MLB Player News

Pirates GM Neal Huntington confirmed that Nicasio is in the running for the fourth or fifth starter's spot along with Jeff Locke and Ryan Vogelsong, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

The comments mark the first time Huntington has gone on record saying Nicasio has a chance to crack the rotation Opening Day. The righty struck out 10 of 14 batters in his last start and if he puts together another dominant outing in his next game then he could get the starting nod. Either way, Nicasio will likely end up on the rotation; it's just a question of when. He represents the perfect upside type of hurler pitching coach Ray Searage has reinvigorated over the last several seasons.

DeGrom is likely to will start the Mets' third game of the season, the team's home opener, Friday, April 8 against the Phillies, the NY Daily News reports.

DeGrom was to start the Mets' second game of the season, April 5 against the Royals. But with his wife Stacey due to give birth to the couple's first child that day, Noah Syndergaard will make the start instead. As long as all goes well with the birth, DeGrom should start the third game of the season.

Syndergaard will start the Mets' second game of the season, April 5 against the Royals, the NY Daily News reports.

That start was originally scheduled to go to Jacob deGrom. But with deGrom's wife due to give birth on that day, Thor will get the nod. Syndergaard. who has added a cutter to go along with his changeup, curve and high-90s fastball, faced the Royals in Game 3 of the World Series, buzzing Alcides Escobar with a 98-mph fastball to start the game. He allowed one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts over five innings in a spring start Sunday against the Red Sox.

Ray appears to be locking down the No. 5 spot in the Diamondbacks' rotation, the team's official site reports.

Ray entered camp the favorite to win the job, and his performance is backing that up. He has a 1.86 spring ERA, while top competitors Archie Bradley and Zack Godley are at 9.00 and 11.88, respectively. Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said a decision hasn't been made but added that Ray is "pitching well enough to have that job."

Greinke pitched 5.2 scoreless innings Saturday and now has a 1.88 ERA through 14.1 innings this spring.

The Diamondbacks invested a lot of money in Greinke this offseason ($206 million over six years) and are expecting big things from the righty this year. His new home park isn't as pitcher-friendly as Dodger Stadium, but he should be buoyed by a Diamondbacks team that finished second in the NL in runs scored last season with 720. Simply put, Greinke should be a Cy Young contender this year and one of the top pitchers in fantasy.

Ramirez gave up five runs without recording a single out in a loss to the Indians on Saturday.

It was a night to forget for the Cubs' bullpen, who gave up 12 hits, 10 runs, and seven walks in just four innings. Most of the damage came against Justin Grimm and Ramirez, both of whom should make the team despite not pitching well this spring. Ramirez has been better than Grimm - before Saturday's performance he had four strikeouts versus no walks in three innings - but small sample sizes being what they are, he now has a 15.75 ERA and 2.00 WHIP.

Cueto (head) will pitch in a minor league game Sunday, CSN Bay Area reports.

As previously reported, Cueto won't miss any time after taking a line drive off his head Monday. He passed all concussion tests and should be ready for Opening Day. He is currently slotted as the Giants' No. 2 starter behind Madison Bumgarner.

Corbin has pitched nine innings so far this spring, allowing just one earned run and striking out 10.

Corbin is now about two years removed from Tommy John surgery and he might be returning to the form that made him an All-Star in 2013. He missed all of 2014 and tossed just 85 innings last year for the Diamondbacks. The lefty will slot in as the team's No. 3 starter this year behind Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller.

Marquez was reassigned to minor league camp Friday, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports.

This demotion was expected, as the 21-year-old hasn't played a game above High-A. That being said, he was impressive in big league camp, most recently throwing three scoreless innings in a "B" game Thursday, allowing four hits while walking a batter and striking out four. He'll head to the minors for more seasoning, but if he continues to pitch well, he could climb the organizational ladder fairly quickly.

Cole (rib), who allowed one run in three innings Friday against minor leaguers, believes he's in line to pitch sometime during the opening week of the regular season, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

He threw 29 of 50 pitches for strikes against the Yankees' Triple-A team, reaching 98 mph with his fastball. "It felt good," Cole said. "I thought the curveball was really crisp. It stayed with me through the outing. The fastball command got progressively better...I got the pitch count up."