MLB Player News

Gray allowed two hits and one walk while striking out four over four scoreless innings in Thursday's spring start against the Dodgers.

After being scratched from his second scheduled Cactus League start due to back tightness, Gray has put together seven scoreless innings over two starts. He's yet to allow a run over nine spring innings. The 31-year-old right-hander will not be tasked with being the team's ace, as he was in 2022, which could work in his favor.

Pfaadt allowed one run on three hits and struck out seven over four relief innings in Thursday's spring game against the Cubs.

After giving up a solo home run in his first inning of work and getting out of a none-out, runner on third base jam an inning later, Pfaadt was dominant the rest of the way. The right-hander turned heads in what was the best outing among the candidates vying for the fifth starter spot. "He can throw any pitch in any count," manager Torey Lovullo told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. "He had great carry today on his fastball. It's not just 94-95 [mph]; it's got good finish to it. It was a very good outing by him today." In 12 spring innings, Pfaadt has a 3.75 ERA with four walks and 15 strikeouts. He was initially viewed as a dark horse for the job, but the 24-year-old has pitched better than Tommy Henry (7.71 ERA), Drey Jameson (7.45 ERA) and Ryne Nelson (13.50 ERA), although results are not necessarily the only thing clubs use to make spring training evaluations.

Schmidt tossed five perfect innings against Pittsburgh in a Grapefruit League game Thursday, striking out seven batters.

Schmidt needed just 50 pitches to complete five frames in the exhibition contest, throwing 36 strikes while not allowing any baserunners. He mixed in four different pitches -- including his recently developed cutter -- as he furthered his case to be part of the Yankees' rotation this season. Schmidt is expected to be in the rotation for at least the start of the campaign while Carlos Rodon (forearm) works his way back, and the 27-year-old Schmidt could stick as a starter permanently if he gets off to a strong start.

Ray has a 1.13 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 12:3 K:BB across eight innings in three Cactus League starts.

Ray worked up to 28 pitches in his most recent start Monday against the Angels, and although he's pitched to some contact (seven hits), he' s impressively limited the damage. Ray scuffled to a 12-12 record in Mariners debut campaign in 2022, yet he still generated an impressive 3.71 ERA and respectable 1.19 WHIP across 32 starts. Although the veteran southpaw's strikeout rate did drop from 2021's 32.1 percent in Toronto to 27.4 percent, early returns this spring underscore Ray's ability to miss bats at an above-average clip.

Turnbull allowed three runs on six hits across three innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies. He struck out four.

Turnbull allowed only three total hits across his first two spring starts, but he was much more hittable Thursday. On a positive note, the righty continued to rack up strikeouts, and he now has nine across 7.1 Grapefruit League innings. Turnbull is making his return from Tommy John surgery this year, so there likely will be some ups and downs, but he could be a streaming option in the right matchups.

Brubaker has allowed eight earned runs to go along with 20 strikeouts and three walks across 12.1 innings in Grapefruit League action.

Brubaker has an ugly 5.84 ERA in the exhibition season, but he has shown impressive strikeout stuff. He has a mediocre 23.3 percent strikeout rate across 315.2 career innings in the majors and has been primarily reliant upon groundballs to get outs, so it's not clear where his uptick in strikeouts is coming from, or if it's sustainable. In his most recent outing Wednesday against Toronto, Brubaker punched out the likes of Whit Merrifield, Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk.

Senga allowed one earned run on three hits and no walks while striking out five across three innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals.

Senga was scratched from a start Saturday due to tendinitis in his right index finger, though he looked sharp in his return to the mound. He's now thrown five innings during the exhibition season, and he's allowed two earned runs while striking out seven and walking two. Assuming he doesn't suffer any setbacks, Senga should be ready to begin the campaign in the Mets' rotation.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson acknowledged Thursday that Suarez (forearm) won't be fully built up for the start of the regular season, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

The Phillies still intend to carry him in their rotation and will stretch him out on the fly. Suarez fell behind earlier this month when he experienced a bit of tightness in his left forearm as he prepared to represent Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. He's been throwing on the side without issue since he arrived back at camp, but fantasy managers should expect some abbreviated outings early on.

Jobe was diagnosed Thursday with lumbar spine inflammation and will be sidelined 3-to-6 months, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Jobe battled back discomfort down the stretch last year at High-A West Michigan, and he apparently aggravated the issue in Tigers camp this spring. The 20-year-old right-hander is in danger of missing most of the 2023 minor-league season. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of a high school in Oklahoma City.

Wright (shoulder) threw two innings Wednesday on a back field, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

The workout went really well, per manager Brian Snitker, and the next step for Wright could be his Grapefruit League debut. He's behind Atlanta's other projected starters after requiring a cortisone injection for his right shoulder back in January, but the hope is that the 27-year-old will be able to jump into the starting rotation in early April. Wright won 21 games in 2022 with a 3.19 ERA and 174:53 K:BB across 180.1 regular-season innings.