MLB Player News

Spring training just started, but the Mets are already looking ahead to the start of the regular season. 

Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that the Mets are leaning toward starting Zack Wheeler on the mound for the season opener at the Nationals.

Wheeler went 11-11, with a 3.54 ERA in 32 starts for the Mets last year. 

Braves pitcher Julio Teheran will likely start on opening day, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Manager Fredi Gonzalez basically confirmed the news, though wouldn't say it with 100 percent certainty."Yeah, I think so," Gonzalez said when asked. "But I don’t even want to go there, because there’s so much stuff that could happen."

The move shouldn't come as a surprise. The 24-year-old Teheran made the All-Star team last year, and has been the team's best starter for a couple of seasons now. 

Teheran is coming off a season in which he posted a 2.89 ERA over 221 innings last year. 

Dodgers starting pitcher Zack Greinke resumed throwing Sunday after getting a couple of days off for rest for an elbow injection, reports MLB.com.

The Dodgers are being careful with Greinke throughout spring training, trying to keep him fresh for the season. He finished 2014 with a 17-8 record and 207 strikeouts over 202 1/3 innings pitched.

Dodgers starting pitcher Zack Greinke received a "scheduled" lubricating injection in his right elbow on Thursday as part of preseason conditioning, and will be shut down for a few days, per the team's official website.

The 31-year-old right hander threw five bullpen sessions prior to reporting to camp. Don Mattingly told reporters that Greinke has had same lubricating injection in his elbow all three springs with Dodgers.

"It's pretty much been a common spring thing since we've had him," Mattingly said, per SB Nation.

Greinke went 17-8 with a 2.71 ERA and 207:43 K:BB ratio in 202 1/3 innings in 2014.

Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler missed the team's first workout on Saturday because of an illness, reports ESPN. The ailment is not expected to keep the 24-year-old right-hander sidelined for much longer during camp.

Wheeler went 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP and a 187:79 K:BB ratio over 185 1/3 innings in 2014.

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright said he's "exactly where I always am at this point in spring training" following Friday's workout, according to MLB.com.

Wainwright is coming off elbow surgery, and club officials have mentioned lowering his workload during the upcoming season. Wainwright isn't totally on board with that notion just yet. "I'm getting paid to play every five days as it is, not every day," he said. "If I'm skipping my one every five days, good Lord, what am I getting paid for?"

The club hasn't set anything in stone, but there's been some talk about Wainwright missing a start or two during the year in order to stay fresh. "I think we just have to be conservative and smart with him," general manager John Mozeliak said. "When people ask me about Wainwright right now, I sort of think about the 220 [or more] innings a year over the last three years and how we can manage that." 

Wainwright, 33, posted a 2.38 ERA over 227 innings last year. 

Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto expressed his desire to work out a new deal before opening day, reports the Associated Press.

"I want to stay here," Cueto said. "Honest, I'd like to have a contract before spring training ends. But all I can do is play. At this point, I just have to keep working hard and let them work it out."

Cueto is entering the final year of a five-year, $36.2 million deal. The Reds traded away starters Mat Latos and Alfredo Simon in the offseason, in an attempt to clear up some payroom moving forward. If both sides can't come to terms on an extension before opening day, Cueto could be traded at midseason or leave as a free agent afterward.

Cueto, 29. won a career-high 20 games in 2014. He posted a 2.25 ERA and 242:65 K:BB ratio over 243 2/3 innings last season.

Pirates starting pitcher Vance Worley appears to have the edge over Jeff Locke for the fifth spot in the rotation heading into spring training, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Worley bounced back from an injury-plagued 2013 campaign in a big way in 2014. In his first year with the Pirates, the right-hander went 8-4 with a 2.85 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 18 outings (17 starts).

Previously, Dodgers starting pitcher Zack Greinke told reporters to check in with him about his contract, which has an opt out clause that goes into effect after the 2015 season, when spring training rolled around.

Now that it's here, he said he won't have an answer until this coming season is finished.

"Maybe it’s just a question that you guys ask me because I answer some questions I shouldn’t," Greinke said, via the Los Angeles Times. "But it seems to be a pretty obvious thing that it’s something that you don’t talk about. The teams have options all the time. They don’t comment before the season ends if they’re going to accept or decline a player’s contract. You’re always weighing things as they go and no one’s going to accept before they need to or decline a contract before they need to because so many things can happen. So I won’t have any answers until the season’s over.

Greinke has $71 million remaining after this year on his current deal that runs through 2018. It's likely he'd command much more than that in the open market if he were to become a free agent.

Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu said he's already thrown more pitches this offseason before spring training than in previous seasons, according to the Orange County Register. 

Ryu said his goal this season will be to appear in 200 innings.

Ryu came close to this feat in 2013 with 192 innings. A year ago, Ryu appeared in 152 innings. In two major-league seasons, Ryu holds a 3.17 ERA with 293 strikeouts.