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts.

Darvish looked sharp against his former team and he now has his spring ERA down to a tidy 2.45 through three appearances. The righty's 2018 season was over almost as soon as it started due to a triceps injury, and he finished with a disappointing 4.95 ERA and 1.42 WHIP, but Darvish looks like a great rebound candidate in 2019 if he can stay healthy.

Wood (back) still doesn't have a projected date to resume throwing, though he is physically improving, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com reports. "He's out of the pain," manager David Bell said. "He was moving around well. I will update you when we have a day that he's going to be able to be on the mound. I think we're getting closer."

It's looking increasingly unlikely that Wood will be ready for the start of the season. Tyler Mahle is the best bet to sub in for him in the rotation in the meantime.

Gray threw three perfect innings in his second start of the spring against the Dodgers on Thursday. Things went so well that he needed to throw 18 more pitches in the bullpen after the start to get him up to the number of pitches the Reds wanted him to throw, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com reports.

The Reds and Gray believe that he's on track to be ready by Opening Day. "I felt good, attacked the zone, threw strikes and forced contact," Gray said. "That's all I'm trying to do." Gray struck out one in his three innings. He was facing a Dodgers squad that had two-to-three starters at most - Justin Turner, Enrique Hernandez, and Alex Verdugo.

Kennedy has been diagnosed with a lat strain and will be shut down for a month, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

After a month it will be back to square one for Kennedy, who will need at least another month to build back up to the point that he could join the big-league bullpen.

Greene (elbow) has been throwing bullpen sessions, mixing in all of his pitches so far in spring training, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. "It's been going really well so far," Greene said. "The progression has been great. Just confidence-wise, I feel like I'm back. I'm confident with every pitch that I throw and focusing on my bullpens and the spots I need to hit and just kind of being in sync with my body."

He suffered a right elbow strain in July and was shut down for the season, but the injury did not require surgery and got back on the mound in December before reporting early to Reds camp in February. Greene started just throwing fastballs and changeups, but progressed to adding his slider and curveball to the mix in late February. He said his goal for 2019 is to stay healthy, total around 120 innings and finish the year at Double-A. The first goal is the most important. If Greene stays healthy, he should shoot up prospect rankings. If the elbow issue pops back up, the opposite would happen.

Paddack gave up one earned run on five hits over four innings in San Diego's 9-3 Cactus League victory over the Angels on Wednesday, striking out six and walking none.

Paddack had never pitched above Double-A before this spring, but he's been dominant thus far in Cactus League play, with his latest sharp effort moving his ERA to 2.13 to go along with a league-leading 20 punchouts over 12.2 innings. Manager Andy Green has been mum to this point on exactly how San Diego's rotation will look to start the season, but Paddack continues to bolster his case for a spot with each strong outing.

Kershaw (shoulder) threw a 31-pitch bullpen session Thursday, mixing in all his pitches except his curveball in a max effort fashion, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Castillo said Kershaw looked happy after the session. The next step for him is to advance to live batting practice next week. The southpaw will take the next few days off before throwing another bullpen with an emphasis on his breaking pitches, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.