MLB Player News

The Blue Jays optioned Macko (knee) to Triple-A Buffalo on Monday, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Macko will get a late start to the minor-league season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery last month to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee. He's without a clear timeline to make his 2025 debut, but if Macko ends up being sidelined at least two months into the season, Toronto could recall him from Triple-A and place him on their 60-day injured list to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for another player.

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.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that Gil has been diagnosed with a high-grade right lat strain and will not throw for at least six weeks, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Gil will basically be starting from scratch once he's ready to be built back up, so this is going to be a lengthy absence which seems likely to keep the right-hander sidelined for at least the first couple months of the season. Marcus Stroman is the obvious candidate to take Gil's spot in the Yankees' rotation, but Will Warren has impressed during spring training and also appears to be in the mix.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Monday that deGrom will begin the season at "the back end" of the rotation, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.

He's expected to make his first regular season start either March 30 versus the Cubs or March 31 against the Reds. DeGrom is considered healthy, but the Rangers are simply allowing the two-time Cy Young Award winner ample time to build up after he missed most of the last two seasons while recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. The 36-year-old will make his Cactus League debut Friday against the Rockies and will be built up to five innings by his final spring outing.

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.

Scherzer struck out four without walking a batter over 3.2 innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies.

The right-hander gave up a solo homer to Kody Clemens in the second inning, but it was the only baserunner Scherzer allowed. The 40-year-old has had a dominant start to camp, posting an 8:0 K:BB through 5.2 innings in two starts, and he seems intent on proving he still has something left in the tank after he was able to work only 43.1 innings for the Rangers in 2024 due to multiple injuries.

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.

Buchanan (ankle) is scheduled to pitch in relief Monday in the Rangers' Cactus League game against the Royals, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Buchanan will be making his Cactus League debut, after he was delayed earlier in camp when he sprained his left ankle during one of the Rangers' first workouts of the spring. The 35-year-old right-hander worked primarily as a starter last season at the Triple-A level between stints in the Phillies and Reds organization, but a relief role likely represents his most realistic path to a spot on Texas' Opening Day roster. Buchanan is still viewed as a longshot to break camp with the big club and will most likely be ticketed for Triple-A Round Rock.

The Rangers optioned Corniell (elbow) to Double-A Frisco on Monday.

The Rangers also reassigned 10 players to minor-league camp, bringing the total of players in major-league camp down to 61. Corniell is recovering from UCL surgery on his pitching elbow and hopes to be game-ready in the second half.

Brown allowed a hit and two walks across two scoreless innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game against St. Louis, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brown was shaky to start the game, with all three of the baserunners he allowed coming in a 26-pitch first inning. However, he noted he felt better in his second frame and threw a perfect inning while hitting 98 mph with his fastball as measured by the stadium scoreboard.