MLB Player News

Greinke is developing a bond with catcher Welington Castillo early in camp, Jack Magruder of Fanragsports.com reports.

Greinke prefers working with just one catcher, and it appears that Castillo will be the man. Last year, Yasmani Grandal caught 26 of Greinke's 32 starts. Grandal was rated as a better pitch-framer than Castillo in 2015, so it will be interesting to see if Greinke's performance is impacted by his new receiver.

Eickhoff (thumb) will pitch three innings in a minor league game Saturday, Ryan Lawrence of The Philly Voice reports.

Eickhoff has been on the shelf since suffering a small thumb fracture on Feb. 11. If all goes well in his first game outing, he could hop back into the Philadelphia rotation and get back on track to pitch in the first week of the season.

Morton was scratched from his start Friday against the Braves with an illness, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports.

The initial diagnosis is that Morton has something similar to the flu, so he'll take the day off and rest so that he can fully heal from the illness. David Buchanan will start in his place.

Ryu (shoulder) said in a diary post on the Korean website NAVER that he will probably throw a bullpen session next week.

Considering this is coming from the player and not the team, it is not safe to treat it as gospel, but it is good to hear he at least thinks he would be able to throw a bullpen in the near future. Ryu's timetable to join the Dodgers' rotation remains extremely foggy, as he could be starting games in May, or the shoulder issue could linger into the summer months.

Gonzales jammed a finger in Wednesday's game and was removed after an inning of work, but he reported no troubles Thursday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold reports.

He will remain in the starters' program and will presumably be back on the mound in game action next week. The five rotation spots are spoken for, but if Carlos Martinez (shoulder) is not ready for the start of the season, Gonzales along with Tim Cooney and Tyler Lyons will be in consideration for some starts in the early going.

Cole (ribs) is scheduled to make his spring debut Sunday and throw two innings, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Cole had a successful bullpen session Monday, so it appears that the Pirates are confident enough in where he's at physically that they can schedule him to appear. Assuming all goes well in the next coming days, Cole will slot back into his role as the ace of the Pittsburgh rotation.

DeGrom (leg) threw three innings Wednesday against the Yankees in Grapefruit League play, and should be considered healthy moving forward.

He allowed five hits and one earned run while issuing zero walks and striking out two. DeGrom threw 46 pitches and his fastball ranged from 91-93 mph, so he is not quite at mid-season form. Look for him to build up his innings and velocity in future spring starts, and his status for the start of the season is not in jeopardy.

Lorenzen has "elbow tenderness" and will get a couple days off, the Cincinnati Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans reports.

An ultrasound examination revealed no serious injury for Lorenzen, but any type of elbow discomfort is always a bit concerning. Look for his status to be updated in the coming days, and hopefully a few days off will be all it takes to get him back on the mound.

Wacha made his first start of the spring Tuesday and revealed a cutter that he's hoping to add to his arsenal moving forward, MLB.com reports.

Wacha started working on the cutter this winter and it seems to be coming along nicely as he ended his outing by inducing a groundout with the pitch. He's still working on the command but it looks as though it could be a pitch he'll use this season to keep hitters off-balance from his most heavily used pitches, his fastball and changeup.

Lorenzen was scratched from his scheduled spring start Wednesday, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports.

It's not immediately clear why Lorenzen was scratched, but manager Bryan Price is expected to provide an update in the near future. Tim Melville will take the ball Wednesday in Lorenzen's place.