MLB Player News

Atlanta optioned Waldrep to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday.

Waldrep made a single appearance during spring training before being optioned, firing a scoreless inning. The 22-year-old allowed 13 earned runs across seven regular-season innings in his two appearances for Atlanta last season, but he posted a 3.38 ERA across 40.0 innings at Triple-A Gwinnett after starting the minor-league season at the rookie-level Florida Complex League. Following his impressive ascension through the organizational ranks last season, the right-hander will begin his 2025 campaign a step away from the majors.

Atlanta optioned Dodd to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday.

Dodd only made one appearance for Atlanta during spring training, during which he allowed two earned runs on three hits over one inning. Now set to begin the 2025 season in Triple-A, the 26-year-old southpaw will likely need to improve the 5.35 ERA he generated over 107.2 innings at Gwinnett last season before getting another look in the majors.

Senga is not ready to pitch in Grapefruit League games since he is due to make a couple more simulated outings in a controlled environment, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Given Senga logged just 10.1 innings last year, including the postseason, due to shoulder and calf issues, it's wise to be skeptical of his ability to be ready for a full starter's workload on Opening Day, at least until we see him in official Grapefruit League games. Healey reports feedback about Senga's health and buildup continues to be positive, and Senga certainly has a rotation spot if he's able to get ready in time.

Manager Craig Counsell said Brown has hit the ground running in camp and he's being evaluated as a starting pitcher, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

"Ultimately, you're trying to develop starters," Counsell said. "That's really valuable. The elite back-end guy, they're super-valuable, too. It's knowing that we got a good pitcher there and figuring out what to do. That's what we'll have to, at some point, make decisions on. But right now, it's a starter for Ben." It's looking more and more likely that Javier Assad (oblique) will have to start the year on the injured list, in which case it would be one of Brown, Colin Rea or Jordan Wicks opening the year as the Cubs' fifth starter. Brown obviously has the highest fantasy ceiling of that bunch, but he's still mostly a two-pitch guy, although his top two pitches (fastball, curveball) are easily plus and his curveball, which is also called a "death ball," is one of the best curveballs in all of baseball. He's been working on his changeup this spring, and if he's clearly the best option, it would be hard for the Cubs to exclude Brown and his strikeout stuff from a starting rotation that had the 25th-best strikeout rate (21.1 percent) in baseball last season.

Gore threw two innings against live hitters in the batting cage Monday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

The Nationals and Gore are saying all the right things about him building up on the side, rather than in games, so far. Manager Dave Martinez said Gore and Michael Soroka will make their spring debuts soon, and Zuckerman speculates the duo could start the Nationals' split-squad games Saturday.

Harrison is expected to pitch in Friday's game against the Brewers following starter Logan Webb, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Harrison said a couple weeks ago that he's rediscovered his fastball velocity after the pitch dipped below 93 mph on average last season, so it will be worth tracking his velocity in camp. It's also encouraging that he's getting into a spring game this week after ending the 2024 season with a shoulder injury. He is expected to open the year in the Giants rotation.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Grove (shoulder) will not be ready for the start of the season, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Grove was shut down with a shoulder injury during the NLDS last season, and he got a late start to his offseason throwing program. The 28-year-old made 39 regular-season appearances for the Dodgers last season, including two starts, and finished with a 5.12 ERA and 54:16 K:BB across 51 innings.

Cobb (hip) received an epidural injection to further aid in his recovery process, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

He had already received a platelet-rich plasma injection earlier this month and played catch over the weekend. Cobb is scheduled to play catch again Wednesday but will not get into games until at least mid-March (a return timeline of a month was estimated Feb. 12). He was up around 150 innings in 2022 and 2023, but injuries greatly plagued him in 2021 and 2024, and it looks like 2025 is perhaps trending in a similar direction.

McDermott (lat) said Tuesday that he feels "really good," but he's not sure when he'll be cleared to begin a throwing progression, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

McDermott has been limited to strengthening exercises since being diagnosed with a mild right lat/teres strain earlier this month. The injury has likely eliminated any chance he had to make the Orioles' Opening Day roster, but he could have a shot to be ready to join the rotation at Triple-A Norfolk at the start of the season.

Gray threw two scoreless innings, striking out one in Monday's Cactus League game against the White Sox.

Texas plated nine runs in the top of the first, making it a pressure-free day for Gray, who set down all six batters faced. He threw mostly fastballs and sliders among his 26 pitches while mixing in one curveball, a pitch he threw just 74 times in 2024. He told MLB.com that he's working on throwing the curve for strikes so that it can be a useful pitch instead of having batters lay off it and wait for a fastball.