MLB Player News

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol on Sunday dismissed the possibility of McGreevy making the Opening Day roster as a reliever, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

There had been some talk of McGreevy being used in the bullpen if he's unable to crack the Opening Day rotation, but Marmol said of the righty that, "I don't see him as a guy who will benefit at all by going to the 'pen and breaking with us in that type of role." McGreevy has been arguably the team's best starter this spring, allowing just one run with a 4:1 K:BB over 7.2 innings. However, if the Cardinals elect to use Steven Matz in the rotation -- which it seems they're leaning toward doing -- McGreevy might be the odd man out, which would mean starting the year in the rotation at Triple-A Memphis.

Civale gave up two earned runs over 3.0 innings in Sunday's spring game. He allowed two hits, struck out one batter and walked none.

Civale made his first appearance since his Feb. 27 spring debut and tossed 48 pitches -- seven more than he put up his previous time out. Civale and the Brewers agreed to an $8 million salary for 2025, which puts him on track to break camp with a spot in the big-league rotation.

Ashcraft allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out five over four innings in Sunday's spring start against the Angels.

Ashcraft was greeted by back-to-back doubles to open his fourth Cactus League start but settled in after that. Following the two doubles, he retired seven straight, worked around a couple of base runners in the third inning, then set down the side in order in the fourth. The right-hander then went to the bullpen to throw another 10 pitches, upping his total for the day to 75. With Andrew Abbott (shoulder) getting ready for his spring debut this week and unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, it looks like Ashcraft may open the regular season in the Reds' rotation.

Abbott (shoulder) is expected to make his Cactus League debut by the middle of this week, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Abbott has been on a slower throwing progression than other starters but was enthused when talking about his status Sunday. "It definitely feels good. I feel ready to go," Abbott said. "I think it's a smart way of doing it, not rushing into it." The left-hander felt nothing abnormal after throwing 32 pitches in a two-inning, live batting practice session Friday.

Eovaldi allowed four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four in Sunday's spring start against the Diamondbacks.

Eovaldi threw a spring-high 75 pitches in his third Cactus League outing. He told Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News he was off mechanically and struggled to locate his fastball. Beyond that, the right-hander said he felt fine and was pleased with his curveball, which elicited seven swing-and-misses (14 thrown) and none were hit into play. Eovaldi believes he knows what went wrong for him Sunday and how to correct it. Nothing has been decreed yet, but Eovaldi is a good bet to start Opening Day.

Burnes allowed two hits and a walk while striking out five over four innings in Sunday's spring start against the Rangers.

Early on this spring, Burnes has lived up the six-year ($210 million) contract the Diamondbacks handed him during the offseason. The right-hander has allowed just one run during his four Cactus League starts and struck out 13 over 9.1 innings. "I think kind of the last piece was pairing both the cutter command with the spin and we were able to do that today," Burnes told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic following the game. He threw 57 pitches (39 strikes), putting him on schedule for a full workload once the regular season kicks off. Burnes should get another three starts to build up and work on little things that may crop up between now and Opening Day.

Spence gave up two runs (one earned) over 3.1 innings with three strikeouts and two walks in Sunday's Cactus League loss to Arizona. He has a 1.13 ERA with a 6:2 K:BB in eight innings this spring.

Spence may be the leading candidate for the fifth starter role and has outperformed Joey Estes and Osvaldo Bido so far this spring. However, the final two spots in the Oakland rotation are uncertain at this point. While Spence had a subpar strikeout rate last season (19.4 percent), he did have an above-average groundball rate (48.4 percent) and swinging-strike rate (10.4 percent).

Snell is slated to pitch in one of two exhibition games in Tokyo, Japan on March 15 and 16, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts implied that the southpaw will start the team's home regular-season opener in Los Angeles on March 27, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

A pair of Japanese-born hurlers -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki -- have been tabbed to start for the Dodgers in the regular-season-opening two-game series against the Cubs in Tokyo on March 18 and 19, but it doesn't appear that either of those pitchers will get the ball again for the team's stateside opener against Detroit on March 27. Instead, Snell is likely to get the call for that contest after joining Los Angeles on a five-year, $182 million contract in late November. Snell made his second spring start Sunday against the Athletics and gave up four runs on five hits over 3.2 innings, but he struck out five batters, averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball and threw 67 pitches, so he appears to be ramping up well for the regular season.

Estes gave up two runs over 3.2 innings with two strikeouts and one walk in Sunday's win over the Dodgers. He has a 5.87 ERA with a 5:1 K:BB in 7.2 innings this spring.

Estes is competing for a spot in the rotation but likely isn't making enough of an impression to win a job. Meanwhile, Mitch Spence has pitched well, and Osvaldo Bido may still be a lock despite struggling (12.91 ERA). If Estes loses out on a rotation spot, it's not clear if he'll move to the bullpen or to the rotation at Triple-A.

Valdez allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks while striking out one in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins.

Valdez had a rough outing on the surface, but he built up to 60 pitches before throwing 15 more in a bullpen session. Per Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle, Valdez had no concern about his line, instead noting that he was focusing on the movement on his pitches in favor of trying to rack up strikeouts or precisely hit his spots.