MLB Player News

Gallen allowed two hits while striking out three over two scoreless innings in Saturday's spring start against the Rockies.

Gallen told Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports that he felt better about his second Cactus League outing than in his previous start or sessions on the backfield. "Delivery felt solid, felt I had some good leverage, was able to locate pretty good," the right-hander said. He talked about not flying out too early and holding his tension until the end when releasing pitches. "That's when I feel like everything is synced up," Gallen added.

McGreevy struck out a pair in two perfect frames this past week against the Yankees in his spring debut.

All six batters McGreevy faced were projected regulars for the Yankees, and he disposed of them efficiently, needing just 21 pitches to cruise through his two frames. Steven Matz appears to be McGreevy's biggest competition for a spot in the Cardinals' rotation, and Matz also tossed two scoreless innings in his first Grapefruit League start. A trade of either Matz or Erick Fedde would figure to secure McGreevy's spot.

The Mets placed Scott (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Feb. 12 make room for the signings of Pete Alonso and Drew Smith (elbow), Joe DeMayo of SNY reports.

The 25-year-old right-hander underwent a hybrid Tommy John and internal brace procedure on his elbow last September and is set to miss the entire 2025 campaign. Scott could be a factor in the Mets' rotation plans in 2026 if he makes a full recovery.

Steele could incorporate his changeup more often in 2025 after throwing it 3.3 percent of the time last season, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

While 3.3 percent isn't a particularly high rate, it did mark a new career high in usage rate for Steele. The lefty mostly utilizes a fastball-slider mix, but working in his offspeed stuff more frequently could help him keep hitters off balance. Expect Steele to continue to work on the pitch in spring training, and if he develops confidence in it, he could increase his usage during the regular season. The 29-year-old missed some time due to injury in 2024 but was effective when healthy, posting a 3.07 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 135 strikeouts across 134.2 innings.

Alcantara threw two pitches that reached 100 mph during Friday's Grapefruit League start against Atlanta, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

The 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner tossed 30 pitches in total over two scoreless innings, giving up two singles and striking out three without walking a batter. "Everything feels good with my arm, [it] was good out there. I just want to show people that I'm healthy and I can throw hard," Alcantara said after the outing. The 29-year-old righty hasn't pitched in an MLB game since September 2023, missing all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery, but he appears fully recovered and on track to take the bump for the Marlins on Opening Day. The Tigers' Tarik Skubal, who won the AL Cy Young in 2024, is the only other starting pitcher to light up a radar gun for triple digits so far this spring.

May allowed four runs (three earned) on one hit and two walks while striking out two batters over one-plus inning in a Cactus League start against the Angels on Friday.

This was May's second appearance this spring -- he pitched a scoreless frame last Sunday against San Diego. The right-hander didn't fare anywhere near as well this time around, though he started off great by striking out the first two batters he faced in a scoreless first inning. May was unable to get an out after returning for the second frame, however, as he walked the first two batters in the inning, saw an error by third baseman Max Muncy load the bases and then served up a grand slam to Jo Adell. May managed to hit 97 mph with his fastball, so he seems to be close to the velocity he displayed prior to undergoing right flexor tendon and UCL reconstruction surgery in July of 2023.

Greene allowed five runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two over two innings in Friday's spring start against the Athletics.

Greene's second Cactus League outing started fine but ended poorly. He retired the first four batters and five of the first six before it all went sideways. Despite the result, Greene told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer that his body felt good enough to throw five or six innings.

Nelson allowed one hit and two walks while striking out one over two scoreless innings in Friday's spring game against Kansas City.

Nelson, making his Cactus League debut, followed starter Merrill Kelly, pitching the third and fourth innings. Nelson was a mainstay in the rotation the last two seasons -- and showed improvement in 2024 -- but he enters the spring in a battle for a rotation spot for a third consecutive season. His scoreless outing follows a similar one Thursday from Brandon Pfaadt, who is also competing for the same rotation spot along with Jordan Montgomery.

Kelly allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two over two innings in Friday's spring start against the Royals.

This was Kelly's first appearance in Cactus League action, and the 36-year-old right-hander showed extra juice on his fastball. He averaged 92 mph on his two- and four-seamers in 2024 but threw a number of fastballs at 94-plus Friday. The uptick in velo is an encouraging sign for Kelly, who missed a large part of 2024 due to a shoulder injury.

Sproat threw two perfect innings against the Nationals on Friday in his Grapefruit League debut, striking out one batter.

The 24-year-old right-hander retired all six batters he faced and reached 99 mph on a swinging strikeout of Robert Hassell. Widely considered the Mets' top pitching prospect, Sproat is knocking on the door of the rotation for a team that is already down Sean Manaea (oblique) and Frankie Montas (lat) to begin the season. Sproat will almost certainly return to Triple-A Syracuse to begin the year, as he's not yet on the 40-man roster, but manager Carlos Mendoza noted after Friday's exhibition that the Mets will need arms to get through the season and Sproat is "one they will be monitoring," Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.