MLB Player News

Diaz (hand) will start at designated hitter and bat leadoff in Friday's Grapefruit League tilt versus the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Diaz missed more than a week of action while nursing a sore left hand, but he upped his workouts in recent days to clear the way for his return to action. The 34-year-old is slated to serve as the Rays' primary DH this season and will also see some playing time at first base.

Mountcastle said Friday that his right hand is "all good" and that he should return to the Grapefruit League lineup Saturday against the Pirates, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.

The veteran first baseman departed Wednesday's contest after being hit by a pitch on the hand, but X-rays came back negative and seems set to rejoin the lineup after a couple days off. Mountcastle was limited to 89 games last season due to a hamstring strain and struggled to a .653 OPS when available. He's looking like the odd man out of Baltimore's lineup in 2026 after the club signed Pete Alonso to take over at first base.

Gaddis (forearm) threw off a mound Thursday, MLB.com reports.

The session was a low-intensity mound workout that emphasized mechanics over velocity. It's typically an intermediary step between flat-ground throwing and a full bullpen, helping a pitcher transition back toward facing live hitters. As yet, Gaddis' availability for Opening Day remains uncertain.

Smith did not allow a hit or walk while striking out two over a scoreless inning in Thursday's spring game against Milwaukee.

Smith made quick work of the Brewers in his third Cactus League appearance, needing just seven pitches to retire the side in order in the fifth inning. The Guardians' closer hasn't allowed a run, hit or walk while striking out four over three innings this spring.

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

Cleveland's pitchers dominated in a 1-0 win, with Cecconi leading the way. In his fourth Cactus League outing, the right-hander worked up to 67 pitches (43 strikes) and lowered his spring ERA to 2.13. Over the last three starts, Cecconi has recorded 13 strikeouts and three walks over 10.2 frames.

Sborz allowed two runs on three hits and one walk over one inning in Thursday's spring game against the Athletics.

Sborz allowed runs for the first time in five Cactus League relief appearances, which bodes well for the non-roster invitee's hopes of making the roster. After not pitching in 2025 following a shoulder procedure, Sborz worked hard during the offseason to re-establish the velocity he showed when pitching for the Rangers from 2021-24, when he typically sat between 95 and 97 mph. On Thursday, his four-seamer averaged 94.1 mph, the highest it's been this spring.

Langford went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in Thursday's spring game against the Athletics.

The Rangers put up a six-spot in the bottom of the second inning, highlighted by Langford's three-run home run. It was the third round-tripper of the Cactus League for Langford, who also extended a hit streak to six contests. He's batting a robust .455 (10-for-22) with three walks and 10 RBI over nine spring games.

Leiter allowed two runs on five hits while striking out six over five innings in Thursday's spring start against the Athletics.

Leiter faced an overly aggressive Athletics team that often swung at the first pitch, and the righty needed just 57 pitches to get 15 outs while issuing zero walks. Leiter headed to the bullpen for extra work after being removed to reach his 70-pitch goal for the day. He also gave up two more home runs, upping his Cactus League total to five allowed in 12 innings, but that can be expected in hitter-friendly Cactus League ballparks. Last season, he allowed 18 over 151 big-league innings (1.1 HR/9).

Hendriks (elbow) threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout Thursday and has a 2.25 ERA and 2:2 K:BB ratio in four innings this spring. He averaged 93.6 mph on the six fastballs he threw during the outing.

Hendriks has looked healthy this spring but his velocity is down from a 94.9-mph average fastball in 2025 and 95.4 mph in 2023. It's not clear if Hendriks will even make the Opening Day roster at this point, but he's still potentially in the closer mix. The signs for Hendriks are encouraging after undergoing right elbow ulnar nerve transposition with posterior interosseous nerve release surgery in September.

Moore is batting just .189 this spring, but he's shown increased exit velocity and less swing-and-miss, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

Per Fletcher, Moore ended play Monday with the 11th-highest average exit velocity in the majors this spring, with his 96-mph mark considerably higher than the 89 mph he registered in the majors last season. Despite the lack of results in terms of hits, Moore didn't seem concerned about his bad luck, saying, "Whether it falls or not, I'm not really worried about that right now. I just want to make sure I'm making consistent contact every day and making sure I'm at least catching one barrel a day, and a legit barrel. That's kind of where my focus has been and it's been good so far." It's also promising that Moore has been making decent contact -- his strikeout rate so far this spring is at 22.5 percent after he whiffed at a 33.7 percent clip last year. Moore is battling for the Angels' starting job at second base, with light-hitting journeyman Adam Frazier possibly his greatest competition for the role.