MLB Player News

Megill appears likely to have a spot in the Opening Day rotation if Sean Manaea (oblique) begins the season on the injured list, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Frankie Montas (lat) was already expected to be sidelined into May, so the Mets' rotation depth is being tested early. Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes and David Peterson are the only locks for starting jobs right now, with Megill, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn (back) competing for the remaining spots, but if New York sticks with its plan to use a six-man rotation, there would be room for all three. The Mets have three off days in the first 15 days of their schedule however, so they could delay those plans until mid-April.

May allowed one hit and struck out one batter over one scoreless inning in Sunday's Cactus League game against San Diego.

It was a successful return to game action for May, who missed all of last season while rehabbing from the right elbow surgery he underwent in July of 2023. The fireballer had resumed throwing off a mound last summer but had his progress halted when he needed throat surgery for an esophageal tear in July. May now appears to be back to full health, and he could either win a spot at the back of the Dodgers' rotation or open the campaign as part of the team's bullpen.

Gausman threw live batting practice Sunday and will do one more such session before making his first spring start, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Gausman is seemingly a little behind the rest of the Jays starters, as Easton Lucas is currently working in Gausman's spot in the Jays' Grapefruit League rotation. It sounds like Gausman is on track to potentially make his first spring start next week. He showed up to camp intentionally carrying more weight because he says he loses weight throughout the MLB season and wanted to better hold up over the full season. In 2024, he had his lowest strikeout rate (21.4 percent) since 2018 and his highest walk rate (7.4 percent) since 2017.

Chace is on a slower progression than other pitchers in Phillies camp after not being able to throw as often as hoped this offseason in his native Venezuela, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

Chace has been throwing off a mound but has yet to face hitters this spring. Acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline in the deal that sent Gregory Soto to Baltimore, the 21-year-old Chace is likely to begin the 2025 campaign in the Double-A Reading rotation.

McCullers (forearm) will be cleared for live batting practice if he gets through a bullpen session Monday with no issues, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

McCullers has thrown several recent bullpen sessions without any hiccups and is almost ready to face hitters. The right-hander will not be ready in time for Opening Day, but he hopes to make some Grapefruit League appearances before the schedule runs out. McCullers hasn't appeared in a big-league game since the 2022 World Series due to multiple arm injuries.

Giolito (elbow) is expected to throw a live batting practice session Monday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Giolito is behind some other Boston starters but appears on track to be ready for Opening Day. The Red Sox typically have pitchers throw a couple of live BPs before getting into game action. Kutter Crawford (knee) is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, so there's a spot for Giolito if he's ready.

Lively allowed one run on five hits and one walk while striking out one over two innings in Sunday's spring game against the Angels.

Lively made his first Cactus League start and allowed much base traffic but managed to stifle the damage to just one run. He threw 23 strikes among his 33 offerings, which was his goal coming in. "All good, just trying to locate everything, not letting it rip all the way," the pitcher told Steve Stockmar of MLB.com. "Felt good to be out there." Lively is coming off his best season in the majors, posting a 3.81 ERA over a career-high 151 regular-season innings. The accumulation of innings was the prominent reason he was left off the ALDS roster last year and limited to the one relief appearance in the ALCS. The right-hander's goal is to prove he has the stamina to be included in any postseason series.

Abbott (shoulder) returned to camp Sunday after being away for two days due to illness, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Abbott is not yet scheduled to face hitters in a live batting practice session. The Reds will check in with the left-hander to determine the impact of the last two days of inactivity, then make decisions on the next steps of Abbott's progression.

Henry allowed four runs on five hits while striking out one over 1.1 innings in Sunday's spring game against Seattle.

Henry had a benign first inning but ran into trouble in the second frame and was removed after 40 pitches. Arizona has several starters in camp ahead of the Henry, who should serve the organization as a depth starter at Triple-A Reno. He might also be used as a long reliever if promoted to the majors.

Montgomery (finger) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Tuesday, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Montgomery, who was cleared for a bullpen session after an exam last Wednesday, had been scheduled to throw Saturday but will now throw Tuesday. The left-hander built up prior to spring training and doesn't expect there to be any issue with being ready for the start of the season.