MLB Player News

Gray gave up four hits over six scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals. He struck out five without walking a batter.

The right-hander has put together a very encouraging spring, allowing only one run -- and zero home runs -- across 12.1 innings with an 11:1 K:BB. Gray has the talent to put together a breakout campaign in 2023 if he's able to keep the ball in the park consistently.

Hendricks (shoulder) revealed Wednesday that he will throw three more bullpen sessions before progressing to the live batting practice session phase of his schedule, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Hendricks added that he feels like he's in regular spring training mode now rather than rehabbing. Since the veteran right-hander will begin facing hitters right around Opening Day, that would seem to put him in line for a rehab assignment not long after that. He's got a ways to go as he works his way back from last season's shoulder strain, but perhaps he'll be ready to rejoin the Cubs' rotation sometime in May.

Wood allowed one hit and struck out six over five scoreless innings in Tuesday's Cactus League win over the Dodgers.

Wood faced a lineup that consisted of about half major-leaguers. This was Wood's longest and sharpest start of the spring -- he has a 3.72 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 13:3 K:BB across 9.2 innings through three appearances. He'll open the season near the back of the Giants' rotation, but Tuesday's outing suggests he's ready for the regular season. He may get one more tune-up during the exhibition slate before lining up to make his regular-season debut versus the White Sox.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told reporters that Soroka (hamstring) is likely to go a couple of innings during Wednesday's Grapefruit League start against the Tigers, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Soroka is making his spring debut after missing the first three-plus weeks of Grapefruit League games while recovering from a right hamstring strain. The right-hander will likely throw only a pair of innings in this outing, and Snitker cautioned that there is no timetable for when he'll be ready to return to the mound with Atlanta taking a start-by-start approach with the hurler until he's built up to handle a starting role. Soroka showed great promise in the beginning of his career, but managers should take a wait-and-see approach with Soroka in redraft formats.

Espino (shoulder) could be ready for game action as early as May, according to Guardians Prospective.

The flame-throwing righty has been throwing weighted plyo balls in Arizona. There was a report Feb. 20 that Espino wouldn't throw for eight weeks, but that may have been in reference to him getting back on a mound, which he has yet to do. Regardless, it's encouraging that this may not be a second lost season in a row for the talented 22-year-old.

Davies allowed five runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out six over 3.2 innings in Tuesday's spring start against the Angels.

Davies was knocked around for a second consecutive Cactus League start, and as he did after the previous outing, the right-hander downplayed the results, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Davies said he was throwing pitches he wouldn't normally deploy in certain situations during the regular season, citing the curveball that Jo Adell sent 430 feet to left field for a home run. "Felt pretty good," Davies said. "Still kinda working on things but at the same time, we're getting down to crunch time." He was pleased with his fastball and changeup, which helped him to record the strikeouts. Davies is slotted in as the No. 4 starter.

Brown was scratched from his Grapefruit League start against the Mets on Wednesday due to lower-back tightness, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The 24-year-old is penciled in as Houston's No. 5 starter to begin the season, but he won't make what was supposed to be his final start of spring training Wednesday due to the back issue. Brown's availability for the Opening Day rotation is now in question, which is another potential blow to a Houston rotation that is already starting the campaign without Lance McCullers (forearm).

Pepiot (side) is listed as the Dodgers' probable starter for Wednesday's spring game against the Mariners.

The right-hander exited his previous Cactus League start Friday due to side discomfort but will make his next turn through the rotation Wednesday. Pepiot made his big-league debut last season and had a 3.47 ERA across 36.1 frames in nine outings (seven starts), and he's making a strong push for a rotation spot to open 2023 with just two runs allowed and a 13:3 K:BB over nine innings during spring training.

Gonzales hasn't started an official Cactus League game since March 3 but threw four innings in a "B" game against the Padres on Thursday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Gonzales was supposed to log a start Wednesday until rain washed out that opportunity, but he was able to get his work in with the four frames on the Padres' side of the Peoria training complex the following morning. Gonzales' most recent time on the mound in official Cactus League action went well, as he fired 3.2 scoreless innings against Diamondbacks on March 3. However, the veteran left-hander does have some formidable competition for the No. 5 starter job in Chris Flexen, who's posted a 2-0 record, 2.08 ERA and 1.15 WHIP across 13 innings this spring.

With Michael Lorenzen (groin) uncertain to make his final Grapefruit League start, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Wentz could be an option to fill the fifth rotation spot to begin the regular season.

Lorenzen is projected to be the team's regular No. 5 starter, but his groin strain has his status up in the air heading into the regular season. Detroit is lined up to use its fifth starter April 4 against Houston, so Wentz or Beau Brieske may be needed if Lorenzen can't go. It seemed like Wentz was possibly ticketed for the minors out of camp, so any stay with the Tigers may be brief, though he did compile a solid 3.03 ERA across seven starts for the club last year.