MLB Player News

Eovaldi (side) threw two innings against Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Monday, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.

Eovaldi, who's been battling tightness in his left side, allowed a pair of hits and struck out two while landing 22 of 29 pitches in the zone. "It's definitely nice being back out there. I threw all my pitches and mixed everything in there. There were a couple times where I was 0-2 or 1-2 on guys and just didn't quite finish the pitches where I wanted to," the right-hander said. Eovaldi expects to be ready for the start of the regular season. He could get as many as three more appearances leading up to Opening Day.

Henry allowed four runs on three hits and three walks while striking out six over 3.1 innings in Tuesday's spring start against the Giants.

Henry told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com that he made a wrong decision on a 2-2 pitch that resulted in J.D. Davis' three-run home run. The left-hander, who is vying for the No. 5 starter job with Drey Jameson, Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt, regretted throwing a fastball hitter one fastball too many. "Just threw a good fastball hitter too many fastballs in one at-bat," Henry said. "I saw some things that would have suggested to throw other pitches and I still threw the heater." Henry had worked three scoreless frames before running into trouble in the fourth.

Gallen threw 70 pitches during his second spring start Monday against the Rangers, Steve Stockmar of MLB.com reports.

In what has been a normal pattern for Arizona starters this spring, Gallen was removed during an inning before re-entering an inning later. He initially worked 3.2 innings then faced one batter in the fifth. "Just get my body used to sitting down and getting up again for a fifth time," Gallen said. "I would say maybe that's just as important if not more important than getting the pitch count." Gallen is lined up to start Opening Day, March 30, against the Dodgers.

Ashcraft (calf) is listed as Cincinnati's probable starter for Friday's spring game against the Guardians.

The 25-year-old was removed from his most recent start Sunday with calf cramps, but it appears the issue won't affect his next turn through the rotation. Ashcraft got his fastball up over 100 mph prior to his exit from that outing, though he'll need more than just velocity to take a step forward in 2023 after he posted a 4.89 ERA and 71:30 K:BB across 105 innings as a rookie last year.

Bello (forearm) is scheduled to throw two innings during a minor-league spring game Wednesday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

The 23-year-old progressed to facing live hitters over the weekend and will now advance to game action. Bello threw 17 pitches during Saturday's session of live BP, so he still has significant ramping up to do before he's cleared for a full workload. The right-hander could begin the season on the injured list, though it doesn't appear his absence would be a lengthy one.

Cole will start for the Yankees on Opening Day against San Francisco, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Manager Aaron Boone confirmed Cole as the team's Opening Day starter Monday, but the decision was essentially a foregone conclusion. Cole is considered one of the top pitchers in baseball and is set to toe the mound for the Yankees on Opening Day for the fourth straight season. The veteran right-hander led the majors with 257 strikeouts last season while posting a 3.50 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over 200.2 innings.

Snell has pitched in two Cactus League contests for the Padres, allowing three runs on four hits while posting a 6:2 K:BB over seven innings.

Snell has allowed just six baserunners through his first seven innings, but he's been stung by two long balls against him. Homers weren't a big problem for the lefty last season -- he gave up 11 over 128 frames -- so there's no reason to draw any implications from the small spring sample. Snell historically doesn't go deep into games and tends to issue too many walks, but he can pile up strikeouts and pitched well enough last season (3.38 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 1.20 WHIP) to justify a selection in the first third of fantasy drafts.

Cease was reaching 97 mph with his fastball in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Athletics, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Cease was hit hard in his first spring outing, and his appearance Tuesday also started poorly. He allowed a double, single and walk in the first inning, which allowed two runs to score. However, he ramped up his velocity as compared to his spring debut and also made an adjustment to his slider to improve his command of the pitch in his second inning of work. Cease has had a shaky start to spring training, but he is coming off an excellent 2022 campaign during which he posted a 2.20 ERA and 1.11 WHIP across 184 frames.

Marquez allowed two hits and struck out seven with no walks across four scoreless innings in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Cubs.

The outing was Marquez's second start of the spring, and he managed to double his workload. He now has thrown six scoreless innings while racking up an impressive 9:1 K:BB during the exhibition season. Marquez struggled to an ugly 4.90 ERA and 1.37 WHIP across 181.2 innings in 2022, but he's still a lock for the Colorado rotation and should account for plenty of innings if he can remain healthy.

Dodd is one of the finalists to be the fifth starter for Atlanta to open the 2023 season, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Dodd appears to be one of the final two options for Atlanta to open as the fifth starter after Atlanta sent down both Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder. The left-hander has impressed this spring with an 11:0 K:BB and 0.00 ERA over 8.1 innings in three appearances, and registered a 3.36 ERA over 142 innings at three different levels in 2022. Dodd may not win the job over Jared Shuster to open the year, but there's every reason to believe he'll make starts for Atlanta before 2023 comes to a conclusion if he doesn't.