MLB Player News

Taillon is scheduled to make his Cactus League debut Tuesday against the Twins, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Taillon is also expected to pitch next Sunday against the Red Sox on regular rest. The Pirates named the 27-year-old their Opening Day starter back in February, so he'll kick off the regular season March 28 against the Reds.

Kershaw (shoulder) will play catch Sunday and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Monday, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Kershaw hasn't thrown off a mound in a couple of weeks, so Monday's bullpen session could be a big step toward his potential return. Manager Dave Roberts continues to reiterate that he believes the veteran left-hander will be ready for Opening Day, and Monday's bullpen session will be the next hurdle if that is to remain a realistic possibility.

Wainwright fired four scoreless innings in a 9-3 Grapefruit League loss to the Astros on Saturday, allowing two hits and one walk. He struck out four.

The veteran's performance, which saw him reunite with long-time battery mate Yadier Molina in the latter's first game behind the dish this spring, was one of the bright spots of the day for the Cardinals. Glenn Sattell of MLB.com reports that Wainwright's fastball consistently resided in the high 80s mph on the radar gun during the outing, and in a nod to his ongoing work with his splitter, he notably retired former teammate Aledmys Diaz on a 69 mph version of the breaking pitch. "I probably threw about 10 of them," Wainwright said. "I got an out, got a couple swings and misses. Got foul offs. If I missed, I missed down with good action. So I think it's a pitch I'm going to use a lot."

Lopez struck out four over four perfect innings in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals.

The right-hander was simply dominant against what could wind up being Washington's Opening Day lineup, and the Nats only managed to get one ball out of the infield against Lopez -- a loud flyball to the warning track in center field by Anthony Rendon to end the fourth inning. Lopez now has a 1.00 ERA and 8:1 K:BB through nine spring innings while giving up only three hits, and if the 23-year-old continues to perform at this level over the next two weeks, the Marlins may have little choice but to find room for him in the big-league rotation.

Reyes gave up four runs Saturday against the Padres on Francisco Mejia's grand slam. He allowed three hits and two walks in his inning of work.

Reyes was a September callup last year and saw action in five outings, but his chances of making the Opening Day roster were already thin before this outing.

Gray threw two scoreless innings against the Padres on Saturday in his spring training debut and came away without any setbacks to his elbow, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. "Sonny was really good. He looked great, actually," Reds manager David Bell said. "He wanted to keep going. That's a great sign. He had a lot more in the tank."

Gray has two and a half more weeks to ramp up to be ready for the start of the season. That might not put him on target for Opening Day, but it will be close as long as there are no setbacks. He struck out three with no walks and two hits allowed Saturday.

Maeda recorded four strikeouts across three perfect innings during Saturday's spring start against the Mariners.

Maeda has looked good to start spring training as he has allowed only two hits and one walk while striking out nine over six innings (three starts). The 30-year-old is slated to once again begin the season in the Dodgers' starting rotation.

Wheeler allowed one hit and zero walks while recording three strikeouts across four scoreless innings during Saturday's spring win over the Red Sox.

Wheeler allowed five runs (three earned) over 2.2 innings during his first two spring appearances, but was significantly sharper Saturday. The 28-year-old identified a mechanical issue after reviewing video of his Grapefruit League debut and appears to have addressed the flaws over the last couple of starts.

Marquez said after Saturday's outing that he thinks he's coming down with the stomach bug that's been going around the Rockies clubhouse, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

He sure pitched well for someone starting to feel the effects of an illness, striking out nine without allowing an earned run over three innings against the Indians. Marquez is a polarizing pitcher this draft season. At the very least he should provide a bunch of strikeouts after finishing eighth in the majors in strikeouts last year as a 23-year-old.

Eflin struck out three over 2.2 scoreless frames in Friday's 5-4 loss to the Braves in Grapefruit League play. He issued two walks and gave up a hit in the outing.

Eflin has performed well through two abbreviated starts this spring, surrendering just one run over 5.2 innings. The pair of quality outings should strengthen his hold on a back-end rotation spot, especially with one of his top threats for the job (Jerad Eickhoff) having yet to make his Grapefruit League debut.