MLB Player News

Yelich (back) said Saturday that "there's no reason to think he won't be ready for Opening Day," Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

Yelich still isn't quite at 100 percent after undergoing a microdiscectomy procedure in August to address a herniated disc in his lower back, but he noted Saturday that he's on schedule in his rehab. He likely won't be ready for game action once the Cactus League schedule begins, but he should be able to get into a few games later this spring, at which point we'll have a better idea of how his oft-injured back is holding up.

Blackburn (back) is a little behind the Mets' other rotation options at the start of spring training, Will Sammon and Tim Britton of The Athletic report.

This is no real surprise, as Blackburn underwent spinal surgery in October. The 31-year-old right-hander made only five starts for the Mets in 2024 after being acquired from the A's, stumbling to a 5.18 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 21:7 K:BB in 24.1 innings, and he's never thrown more than 111.1 innings in a big-league season. If he demonstrates he's fully recovered from the surgery and back to his pre-injury form, Blackburn should compete for the No. 6 starter role alongside Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill.

Canning may be the favorite to win the Mets' sixth starter job, Will Sammon and Tim Britton of The Athletic report.

His primary competition, Tylor Megill, still has minor-league options remaining, while Canning would need to clear waivers to be sent to Triple-A Syracuse. Whoever wins the job could begin the season working out of the bullpen, potentially in a piggyback role to take some of the load off Clay Holmes or Kodai Senga -- the Mets have three early off days, and may not need to use a sixth starter until Apr. 16. Paul Blackburn (back) might also put himself in the mix for the No. 6 starter job if he looks healthy and effective this spring.

Strider (elbow) could see action in at least one spring training game, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The right-hander is recovering from an internal brace procedure performed on his elbow last April, and after he threw another bullpen session Friday, general manager Alex Anthopoulos seemed optimistic that Strider could make his regular-season debut a little earlier than anticipated. "He's throwing bullpens, he looks good. Live [batting practice] will definitely happen in spring training, assuming no setbacks or things like that," Anthopoulos said Friday. The GM indicated that while Atlanta has an internal timeline for Strider, he wouldn't make it public just yet other than to say the 26-year-old ace would begin the campaign on the IL. "We have a calendar for him, but I think if we start saying, 'Hey, on this date he's doing this' and for whatever reason we decide to move it back a day or two, then it's a story and it's viewed as a setback or [that] we weren't forthcoming," Anthopoulos said. "So, what I can tell you is he will not be on the Opening Day roster, that has been decided."

Holmes is seen as the early favorite to retain a spot in the rotation once Spencer Strider (elbow) is healthy, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Holmes and Ian Anderson are both out of minor-league options and are expected to round out the Opening Day rotation behind Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach, but one of the duo will get bumped once Strider is cleared to make his return from an internal brace procedure on his elbow performed last April. General manager Alex Anthopoulos views Holmes as ahead of Anderson in that battle. "Look, I mention him -- because of the way he pitched last year for us and so on, he'd be the front-runner for that spot," Anthopoulos said Friday. "We think Grant's got significant upside. He's got a plus curveball, plus slider, throws strikes." On the other hand, Anthopoulos also suggested Holmes could move to the bullpen at some point, and Holmes has a lot more experience in that role -- 65 of his 68 appearances at Triple-A Gwinnett over the last two seasons have come in relief, while Anderson has been exclusively a starter throughout his career.

Shaw (oblique) said Saturday that he's been cleared to begin light hitting, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.

Shaw suffered an oblique strain Monday, but he seems to be trending in the right direction after four days of rest. It will be important for the 23-year-old prospect to get as many reps as possible during camp while he competes for a starting job at third base.

De La Cruz said Friday that he wants to cut down on strikeouts this season, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

De La Cruz is massively talented, but the 23-year-old shortstop has been prone to mistakes. He led MLB in strikeouts (218) and is working with new hitting coach Chris Valaika to improve in that area. Reds manager Terry Francona envisions De La Cruz improving in other areas, too. The dynamic infielder also led the majors in errors (29), times caught stealing (16) and non-stealing outs on the bases (15). Francona spoke about the growth of young players in general as they get more at-bats. "With young players as they accumulate at-bats, they get to that 1,200, you see them grow," the skipper said, noting how the game slows down for players. "It just makes it easier to make better decisions. That's what we want to do." De La Cruz enters the season with 1,006 career at-bats, which puts him in line to test Francona's theory in 2025.

Diamondbacks hitting coach Joe Mather said Friday that Thomas worked on his pre-swing activity during the offseason, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

Specifically, Thomas' adjustments included a slightly lower leg kick along with being more consistent with his stride and direction. He feels the cleaner mechanics will result in hard line drives with gap-to-gap power. Thomas hit the ball with authority last season but mostly on the ground (60.8 groundball percentage). The outfielder, who is healthy entering spring training after missing significant time in 2024, begins camp as the No. 2 center fielder and will compete with Jake McCarthy for the starting job.

Lawlar is unlikely to win a bench role during spring training, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

Lawlar is nominally in the mix for a backup infielder role in camp, but given the time he missed in 2024 -- injuries limited him to 14 games -- having him serve in a part-time role is "probably not what's in his best interest," per Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen. The roster spot should be a battle between Garrett Hampson and Blaze Alexander, with non-roster invitees Grae Kessinger, Ildemaro Vargas and Connor Kaiser also in the mix.

Herrera is out of minor-league options as he prepares to compete for the backup catcher job in spring training, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

That Herrera is out of options gives him an advantage in the quest to back up primary catcher Gabriel Moreno. Herrera's advanced defense is another edge over Adrian Del Castillo, who crushed the ball during his MLB debut last season. It's likely the Diamondbacks have Del Castillo head back to Triple-A Reno to hone his defense, while Herrera, who has earned trust in the Arizona clubhouse, grabs a roster spot for Opening Day.