MLB Player News

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that Sheehan (general soreness) should throw plyo balls soon and is expected to be ready for the team's domestic Opening Day, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Sheehan has been slowed with what the club has referred to merely as general body soreness. While he might not be ready for the Dodgers' March 20-21 series in South Korea versus the Padres, there's a good chance he wasn't going to pitch in either of those two games, anyway. The team's March 28 opener back in Los Angeles is the real target, and Sheehan seems to be on track to reach it. The young right-hander has a good chance to be part of the rotation, at least initially, while Walker Buehler (elbow) eases back into things.

Lodolo (tibia) will throw live batting practice Thursday, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Reds manager David Bell noted that how Lodolo fares during the live BP session and, even more importantly, how he bounces back a day later, will go a long way in determining whether he'll be ready for Opening Day. The left-hander is being eased along this spring after he missed much of last season with a stress reaction in his left tibia.

Mikolas is retooling his slider for 2024 after a disappointing 2023 season during which he had a 4.78 ERA over 201.1 innings, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Mikolas' poor whiff rate (16.7 percent) contributed to his problems in 2023. "I'm working on some different breaking balls and working with some other stuff and so far, so good," said Mikolas. "Maybe not so much [changing] the shape as I am mixing things up more. The mix I had last year wasn't overly successful, so maybe it bodes better if I am mixing things up better." As part of his changes, Mikolas also wants to throw fewer strikes -- batters hit .225 off of him after taking two strikes in 2023. Mikolas has a lot to prove as the longest-tenured member of the Cardinals' rotation following Adam Wainwright's retirement, but it's unclear if his offseason changes will help the 35-year-old get his ERA back under 4.00.

Cantillo allowed a run on a hit and a walk over two innings in Wednesday's Cactus League start versus the Diamondbacks.

Cantillo pitched a clean first inning, but a walk, two wild pitches and a double led to Arizona's first run in the second. It's encouraging to see Cantillo work as a starter this spring, but with just over half a season of experience at the Triple-A level (4.64 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 111:55 K:BB), it's fairly likely the 24-year-old will need more time with Columbus this season. Logan Allen (shoulder) has yet to make his spring debut, but the Guardians have veteran Carlos Carrasco in camp as an NRI, so Cantillo doesn't have a clear path to the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

Rodriguez is working on implementing a two-seam fastball for 2024, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Rodriguez leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball in 2023, and while he had a hearty 97.4-mph average on it, opponents also hit .342 and slugged .535 off the pitch. Rodriguez's goal for the two-seamer is to make it more of a running fastball relying on horizontal movement rather than vertical break, since he is not interested in having a sinker. The right-hander is also expecting to use his cutter less -- he threw it just 5.8 percent of the time last season with poor results. Rodriguez is looking to improve upon the 4.35 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 129:42 K:BB he posted over 122 innings last season, especially since he finished 2023 strong with a 2.58 ERA over his last 13 starts.

Castillo, who fired a couple of 96-mph fastballs during his Cactus League debut Monday against the Reds, is encouraged he has that level of velocity early in camp, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports. "It's telling me that I'm healthy," Castillo said. "We're going to continue to be in the same routine, and hopefully that velocity will keep going up."

Castillo notably opened spring training a year ago throwing his four-seamer in the high 80s, so the increase is certainly noteworthy. The veteran right-hander, who fell just one win short of tying his career high of 15 victories last season, will once again helm the Mariners' rotation and limited Cincinnati to a walk over two hitless innings in his spring debut. Castillo plans to continue relying heavily on his fastball in 2024, considering hitters mustered just a .165 average and .384 slugging percentage against it while swinging and missing 33 percent of the time in 2023.

Sears is incorporating a sinker into his repertoire this spring and enjoyed success with it in his first Cactus League start Tuesday, Steve Stockmar of MLB.com reports. "I've been feeling pretty confident with it. It's a new pitch for me," Sears said. "I've never thrown a sinker. I'm just trying to get educated on it from the other guys that throw it and the catchers and results from the hitters on my team whenever I face them live."

Sears was the picture of stability in an otherwise makeshift Athletics starting rotation last season, logging a team-high 32 starts and posting a 4.54 ERA and 1.26 WHIP that somewhat belied an ugly 5-14 record. The 28-year-old southpaw, who had 70 innings of big-league experience coming into the 2023 season, will be counted on as the No. 2 starter to open the new campaign, and he got his official regular-season prep off to an impressive start against the Guardians on Tuesday with two perfect innings during which he threw only 19 pitches (13 strikes). Sears rolled out the sinker for the first time in live action as well, recording a strikeout and a flyout on two of the three occasions he deployed it.

Cabrera gave up two hits and struck out two over two scoreless innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros.

The 25-year-old righty posted a 15.2 percent walk rate over 99.2 innings last season and has fought his control throughout his career, but Cabrera looked sharp in this one and tossed 21 of 31 pitches for strikes against a Houston lineup headlined by Chas McCormick and Yainer Diaz. Cabrera isn't quite a lock to break camp in the Miami rotation, but considering he's out of minor-league options it would likely take a complete meltdown this spring to cost him a spot.

Smith-Shawver gave up three runs on four hits and a walk over two innings during Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies. He struck out three.

He was facing most of Philly's Opening Day lineup, and while the strikeouts were encouraging, Smith-Shawver got taken deep by J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm in the first inning. The 21-year-old right-hander is competing for a rotation spot in camp after a meteoric rise through the Atlanta system in 2023 -- he began last season at High-A Rome but made his big-league debut in early June. He has enticing upside thanks to a high-90s fastball complemented by a slider and curve that can both flash plus. Given the organization's pitching depth though, Smith-Shawver would likely need to dominate this spring to avoid beginning the season with Triple-A Gwinnett.

Winn (elbow) will throw a bullpen session this weekend, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

He'll be getting back on the bump for the first time since he had to cut a bullpen session short a little over a week ago due to right elbow soreness. It's not clear when Winn might be cleared to pitch in Cactus League games, but the Giants are hopeful he'll have time to get ready for Opening Day. He's expected to open the season in San Francisco's rotation, if healthy.