MLB Player News

Gray exited Tuesday's Cactus League start with an apparent injury, the Denver Post reports.

Gray made an errant throw on a come-backer to the mound in the first inning, at which point the club's trainer came out. It's unclear exactly what the injury is, and it's possible the Rockies are just acting extra cautiously, but the team should follow up with more details when they're made available.

Anderson owns a 10.13 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, and 4:0 K:BB ratio in 10.2 innings over four spring starts.

Anderson has been anything but sharp this spring, but his poor performance will not prevent him from breaking camp as the fifth starter with his new squad. While he will break camp as part of the starting rotation, he will need to pitch better than he has over the last few weeks if he wants to hold down his spot.

Nicolino was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans on Tuesday.

Nicolino entered the spring battling for a spot in the Opening Day rotation, but despite a solid spring -- posting a 2.16 ERA in three appearances (two starts) -- it looks like he'll begin the year in the minors. The 23-year-old lefty worked to a 3.52 ERA at the Triple-A level last season and will likely get another chance with the parent club at some point in 2016.

Melville is the likely fifth starter replacement for the Reds if Jon Moscot isn't ready to begin the season.

Melville essentially defines replacement level - he had a pedestrian 4.63 ERA and 1.38 WHIP at Triple-A Toledo in the Tigers' system last year as a 25-year old. If he gets a major league taste, it'll be just that, and not a sustained run.

DeGrom threw four scoreless innings Monday but his fastball, usually in the mid-90s, was only in the 91-to-93 mph range, the NY Post reports.

DeGrom was able to get swings and misses, with good life and movement on his pitches, but the main topic after the outing was the lack of velocity on his fastball. It may just be that the time off due to the groin and back issues have him slightly behind schedule in preparing for the season. The bigger concern is that his heavy workload from last year has taken a few ticks from the fastball. It's just something to note at the moment, but one that merits attention as the spring wears into the regular season.

Strasburg will start the Nationals' third game of the season, following Opening Day starter Max Scherzer and Gio Gonzalez, The Washington Post reports.

It was expected that Strasburg would fill the second spot in the rotation, but Nats manager Dusty Baker decided he'd rather have Gonzalez, who sometimes has trouble going deep into games, follow Scherzer to try and protect his bullpen. This shouldn't have an impact on Strasburg's fantasy outlook, as health permitting he'll still be in position for his second career campaign of 200-plus innings.

DeSclafani changed his grip on his curveball late last season and saw a big improvement in his strikeout rate as a result, and he's been successfully refining the pitch this spring, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

DeSclafani used to throw his curveball just 3-5 percent of the time, but over the last two months it was up to nearly 17 percent. He believes that the pitch will help him better attack left-handers, against whom he's struggled in the past.

Nicasio threw five shutout innings Monday, striking out eight while walking two.

He's struck out 24 batters in 15 Grapefruit League innings and has yet to allow a run. Nicasio compiled a 5.03 ERA in four seasons with Colorado but lowered that mark to a 3.86 ERA in 58.1 innings as a reliever for the Dodgers in 2015. The 29-year-old struck out 65 batters with Los Angeles but walked 32. He profiles as the perfect reclamation project for the Pirates and pitching coach Ray Searage.

Gonzales was optioned to Triple-A on Monday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The Cardinals simply don't have room for Gonzales in the rotation to start the season, but he'll be a candidate to receive a call up in the event of an injury or performance drop-off. Gonzales made 18 starts across multiple minor league levels last season and posted a cumulative 4.69 ERA with a 1.562 WHIP across 80.2 innings.

Cueto (head) started in a minor league camp camp Sunday. He threw 74 pitches over six innings and "felt good physically" after the start.

All reports leading up to this start indicated that Cueto's head injury was nothing to worry about, and those sentiments held true. He will likely make one more start at big league camp before making his regular season debut with the Giants on April 5 against the Brewers.