MLB Player News

Wainwright surrendered three earned runs on three hits, including two home runs, in a 9-4 Grapefruit League win over the Braves on Thursday.

The two-time 20-game winner had a rocky go of it in the first inning of his spring debut, giving up all three of his runs on a solo homer by Dansby Swanson and a two-run blast by Adam Walker later in the frame. Wainwright had some positives during the inning despite the trouble, sandwiching punch-outs of Anthony Recker and Matt Tuiasosopo around Walker's round-tripper. He then cruised through the second, setting down Ronald Acuna, Lane Adams and Sean Kazmar in order to wrap up his afternoon. Putting the uneven stat line aside, the veteran actually came away pleased with the first of what could potentially be six spring starts. "[I'm] just trying to build off of a great offseason and spring so far," Wainwright said afterward. "I don't love giving up homers, but I'm actually really, really fired up about my stuff right now. I have to work on my cutter. Both of the homers were on sloppy cutters, but the other stuff was really good."

Strasburg will make his Grapefruit League debut against the Cardinals on Friday, Jamal Collier of MLB.com reports.

Strasburg said that he's in full strength and feels no residual soreness in his elbow. However, Washington has held true to their plan of easing the fragile righty into action throughout the spring. To this point, Strasburg has thrown bullpen sessions and pitched in an intrasquad contest, but will finally be put to the test in Friday's outing.

Cueto (personal) is expected to report to the Giants by Friday and will not pitch in the first round of the World Baseball Classic, Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reports.

Cueto has been attending to family matters in the Dominican Republic, which has delayed his arrival at spring training. Although Cueto will miss the opening round of the WBC, the possibility still exists that he could pitch in later rounds of the tournament. During his absence from camp, he's continued to stay active, so there's no reason to believe he'll be unavailable at the start of the 2017 campaign.

Despaigne left Thursday's spring matchup with the Mets with an undisclosed injury, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

It's unclear what the right-hander did, although given that it's pretty early in spring training, removal in the middle of an inning doesn't necessarily mean that the injury is severe. Despaigne's status should become clearer once the ailment is disclosed, but in the meantime consider him day-to-day.

Nola logged two innings in Thursday's spring game, allowing just one hit and striking out one.

The right-hander pitched his first game since last summer with authority, recording four groundball outs and touching 94 mph on his fastball, per Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly. With his 2016 elbow issues close to completely behind him, Nola comes in to 2017 as a prime rebound candidate in fantasy leagues. Buy.

Davies is a lock for the Opening Day rotation, according to Brewers manager Craig Counsell, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Davies and Junior Guerra will headline the quintet. Though Guerra had a sparkling season in 2016, Davies' improvements were lost in the shuffle. The 24-year-old's control (2.09 BB/9) says he's ready to take the next step in his development, one that fantasy owners hope will lead to an increase in strikeouts. His changeup remains a highly intriguing pitch that could facilitate growth as a breakout arm.

Cueto (personal) is expected to join Giants camp Friday, Alex Pavlovic of CNS Bay Area reports.

His visa issues appear to have been settled, though it remains uncertain whether he'll join the Dominican Republic club on time for the World Baseball Classic. None of these setbacks should cause any concern for his availability at the start of the season, unless something arises in the interim. Stay tuned until he actually starts pitching.

Martinez fired three shutout innings in Wednesday's 6-1 Grapefruit League victory over the Mets, surrendering only one hit and one walk. He struck out one.

Pitching in what will be his only start before departing for the World Baseball Classic, Martinez set the Mets down 1-2-3 in the first before running into a jam in the second. However, a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play got him out of trouble, as did a 6-4-3 double play in his third and final inning. Despite the minor struggles, Martinez felt satisfied with his overall performance. "I feel good," he said of his only appearance before leaving Sunday for the World Baseball Classic. "I'm really working on my breaking ball. That's going to make the innings go faster and that's what I'm working on right now; staying ahead on the count, that's what's helping the innings go faster."

DeSclafani (elbow) was given the OK to play catch after seeing Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek, and the pitcher said he feels good, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander, who'll turn 27 in April, was scratched from a recent spring start, though he said Thursday that he wasn't worried about the setback. Still, expect Cincinnati to take it easy working him back into the fold in the coming days. DeSclafani buzzed through 20 starts in 2016 with a 3.28 ERA and a 2.19 BB/9, which hinted at a huge ceiling, but he would make more fantasy noise if he can build on his career 7.44 K/9. Fantasy owners justifiably can take a shot on him in the late rounds of a mixed draft, as long as his health keeps improving.

Velasquez tossed two scoreless innings in his spring debut Wednesday. He allowed one hit, struck out one and did not walk a batter.

Velasquez is working on improving his curveball this spring, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. The pitch wasn't very useful last season as batters hit .297 with a .591 slugging percentage against it. Velasquez has the potential to be a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, but he needs to make some strides with his overall command this season so he can pitch deeper into games. He topped six innings in a game just three times in 24 starts last year.