MLB Player News

Espino will miss the entire 2024 season after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair his right shoulder capsule and rotator cuff, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

Espino had surgery last May to repair the anterior capsule in his pitching shoulder and now has an additional shoulder surgery that he'll need to rehab. The 23-year-old had flashed some of the best raw stuff in the minors since entering the professional ranks in 2019, but he simply hasn't been able to stay healthy, as he's battled numerous shoulder and knee problems. It's not clear when Espino might be game-ready again, but it probably won't be until at least midseason in 2025.

Severino allowed one run on two hits over four innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He struck out three without walking a batter.

The 30-year-old right-hander is trying to get his career back on track with the Mets after eight seasons with the Yankees, and so far in camp the results have been excellent. The run Severino gave up Wednesday was his first of the spring, and through nine Grapefruit League innings he's posted an 8:0 K:BB while showing good velocity. The Mets are counting on him to plug a hole in their rotation, but since throwing 191.1 innings in 2018, the biggest workload Severino has managed in the majors is 102 innings during 2022 due to a variety of injuries.

Perez still believes he'll be able to build up properly ahead of Opening Day despite the fingernail issues that have plagued him this spring, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

The precocious 20-year-old right-hander threw only 14 pitches Wednesday due to a recurrence of the issues -- which is problematic when he was scheduled to get up into the 70-pitch range and days are running short on the Grapefruit League calendar. Perez says his early exit wasn't due to his nail splitting again however, but rather that the fake nail he was wearing to protect it began to lift up. "I don't know yet," Perez said Wednesday when asked what the next step in his preparations for the regular season would be. "I spoke with [head athletic trainer] Lee [Meyer], and he told me that we will tackle this early [Thursday], and we're going to make sure we have a plan so this doesn't happen during the season." As yet, Perez's availability for Opening Day doesn't appear to be in real jeopardy, but one more truncated spring outing simply won't leave him enough time to get built up.

Bassitt struck out nine batters in 5.1 innings during Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates, allowing one run on three hits and a walk.

The veteran right-hander faced a Pittsburgh lineup that only included a handful of regulars, but aside from a solo shot by Oneil Cruz in the sixth inning, Bassitt had little trouble carving up the opposition. He built up to 73 pitches (47 strikes) and looks just about ready for Opening Day, having posted a 14:1 K:BB through 14.2 spring innings. Should Kevin Gausman (shoulder) not be quite ready when the regular season begins, it's not out of the question that Bassitt takes the mound for the Blue Jays' opener.

Elder gave up five runs on five hits and three walks over 4.1 innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles. He struck out three.

He did manage to keep the ball in the yard, something his Baltimore counterpart Cole Irvin failed to do, and Elder got closer to being fully stretched out, but there otherwise weren't many positive takeaways from this performance. The 24-year-old right-hander saw his control erode in the second half last season -- he posted a 4.0 BB/9 after July 1, following a 2.6 BB/9 over the first three months of 2023 -- and those issues have persisted this spring, as he's managed a 13:6 K:BB through 12 Grapefruit League innings. Elder remains in the mix for Atlanta's fifth starter role, but Reynaldo Lopez appears to be the favorite to begin the season with the job.

Kelly allowed two runs on five hits and struck out four over three innings in Wednesday's spring start against the Rockies.

Kelly emptied the entire arsenal of pitches Wednesday, throwing 47 overall. He worked on his changeup leading up to his second Cactus League start, after featuring a developing slider the first time out. "I've thrown my changeup for a long time now, it's kind of been the pitch that I've gone to when I needed something," Kelly told Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports. "The slider is obviously something that I want to make more consistent and more into a usable pitch, so the emphasis coming into spring was on the slider and sometimes when you do that the feel for the rest of the pitches kind of isn't as sharp." Kelly will get two more starts to work up to 75-80 pitches before the regular season opens.

Paxton isn't expected to join the Dodgers for their season-opening two-game set against the Padres in South Korea, though he's physically fine, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Paxton isn't dealing with any sort of injury, but he wouldn't be pitching in any capacity for either of the two games in Seoul, so the Dodgers are opting to have him work on building up at home rather than making the long trip overseas. Though an unspecified health issue resulted in a reduction of the guaranteed portion of the contract Paxton signed with Los Angeles in January, the left-hander has looked healthy while getting in limited work this spring, allowing just one run on two hits with a 7:2 K:BB over four innings. Paxton is lined up for a spot at the back of the Dodgers' rotation for the upcoming campaign.

Contreras walked six batters across four innings of work in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays.

Contreras is in competition for a rotation spot but has had an unimpressive showing this spring. Across four outings and 10.2 innings, he has just a 4:10 K:BB while giving up nine earned runs. Assuming he fails to secure a rotation spot, Contreras's tenure in Pittsburgh may be over as he is out of minor-league options.

Fedde appears to be in line to start for the White Sox on Opening Day against the Tigers, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Fedde emerged as the frontrunner to start Opening Day after the White Sox traded Dylan Cease to the Padres on Wednesday in exchange for a haul of prospects. Fedde's last season in the majors came in 2022, when he accumulated a 5.81 ERA and 1.63 WHIP while striking out 94 batters across 127 innings. He spent last season in the Korea Baseball Organization and won the league's MVP award after posting a 2.00 ERA, and the 31-year-old righty has has been OK in spring training thus far. Fedde's recent success should be enough to warrant cautious optimism from fantasy managers heading into the new season.

Flaherty tossed four scoreless innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies. He allowed one hit and struck out five.

Flaherty came into the contest having allowed five runs across 3.2 innings this spring, so this was a step in the right direction. The righty struggled last season, posting a 4.99 across 144.1 innings with St. Louis and Baltimore, but he should be locked into a rotation spot in Detroit after agreeing to a one-year, $14 million deal. Fantasy managers may want to wait and see if Flaherty can string together a few good outings to start the regular season before investing too much, however.