MLB Player News

Liberatore will be St. Louis' fifth starter to begin the campaign, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

This news comes as a mild surprise after Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said in mid-March that Liberatore would likely open the season in the bullpen. Instead, the left-hander will work as St. Louis' fifth starter while Steven Matz will begin the campaign in the bullpen and Michael McGreevy will start the season in the minors. The Cardinals plan to move to a six-man rotation beginning April 16, giving Liberatore more leeway as a starter as long as his performance is up to par early in the campaign.

Brown remains in the mix for the Cubs' No. 5 rotation spot along with Colin Rea, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Brown took the loss in relief in Chicago's season opener in Tokyo on Tuesday, but he could slot into the rotation once the Cubs begin the domestic portion of their season later this week. The veteran Rea seems like the favorite for the role, with Brown shifting to long relief, but manager Craig Counsell said he is still considering both pitchers. Javier Assad (oblique) could ultimately reclaim the spot once he returns, but either Brown or Rea should see a short-term boost in fantasy value, depending on whichever player is starting.

Buehler isn't starting Sunday's spring game against Minnesota due to an illness, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports.

Buehler was slated to make one final appearance this spring, but Cooper Criswell has been slotted in to start against the Twins instead. Buehler is slated to pitch on the back fields at Boston's spring training site Monday, so the veteran hurler doesn't appear to be dealing with a serious illness. The right-hander is expected to take his first turn through the rotation Saturday, March 29 against Texas.

GM Mike Elias announced Sunday that Suarez will begin the season working out of the bullpen, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Cade Povich won the battle to be Baltimore's No. 5 starter, so Suarez will open the campaign in relief. The right-hander should again work as a swingman in 2025 but may have a difficult time replicating the 24 regular-season starts he made last season. Suarez made eight relief appearances in addition to those starts and finished the regular season with a 3.70 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 108:43 K:BB across 133.2 innings.

Houck allowed 10 runs on 12 hits and two walks while striking out two over 3.2 innings in Saturday's spring start against the Rays.

Houck's final Grapefruit League outing finishes off what has been a rough spring training for Boston's No. 2 starter. He'll leave Florida with an 11.20 ERA, 29 hits allowed, five walks and seven strikeouts over 13.2 innings. The one positive note coming out of Saturday is that he threw 85 pitches and is ready to start the second game of the season Friday against the Rangers.

Megill has been awarded a spot in the Mets' rotation, and he'll start the team's second game of the season March 28 against Houston, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Megill's spot in the rotation was a foregone conclusion with Sean Manaea (oblique) and Frankie Montas (lat) out for the beginning of the campaign. Megill solidified the decision with a strong spring during which he posted a 4.24 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 18:4 K:BB over 17 innings. Clay Holmes has been named New York's Opening Day starter, and he'll be followed in the rotation by Megill, Griffin Canning, David Peterson and Kodai Senga.

GM Mike Elias announced Sunday that Povich will begin the season as Baltimore's No. 5 starter, and the left-hander will make his season debut in the home opener against Boston on March 31, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.

The 24-year-old earned the final rotation spot over Albert Suarez, who was the early favorite for the job after Grayson Rodriguez was shut down with elbow inflammation. Povich had a 5.20 ERA in 16 regular-season starts as a rookie last year, but he had a strong showing during spring training with a 3.07 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 15:4 K:BB across 14.2 innings. However, the Orioles signed veteran starter Kyle Gibson on Friday, so Povich may need a strong start to the campaign to retain the rotation spot.

Ashcraft could be used as the closer if Alexis Diaz does not win the role coming out of spring training, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "I think we still have some work to do," Reds manager Terry Francona said. "We want to make sure [Diaz's] got his legs under him, with his delivery and everything. We know what he can do. We just want to make sure he's ready to do it."

Diaz hasn't pitched a clean inning during Cactus League play, which included a disastrous outing March 15 that prompted him to work on delivery issues with pitching coach Derek Johnson. The pitcher then had a command-challenged outing against minor leaguers Friday, which set off speculation that Diaz may not be the closer and could open the regular season in the minors. Going back to 2024, there's been chatter about Ashcraft having the makeup of a high-leverage reliever. After he competed for the rotation during spring training, Ashcraft was shifted to the bullpen last week and pitched three scoreless relief innings Thursday. "We've all kind of teetered on that idea and what it would look like," Johnson, the pitching coach, said about Ashcraft as a reliever. "Obviously, we haven't seen it so we don't know. But he could be kind of that really nice piece in the bullpen that we didn't have to go out and acquire." Diaz is expected to throw an inning in the Reds' Cactus League finale Sunday, which could provide an indication about who will work as the team's closer when the season kicks off Thursday against the Giants.

The Rangers placed Dunning on outright waivers Sunday, allowing him to be claimed by other teams, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

The right-hander remains on the 40-man roster for now, but he could be outrighted to the minors if he goes unclaimed on waivers. Dunning posted a 5.31 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 91:40 K:BB across 95 innings last season, and he struggled during spring training with 10 runs allow over 11 frames.

Spiers allowed one run on four hits while striking out one over four relief innings in Saturday's spring start against San Diego.

He entered after Andrew Abbott in what was Spiers' final Cactus League outing before he opens the regular season with a spot in the rotation. That spot is considered temporary and will last as long as it takes Abbott to build up his pitch count. Spiers closed out spring training with a 2.57 ERA through 14 innings over four appearances (one start).