MLB Player News

Megill has emerged as the favorite to win the Mets' No. 5 starter job, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

The 28-year-old right-hander added a splitter to his arsenal over the winter, and so far the results have been encouraging, as Megill has allowed one run over his first five Grapefruit League innings with a 7:0 K:BB. A pitch that can generate more whiffs could be crucial for his fortunes -- after posting a strikeout rate north of 25 percent in the majors in 2021 and 2022, Megill saw that number drop to 18.5 percent last year. The Mets have a hole to fill in their Opening Day rotation due to Kodai Senga's shoulder strain, and while Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi still have a chance to make their case for the No. 5 job to start the season due to Senga's expected absence, it appears to be Megill's to lose.

Wacha has allowed one run on three hits and struck out three without walking a batter over three innings across his first two Cactus League starts.

Wacha's doing just fine in spring training. The veteran right-hander will need to stay healthy to be an effective starter, but he's logged 20-plus starts in each of the last three seasons while keeping his ERA under 3.50 in the last two years. The Royals' pitching staff was a weakness in 2023, and signing Wacha to a two-year deal addressed that concern. He'll likely continue to offer solid control and an ability to keep the ball in the yard, but he may regress in the surface stats in his age-32 season.

Suarez tossed two scoreless frames Monday versus the Rangers in his Cactus League debut after overcoming a dead arm phase, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Suarez has been behind other starters in Angels' camp while battling through dead arm issues, but it looks like he's over the hump. The left-hander currently appears on the outside looking in for a spot in the Halos' rotation, but he's out of options, so he could settle into a long relief role initially.

Bibee gave up two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three over 1.2 innings versus the Giants on Sunday.

Bibee's spring debut was forgettable, though the strikeouts were a bright spot. The right-hander ended last season on the 60-day injured list due to right hip inflammation and started slowly in spring training. Unless he has a truly awful Cactus League slate, Bibee figures to open the season in the Guardians' rotation.

Wolf was optioned to Double-A Altoona by the Pirates on Monday, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Wolf struck out a pair in a scoreless inning in his lone appearance this spring. The tall left-hander skipped over the Triple-A level to make a spot start for the Padres last season before landing in Pittsburgh at the trade deadline. He'll head back to the Double-A level for more seasoning.

Burnes has allowed three runs on four hits and a walk over 2.2 innings in Grapefruit League play.

On the bright side, Burnes has struck out five batters. Spring struggles aren't really a concern for a veteran like Burnes, who projects to be the ace of a potentially very strong Baltimore rotation this season. Even in a down year in 2023, the right-hander posted a 3.39 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 200:66 K:BB over 193.2 innings with the Brewers.

Gray will undergo an MRI on his injured right hamstring Monday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Gray tweaked the hamstring while delivering a pitch during Monday's Grapefruit League start against the Nationals. For what it's worth, Gray made two separate trips to the injured list in 2022 with a strain of the same hamstring, although he had no issues with it during the 2023 campaign. Gray is in line to start Opening Day for the Cardinals, if healthy.

Crawford allowed two hits and struck out four over three scoreless innings in Sunday's spring start against the Blue Jays.

Crawford made his second Grapefruit League start in a quest to be part of Boston's rotation. He's the early favorite for the No. 4 spot and has allowed one run on five hits (zero walks) while fanning five over five innings. The trick for Crawford, who averaged 77.4 pitches over 23 starts in 2023, is to be able to extend outings past the fifth inning.

Dunning said Sunday the new pitch he's working on this spring is a forkball, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.

Dunning talked about a new pitch following his first spring outing but did not reveal what type of pitch. Statcast recorded the offering as a splitter during Dunning's second start, last week against Arizona, but the pitcher says it's a forkball. "I threw some good forkballs [Sunday], so that was fun," Dunning said. "I had some good swings and misses on them. I think I threw four or five of them, all of them came in the third inning." The right-hander allowed four runs on five hits and one walk while striking five over three innings Sunday, his third Cactus League start.

Muller, who struggled to a 1-5 record, 7.60 ERA and 1.96 WHIP across 77 innings in his Athletics debut campaign in 2023, made several changes to his mechanics this offseason, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Muller has had only one opportunity to show off the new look in game action thus far this spring, allowing an earned run on a walk and two hits over two innings while recording three strikeouts in a start against the Dodgers on Feb. 25. However, Gallegos notes Muller's modifications have been noticeable any time he's picked up a ball during camp, with the big right-hander having raised his arm slot and adjusted his windup rotation from east-to-west to more of a north-south orientation, per the recommendations of the team's baseball operations department. The mechanics closely mirror those Muller utilized while toiling in Atlanta's minor-league system in 2022, and the young hurler noted after his first outing that he could already see the changes paying dividends in the form of more swings and misses on his fastball.