MLB Player News

Cueto will pitch in a minor league game Saturday, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports.

With the Giants taking on a divisional opponent in the Padres on Saturday, Cueto will head down to San Francisco's minor league complex for one of his final tune-ups of the spring. Cueto has made two appearances with the Giants this spring, allowing two earned runs over 7.0 innings.

Gray (undisclosed) had an early exit from Friday's outing and walked off the field with the Rockies' training staff, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

This is certainly a concern for Gray and the Rockies as the young right-hander was lining himself up to be the Opening Day starter. Harding noted that Gray didn't appear to be favoring any one body part, so it's unclear at this time what the exact issue is. More information regarding Gray's early exit should be made available following Friday's game.

Kershaw was in midseason form Thursday, tossing six shutout innings while striking out 11 batters in a win over the Rangers.

Sure, spring training stats don't count towards anything, but Kershaw's fantasy owners have to feel good about their fantasy ace's dominant showing this spring (2.14 ERA with 28 strikeouts over 21 innings). The 29-year-old looks to be completely past the back troubles that cost him a couple months of action last season. When healthy, every aspect of Kershaw's game points to him being the best pitcher in fantasy.

Wainwright gave up three earned runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk over four innings in Thursday's 5-3 Grapefruit League win over the Marlins.

The veteran right-hander bounced back from a disastrous start last Friday versus the Mets to fire 47 of 71 pitches for strikes as per Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Wainwright is scheduled for one more outing before he makes his regular season debut in the Cardinals' second game. The four innings matched Wainwright's longest stint of the spring and left the two-time 20-game winner feeling particularly good about his cutter. "I had altered my cutter grip without knowing it," Wainwright said. "Today, the pitches that were 86, 87 [mph], those are cutters. Earlier in the spring, they were 82, 83 [mph]. So it's getting back to where it needs to be."

Senzatela has an improved chance of cracking the major league rotation following the demotion of fellow pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman.

The aforementioned roster move seemingly places German Marquez into the fourth slot of the rotation, leaving Senzatela, Kyle Freeland, and Harrison Musgrave in the running for the final spot. Freeland appears to be the favorite to assume the position, but Senzatela's 17:2 K:BB in 20.1 Cactus League innings is certainly keeping him in the conversation. The one area in which the right-hander has a leg up on the competition is in current roster standing, given that Senzatela is the only one of the three candidates who is currently on the 40-man roster, although that seems like it will be a moot point when all is said and done. From prior reports, manager Bud Black isn't opposed to using his pitching prospects out of the bullpen initially in order to get their feet wet in the majors, so even if he doesn't crack the rotation, Senzatela's excellent control could be put on display in a relief role to begin the season.

Maeda will pitch in a minor league game Friday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

The Dodgers continue to monitor and often minimize Maeda's spring work to keep him fresh for his second full MLB season. The Japanese import wore down at the end of last year yet still ended up with a sparkling line that included a 3.48 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. Even with his risks, the 28-year-old remains worthy of sitting near the top of many fantasy rotations.

Freeland appears to be the front-runner for the last spot in the Rockies' rotation.

The demotion of fellow pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman opened the door for German Marquez to step in as the fourth starter in the pecking order, leaving the fifth spot available for the taking. Freeland initially came into camp as more of an afterthought for the big league rotation, but the left-hander has forced his way into serious consideration after giving up just four runs in 16 spring innings while posting an impressive 14:3 K:BB during that span. He still needs to fend off Antonio Senzatela and Harrison Musgrave for the role, but Freeland seems to be the man for the job as things stand now.

Marquez seems like a lock to break camp as the Rockies' fourth starter following the demotion of right-hander Jeff Hoffman.

Marquez was in the conversation for one of the last two rotation spots along with Hoffman, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, and even Harrison Musgrave to a point, although the situation appears to be sorting itself out now that Hoffman is back with Triple-A Albuquerque. Marquez has shown flashes of what makes him such a highly touted prospect in Colorado's system, although a couple of rough outings have his spring stat line looking poor. His ability to retain his position in the rotation more likely will hinge upon his ability to continually display his trademark control at the major league level, especially given his relatively mediocre strikeout potential.

Teheran's Friday start will be his last Grapefruit League outing this year, and his final warm-up game will come against minor leaguers sometime next week, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Atlanta's Opening Day starter will be handled carefully the week before he kicks off the season. Teheran has twirled an ERA of 3.21 or lower in three of his first four full MLB seasons and looks primed to sit near the top of many fantasy rotations in 2017.

Cabrera is suffering from elbow soreness and could need a stint on the disabled list to start the season, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Atlanta will back off using Cabrera for a few days to assess the extent of his injury. It's bad timing for the high-leverage, high-velocity reliever, who could find himself in the running for saves later in the year if this turns out to be a minor setback.