MLB Player News

Gallen will not start Friday's Cactus League game against the Reds, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

Gallen had been scheduled to make his spring debut March 1, but the Diamondbacks will opt to have the right-hander throw a simulated game on the back fields instead of making the trip west to Goodyear. There's no word yet on who will slot into Gallen's place for a spot start Friday.

Wentz tossed two scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He allowed a hit and two walks, while striking out five.

It's of course a small sample, but this was an encouraging outing for Wentz. The southpaw mostly served as a starter for the Tigers last year and struggled mightily, posting a 6.90 ERA and 1.68 WHIP across 105.2 innings. The team announced before spring training that Wentz will be focusing on a relief role in camp, with some hope that his stuff will play up out of the bullpen. It remains to be seen if Wentz can remain effective in this role, though it seems like Detroit will give him an opportunity to establish himself as a left-handed relief option heading into the regular season.

Flaherty logged a scoreless inning without allowing a hit or a walk in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He struck out two.

Flaherty, who joined the Tigers in December on a one-year, $14 million deal, looked good despite not lasting very long. The righty only tossed 10 pitches, with nine of them going for strikes. Flaherty figures to stretch out some in his next start as he ramps up for the regular season. He should have a rotation spot securely locked up, likely slotting in somewhere behind Tarik Skubal and fellow Detroit newcomer Kenta Maeda. Flaherty will be hoping to improve upon an uneven 2023 during which he posted a 4.99 ERA across 144.1 innings for the Cardinals and Orioles.

Butto gave up three hits over two scoreless innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He struck out one without walking a batter.

The 25-year-old right-hander got his spring off to a good start as he battles for an Opening Day spot with the Mets. Butto looked good at the end of last season in the majors, posting a 3.29 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 28:9 K:BB over five starts and 27.1 innings, but his 5.93 ERA and 1.63 WHIP at Triple-A Syracuse in a larger sample (91 innings) are concerning. He's battling with Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi and others in camp for one of the team's open rotation jobs.

Gomber (back) is slated to start Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Angels, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

He's expected to work two innings before turning the game over to a cadre of relievers. Gomber didn't make any appearances after Aug. 28 last season due to lower-back inflammation, but he seems to have received a clean bill of health heading into spring training. After agreeing to a one-year, $3.15 million deal with the Rockies in the offseason to avoid arbitration, Gomber's rotation spot should be fairly secure heading into Opening Day.

Gore gave up one run on two hits over two innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins. He struck out four without walking a batter.

He did uncork a wild pitch, but Gore's control was impressive this early in the spring, as he fired 21 of 26 pitches for strikes against an experienced Miami lineup that included Luis Arraez and Jazz Chisholm. The 25-year-old lefty flashed upside last year with 151 strikeouts over 136.1 innings but also posted a 9.8 percent walk rate, so if he can improve his control, 2024 could end up being a breakout campaign for Gore.

Luzardo struck out three batters over two perfect innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals.

The 26-year-old southpaw got his spring off to a flying start, tossing 17 of 23 pitches for strikes against a patchwork Washington lineup headlined by Joey Meneses and top prospect James Wood. Luzardo threw a career-high 178.2 innings last year, striking out 208 batters with a 3.58 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, and he heads into the 2024 campaign looking to establish himself as a reliable frontline starter.

Yamamoto is listed as the Dodgers' starting pitcher for Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Rangers, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

The Dodgers are expected to have both of their prized offseason acquisitions make their Cactus League debuts within the next two days, as Shohei Ohtani (elbow) is scheduled to serve as a designated hitter Tuesday versus the White Sox before Yamamoto takes the hill Wednesday. Since Yamamoto had been on a once-a-week pitching schedule in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball while winning Pacific League MVP Awards in each of the past three seasons, the Dodgers will move to a six-man rotation in 2024 to help ease the 25-year-old's transition to MLB. The Dodgers are already penciling Yamamoto in to make his first regular-season start during their two-game season-opening series in South Korea versus the Padres on March 20 and 21.

Verlander (shoulder) will ramp up the intensity of his throwing during a bullpen session Tuesday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Verlander has thrown a few low-intensity bullpen sessions consisting of fastballs and has thus far come out of them well during spring training. The veteran right-hander is being ramped up slowly this spring after his right shoulder didn't bounce back well during his offseason throwing program. Verlander and the Astros aren't ruling him out from being ready for the start of the season, but the window is tight.

Lowder is scheduled to pitch in one of the Reds' split-squad games Monday, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

This marks the first time Lowder will throw to professional batters in game conditions. He threw during Fall Instructs, but the right-hander was already at his innings limit when Cincinnati selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2023 Draft.