MLB Player News

Nicolino held the Mets scoreless over three innings, scattering three hits and striking out one, in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game.

The left-hander picked a good time to have his best outing of the spring, with Jeff Locke (biceps) looking doubtful for Opening Day and Tom Koehler struggling to get the ball over the plate. Nicolino is still a long shot to win the Marlins' fifth starter spot, and his low strikeout potential would give him limited fantasy value even if he does claim it, but another strong spring start could put him in the conversation.

Fried was optioned to Double-A Mississippi on Thursday.

There was some thought that the 23-year-old southpaw could skip High-A altogether, as he is already on the 40-man roster and was dominant in the second half at Low-A last season, and that will indeed be the case. Of the pitchers in last year's historically stacked Low-A Rome rotation, Fried should be the first to reach the majors if he can handle this aggressive assignment. While he may seem a tad old at 23, he missed almost two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery, so he's closer to 21 in baseball years. He has the potential to be a No. 3 starter.

Perez (elbow) gave up four runs in his first inning of work this spring, allowing three hits while walking one and striking out one.

Perez has been out since last September recovering from an elbow impingement, and the 25-year-old struggled in his first appearance back. He'll look to turn things around as he gets more innings, but either way he'll likely serve as organizational depth in 2017.

Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure confirmed Thomson (wrist) is expected to make his spring debut Thursday or Friday, Meghan Montemurro of The News Journal reports.

The Phillies have taken things slow with Thompson since he first reported to camp with wrist soreness, but it seems the 23-year-old is ready to make his first Cactus League appearance. He made 10 starts for Philadelphia last season, posting a 5.70 ERA and a 32:28 K:BB across 53.2 innings. Thompson is expected to start the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, barring any major injuries to the starting rotation.

Castillo was optioned to Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday, one of 16 players cut from the Reds' major league camp, MLB.com reports.

While Castillo was impressive in spring training, the plan all along was for him to begin the season in the minors. "Probably the first thing is that he hasn't done anything to take our optimism away," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "What we had to do, considering innings and opportunities we had for length, is we had to pare it down to who are the most likely. We had to rank them in order to give them regular time and regular innings. I just felt with his limited Double-A time that it made more sense for him to start the season in player development and maybe be one of those quick-jump guys should we need him early in the year."

Walker has allowed three hits over nine scoreless innings so far this spring. He has struck out 13 while walking one batter.

The 24-year-old will look to continue the momentum in his fourth spring start, Wednesday against Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs. According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, Walker was sitting in the mid-90s with his fastball in his last outing, reaching as high as 97 mph. Walker underwent arthroscopic surgery on his ankle last October but has not shown any ill effects in camp. He struggled in his final year with Seattle, but if he keeps this up, Walker's stock will soar over the remainder of draft season.

Greinke threw five innings on a back field Monday and topped out at 91 mph, Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic reports.

Although it wasn't a Cactus League matchup, Greinke's increase in velocity from his previous outing last week is encouraging. Keep in mind he's working on a different schedule from last year, so the drop in velocity compared to this time last year is slightly less concerning as he may still be building up strength over the final two-plus weeks of spring training. It's still a situation worth monitoring, nonetheless.

Corbin fired five scoreless frames in his start against the Rangers on Tuesday afternoon.

He was very sharp throughout the outing, striking out five and pounding the strike zone (56 pitches, 42 strikes). Corbin appears to have the edge in the competition for the No. 5 starter job to begin the season, especially since Archie Bradley has been inconsistent this spring. The left-hander leaned heavily on his fastball Tuesday, sitting at 91-94 mph with the pitch, an encouraging sign after his fastball velocity dipped slightly in 2016.

Hill held the Reds to one run (zero earned) on one hit while walking three and striking out three in Tuesday's spring training win.

The veteran lefty bounced back nicely after getting roughed up in his first two appearances in March. He still struggled with his control (10 walks in 8.2 spring innings), but the strong results are an encouraging sight for his fantasy owners. Age and durability over the course of a whole season remain a concern, but Hill proved that he can be a dominant force on the mound last season, and he should be treated as such until the results tell us otherwise.

Gray has been solid this spring, allowing one run on three hits to go with three strikeouts in four Cactus League innings.

The 25-year-old is experimenting with a new changeup grip this spring, and the early returns are certainly promising. The lone run he allowed was on a home run, but outside of that blemish, he's been impressive to begin the spring. Gray is vying for the honor of being the Opening Day starter, and although manager Bud Black is remaining noncommittal as of now, the former first-rounder seems like a frontrunner for the nod. Regardless, Gray will look to shoulder a bigger load in 2017 as one of the leaders in a youthful Rockies rotation.