MLB Player News

Crawford (shoulder) is starting at designated hitter and batting fifth in Tuesday's Cactus League contest versus the Angels.

It will be the spring training debut for Crawford, who has been brought along slowly in Mariners camp due to a minor shoulder issue. He will be eased back into action at DH and is expected to return to shortstop soon.

McLean has yet to report to Team USA while he recovers from an illness, but manager Mark DeRosa said Monday that the right-hander is tentatively scheduled to start March 10 against Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

According to Laura Albanese of Newsday, McLean had been experiencing vertigo-like symptoms, which have since subsided. McLean was able to throw a side session a couple days ago and is slated to throw on the back fields of Mets camp Wednesday, per Albanese. Assuming all goes well following that workout, McLean will join up with Team USA in Houston ahead of its first game of pool play Friday against Brazil before making a start four days later. McLean earned his spot on the USA roster after a stellar showing with the Mets following his late-season call-up from Triple-A Syracuse, going 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 48 innings through his first eight big-league starts. The Mets have already named offseason pickup Freddy Peralta as their Opening Day starter, but McLean is a good bet to make his 2026 debut at some point during team's first series of the season versus the Pirates.

O'Brien (calf) is tentatively scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Friday against the Orioles, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The right-hander has been slowed in Cardinals camp by a mild right calf strain. O'Brien got through a live batting practice session Monday with no issues, and as long as he bounces back well, he'll get into game action Friday. The hard-throwing O'Brien is competing to open the season as St. Louis' closer.

Oviedo allowed two hits while striking out four over three scoreless innings in Monday's spring start against the Blue Jays.

As erratic as Oviedo was in his Grapefruit League debut last Wednesday, the right-hander was controlled Monday. He breezed through three frames on just 31 pitches (25 strikes). Oviedo has set himself up as the leading candidate for Boston's final rotation spot. His next outing is scheduled for March 7.

Cecconi allowed two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out four over 2.2 innings in Monday's spring start against Texas.

Cecconi had two scoreless frames in his second Cactus League outing before Wyatt Langford took him deep in the third. The Rangers worked counts in all three innings, and the right-hander's day was done after 52 pitches (33 strikes). Cecconi is much more established than he was in 2025, when he was new to the Guardians. Coaches reworked his mechanics and pitch mix, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com, adding a cutter and increasing his slider usage. The cutter was particularly effective Monday, generating six whiffs on 12 swings.

Singer allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out one over two-plus innings in Monday's spring start against the Cubs.

The numbers for Singer's Cactus League debut were ugly, and he was able to generate just one swing-and-miss. The optimistic view is that he managed to throw 46 pitches while throwing his entire arsenal and had three up-and-downs. All four runs scored in the first frame, when the right-hander had some bad luck -- a couple of weak contact hits fell in safely and left fielder Will Benson couldn't come down with a catchable ball.

Stanton will make his spring debut Tuesday, batting fourth at designated hitter against Panama, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

The veteran designated hitter has been eased into camp, and it was reported back on Feb. 22 that Stanton would likely make his spring debut right before or after the Yankees' off day Monday. He will once again be managing tennis elbow in both elbows and is expected to receive a lot of rest days during the season.

McLain batted second and went 2-for-2 with two walks, two home runs, six RBI and a third run scored in Monday's spring game against the Cubs.

McLain is wielding a hot stick early in the Cactus League and is 8-for-14 with three homers and nine RBI through five games. He appears poised for a bounce-back season after slumping for much of 2025 and landing in the bottom of the order. McLain is looking like he did in 2023, when he posted an .864 OPS and 127 OPS+ as a rookie.

Clevinger threw 3.0 scoreless innings while allowing one hit to go along with three strikeouts and two walks in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays.

Clevinger joined the Pirates in February on a non-roster deal, but he appears to have a legitimate chance to make the roster as either the fifth starter or a long reliever. He reports being fully healthy, per Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and touched 97 mph in his first spring outing Feb. 25. Adding in Monday's outing, Clevinger has thrown five scoreless innings, though he's managed only a 4:4 K:BB.

Rumfield is making a case to be the primary first baseman for the Rockies to begin the season, Stephen Harding of MLB.com reports.

Rumfield was very productive in the minor leagues while working his way through the Yankees' minor-league system, but he was ultimately blocked and never got a chance to reach the majors. His outlook changed when he was traded to the Rockies in late January, and he has taken advantage early in spring, slugging three home runs across 16 at-bats while striking out only once. Harding currently projects Rumfield to start at first base against right-handed pitching, with Blaine Crim a potential complement to step into the lineup against lefties.