MLB Player News

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.

Maeda's $10 million contract "likely gives him an edge" to open the season as the Tigers' fifth starter, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Maeda had a disastrous first season in Detroit, finishing with a 6.09 ERA across 17 starts and 12 relief appearances. He has looked sharp this spring, showing an uptick in velocity while allowing three runs with a 9:1 K:BB over five innings. Casey Mize and Keider Montero look to be Maeda's chief competitors for the No. 5 spot, while Jackson Jobe remains the heavy favorite to be the fourth starter. Whoever wins the fifth spot in the rotation would, theoretically, be holding it down only until Alex Cobb (hip) is ready, although there's no timetable for Cobb's return.

Baz threw three scoreless innings while striking out two, walking one and allowing two hits in Sunday's Grapefruit League game.

The outing was Baz's spring debut, and he threw 50 pitches -- 33 of which went for strikes. His velocity was also excellent, as he hit 100.6 mph with his first pitch of the game, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Baz will presumably be in the big-league rotation to begin the season, though Topkin did note the team has not committed to its five starters at this point in spring.

Rogers (knee) said Monday that he's resumed throwing off flat ground, but he's still a few weeks away from throwing off of a mound, Andy Kostka of TheBaltimoreBanner.com reports.

Rogers is recovering from a right knee subluxation, an injury that has taken him out of contention for a spot in Baltimore's Opening Day rotation. Assuming Rogers is cleared to resume mound work by mid-to-late March, he'll likely need close to a month to get fully stretched out for starting duty. The Orioles may not have a rotation spot available for Rogers by that point in April, however, so the southpaw may have to work out of the bullpen when healthy until a starting gig reopens.