MLB Player News

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Wednesday that Ashby (oblique) will receive a second opinion on his injury in the coming days, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

After Ashby exited Monday in his most recent Cactus League appearance, he was sent in Tuesday for an MRI, which revealed a left oblique strain. The grade of the strain remains undetermined, however, and Murphy said he's hopeful that Ashby's second opinion brings more clarity on that front. Once the Brewers know the full scope of Ashby's injury, a clearer timeline for his return will likely be established, but even a minor oblique strain would likely put the southpaw on the outside looking in for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

The Giants reassigned Teng to minor-league camp Wednesday, Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Teng reached the big leagues for the first time in 2024 and made four ineffective relief appearances for the Giants before being non-tendered in November. The Giants re-signed him to a minor-league deal during the offseason, but since Teng is no longer a member of the 40-man roster, he'll likely face an uphill battle to resurface in the big leagues. Teng is expected to open the 2025 season at Triple-A Sacramento.

The Giants optioned Black to Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Black coughed up five runs on five hits and three walks over his 3.1 innings of work this spring. The right-hander should be part of Sacramento's rotation to open the 2025 season and could help the Giants later on as either a starter or reliever.

Oviedo (lat/elbow) is scheduled to meet with his surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister, in approximately four weeks before a determination is made regarding whether the pitcher will be ready to resume throwing, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.

Dr. Meister performed Tommy John surgery on Oviedo's right elbow in December 2023, and the 27-year-old had seemingly avoided any snags in his recovery until he suffered a right lat strain while throwing a live batting practice session last week. The lat strain seems to be a greater concern for Oviedo than the integrity of his surgically repaired elbow, but he and the Pirates will nonetheless collaborate with Dr. Meister in late March or early April to decide on the right-hander's next steps. Since the Pirates placed Oviedo on the 60-day injured list last week, he won't be eligible for activation until late May, though he'll be able to start a minor-league rehab assignment before then if he's healthy enough to do so.

Ashcraft allowed five runs on eight hits and one walk with two strikeouts over 2.2 innings in Tuesday's split-squad start against the Rockies.

Both Ashcraft and manager Terry Francona believed the outing was better than the results indicate, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. "I thought in the first inning, he was really good," Francona said after the game. "The entire time, the ball came out of his hand really well." All five runs came home in the second inning, when a couple of soft-hit singles and a dribbler down the line contributed to the rally. There was also some loud contact in there, but that he sandwiched two scoreless innings around one unlucky one was a positive. This was Ashcraft's third Cactus League start, and the right-hander bumped his pitch count to 59 (37 strikes).

Yamamoto tossed four innings in a Cactus League contest against Cincinnati on Tuesday, allowing two runs on four hits and no walks while striking out three batters.

Yamamoto had tossed four frames over his first two spring starts, and he equaled that total in his outing Tuesday. The right-hander hurled 47 pitches, 30 of which were strikes, and topped out at 96.9 mph on the radar gun. Yamamoto will likely make one more spring start before the Dodgers open the regular season with a two-game set against the Cubs in Tokyo, Japan on March 18-19, and he's expected to start in one of those two games.

Sasaki allowed two hits and a walk while striking out five batters over three scoreless innings during his Cactus League debut Tuesday against the Reds.

Sasaki averaged 98 mph on his fastball Tuesday and topped out at 99.3 mph, which manager Dave Roberts said he hadn't seen from him all spring, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com. While Sasaki's velocity was up, he had a bit of a tough time locating, throwing only 26 of his 46 pitches for strikes. Eight of those strikes were swings and misses, and seven of those were generated using his splitter. The Dodgers haven't yet confirmed when the 23-year-old's next appearance will be, but the team will likely look to get him at least one more outing in preparation for his major-league debut during the Tokyo Series.

Suarez hurled two scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League appearance against the Yankees, allowing one hit while striking out two.

It was the first appearance of the spring for Suarez, who looked sharp in two frames of relief. The 29-year-old left-hander was a first-time All-Star in 2024 on the strength of a 1.83 ERA over his first 16 starts of the campaign, but he limped to the finish line with a 6.54 ERA across his last 11 regular-season starts. The poor second half has rendered Suarez more of a late-round draft selection in fantasy leagues, but he's in line to carry plenty of streaming appeal in 2025 as long as he remains a starter for a Phillies club that should offer plenty of run support.

Wheeler threw two innings during Tuesday's Grapefruit League start against the Yankees, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts.

Wheeler wasn't at his best while taking the loss, and he now holds an 11.25 ERA and 2.25 WHIP with six punchouts over two starts during spring training. Although fantasy managers would like to see Wheeler sharpen things up ahead of the regular season, the star right-hander has proven to be a model of consistency throughout his Phillies career and shapes up as one of the safer pitching options in the early rounds of drafts. Wheeler has made at least 26 starts in each of the past four seasons, and he led the National League with a 0.95 WHIP a year ago.

The Mets reassigned Tidwell to minor-league camp Tuesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.comreports.

Tidwell most recently threw two perfect innings -- one of which was an immaculate inning -- Saturday in a Grapefruit League game against the Rays. However, the 23-year-old righty finished last season with a 5.93 ERA and 1.56 WHIP over 85 innings in Triple-A, so the Mets will keep him in their farm system until he can demonstrate more consistent success over an extended period of time.