MLB Player News

The Pirates placed Oviedo (elbow) on the 60-day injured list due to a right lat strain.

Oviedo missed the entire 2024 season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but he appeared to be progressing smoothly in his recovery this spring before he suffered the lat strain during his most recent live batting practice session, manager Derek Shelton told Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The lat strain prompted the Pirates to send Oviedo to the 60-day IL, which makes him ineligible for activation until late May. Oviedo's removal from the 40-man roster frees a spot for waiver pickup Justin Lawrence.

Blackburn gave up four runs (three earned) on three hits and two walks over 1.1 innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox. He failed to strike out a batter.

After tossing a scoreless inning in his spring debut last week, Blackburn ran into trouble against a Boston lineup that featured most of its likely Opening Day starters. The 31-year-old right-hander is competing in camp for a spot at the back of the Mets' injury-plagued rotation, but Blackburn will need better performances than this to climb over Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning on the depth chart.

The Brewers agreed to terms on a one-year, $4 million contract with Quintana on Monday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Quintana was left dangling on the free-agent market into March but has finally found a new club. The deal is worth $4-5 million, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com, with more possible in incentives. It's not clear whether the veteran left-hander will have enough time to ramp up for Opening Day, but once he's ready Quintana will join the Brewers' rotation. The 36-year-old made 31 regular-season starts for the Mets last season, collecting a 3.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 135:63 K:BB over 170.1 innings.

Spiers allowed one run on two hits and one walk while striking out three over three innings in Sunday's spring start against the Cubs.

Spiers, making his second Cactus League start, became the first Cincinnati starter to reach three innings. The right-hander threw 37 pitches (26 strikes) and told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com following the game that he got another up-and-down in the bullpen to get "more pitches under my belt." He entered camp as a depth starter, likely destined for Triple-A Louisville, but injuries to Andrew Abbott (shoulder) and Rhett Lowder (elbow) could factor into where Spiers lands to open the regular season.

Rodriguez allowed one walk and struck out one over two scoreless innings in Sunday's spring start against the Rangers.

Rodriguez cruised through his first Cactus League start, setting down the side in order in the first inning and working around a two-out walk in the second. He threw 31 pitches (18 strikes). The left-hander told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com following Sunday's outing that he threw all of his pitches and feels everything is right where he wants it to be, which suggests the pitcher will be ready to go come Opening Day. Rodriguez opened the 2024 season on the injured list due to a shoulder issue and was limited to just 10 starts in the first year of a four-year contract.

Miller is out of concussion protocol and has returned to throwing bullpen sessions, per MLB.com.

Miller had a scary incident in which he was struck in the head by a comebacker Feb. 20, and the righty hurler was subsequently placed in concussion protocol. However, he's since been cleared to resume throwing and is back to ramping up. Miller threw about 35 pitches in a bullpen session Friday and said he'll likely need to take part in one more bullpen before returning to game action, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

Wrobleski pitched three perfect innings, striking out two batters in a Cactus League contest against the Athletics on Sunday.

Wrobleski allowed just two balls to leave the infield, as he induced five groundouts to go along with his two punchouts. The southpaw contributed six starts among eight regular-season appearances in his first taste of the majors last year and posted a 5.70 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 26:16 K:BB over 36.1 innings. Wrobleski's opportunities with the big club in 2024 were precipitated by a rash of injuries to the team's pitching staff, and he's likely to begin 2025 at Triple-A.

Winn threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout and a walk in his spring debut in Sunday's win over the Angels.

Winn began last season in the starting rotation but managed only 12 starts before undergoing season-ending ulnar transposition surgery in late July. It looks like he's back to full speed, but his role for 2025 isn't clear. He'll compete for a rotation spot but appears to be a long shot, so he could begin the season in the bullpen or the minors.

Boyd allowed three runs on four hits and a walk across 2.1 innings in Sunday's Cactus League game against the Reds. He struck out four.

After a scoreless spring debut covering two innings Monday, Boyd was less effective in his second appearance. The veteran did continue to rack up strikeouts at a solid clip at least, as he now has six of them through 4.1 Cactus League innings. Boyd figures to slot in as the Cubs' No. 4 starter to begin the year, and after a few injury-ravaged seasons, the lefty is a bounceback candidate if he can stay healthy, though Chicago will probably monitor his workload closely all year.

With Javier Assad (oblique) set to miss the beginning of the regular season, Rea may be the next player up to fill the Cubs' final rotation spot, Cole Bradley of MLB.com reports.

Chicago figures to break camp with Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd entrenched in the rotation, and Assad had the early inside track on the No. 5 spot, but he won't be ready for Opening Day due to an oblique strain. The veteran Rea makes for a steady plug-and-play option, though youngsters Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks are also competing for the spot. The latter two players may offer a bit more upside in the long run, but Rea's MLB experience as a starter could give manager Craig Counsell some comfort to start the year. Rea offers some potential streaming appeal for however long he's in Chicago's rotation.