MLB Player News

Kelly (back) said Friday that he expects to be on the injured list to open the regular season, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Kelly spoke about his chances of making the Opening Day roster following his Cactus League debut Friday. "I won't go into depth on what the tentative plan is right now, but yeah, as of right now, not very good," the pitcher said. That's the bad news; the good news is that Kelly's back held up over 1.2 innings (36 pitches), which was the priority of the day. Stints on the IL can be backdated three days, which means Kelly would miss at least the first 12 days of the regular season. He would be eligible for activation in time for April 7 against the Mets.

Treinen pitched a scoreless inning in a Cactus League outing against Seattle on Friday, allowing three walks and striking out one batter.

Treinen entered in the fifth frame and walked the bases full, but he managed to escape the inning without giving up any runs. The veteran reliever hasn't looked sharp this spring -- he's given up four earned runs with a 3:5 K:BB over 4.1 frames -- but he's essentially a lock for Los Angeles' regular-season bullpen. That said, Treinen had the worst campaign of his career last year, posting a 5.40 ERA and 1.84 WHIP with a 36:19 K:BB across 26.2 regular-season innings, so the team may be wary about using him in high-leverage situations right away, especially given his results this spring.

Rodriguez allowed two hits and walked four batters while striking out five over 4.2 scoreless innings in a Cactus League start against Cleveland on Friday.

Rodriguez was a bit wild in issuing four free passes, but he kept the Guardians out of the score column thanks in part to a pair of double plays. Promisingly, he worked up to 85 pitches, and though his fastball velocity was a bit below its established norm at 94.3 mph, it's worth noting that the right-hander is still working his way back into full form after not pitching in any games beyond spring training last season. Rodriguez hasn't dropped jaws this spring, but he's looked healthy and has posted a tolerable 4.97 ERA with 12 punchouts (albeit alongside 10 walks) over 12.2 frames, so he looks to be headed toward a spot in the Angels' Opening Day rotation.

Rogers has a 4.50 ERA this spring with a 6:3 K:BB in four innings. He's still likely in the mix to close games but manager Derek Shelton said he has no plans for how he'll distribute save opportunities, Matthew Leach of MLB.com reports.

Rogers has the most experience closing games in the bullpen, but his declining velocity to an average fastball of 92.8 mph last season from a peak of 95.8 mph in 2021 may not make him ideal as the primary closer. He still had a decent 9.4 K/9 last season, so he could be part of a committee. However, at this point it's unclear how the Twins will divide up the opportunities to finish games among an unsettled bullpen that also includes Justin Topa, Cole Sands and Liam Hendriks.

King allowed six runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out five batters over four innings in a Cactus League start against the Athletics on Friday.

King notched a nice strikeout total, but he was also pounded for three homers, which came on back-to-back-to-back A's blasts in the fourth inning. The right-hander began the Cactus League slate with a fine 2.2-inning, one-run outing against the Angels, but since then he's yielded 13 earned runs on 15 hits (including five long balls) over 10 frames spanning three starts. Spring training stats rarely carry much importance, and King is locked into a rotation spot for the Padres, but a bounce-back outing before the end of the exhibition slate could be useful to reset the hurler heading into the regular season.

Bednar tossed a scoreless inning for Team USA against Team Canada in the quarterfinal of the World Baseball Classic on Friday, allowing two hits and striking out two batters.

Bednar entered in the seventh inning with the US up 5-3. He found himself in a world of trouble by allowing runners on second and third with no outs on a pair of infield singles and a passed ball, but the veteran hurler managed to escape the jam without being scored upon by getting a popout and a pair of punchouts. Bednar, who is locked into the closer role for the Yankees, has yet to give up a run in the WBC.

Clemens doesn't appear to have a set regular role in the lineup with the Twins signing Josh Bell and with several left-handed outfielders on the roster, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

Clemens began the offseason looking like the team's starter at first base or at least the left-handed part of a platoon at the position. However, the Twins may not want to use Trevor Larnach in the outfield rather than DH against lefties, which would move Bell to first base, and Luke Keaschall looks set to play second base. Clemens hit .216/.284/.442 with 19 home runs last season in a breakout season and made significant strides in his batted-ball metrics with a 48.3 percent hard-hit rate and 12 percent barrel rate. His ability to play second base and first base should help find ways to get him into the lineup eventually, but he may find few at-bats early in the season unless the Twins trade a left-handed-hitting outfielder.

Wells went 1-for-1 with a three-run home run in Team Dominican Republic's 10-0, seven-inning victory over Korea in the quarterfinal of the World Baseball Classic on Friday.

Wells entered the game as a defensive replacement at catcher in the top of the seventh inning. Team Dominican Republic led 7-0 going into the bottom of that frame, and Wells ended the contest via the mercy rule with his three-run blast to make the score 10-0. The long ball was the second of the tournament for Wells, who is slated to be the Yankees' primary catcher this season.

Wallner went 2-for-3 in Friday's Grapefruit League loss to Boston. He's hitting .290 (9-for-31) with a home run this spring.

It's reassuring to see Wallner having a good spring as a terrible spring in 2024 resulted in a slow start to the regular season and an early demotion to the minors. Wallner looks set to start in right field and could have a breakout season after some bad luck last year. Wallner reduced his problematic strikeout rate below 30 percent for the first time in his career (29.1%) and had the best contact rate of his career (66.1%), but he had just a .775 OPS, with a .228 BABIP likely playing a factor.

Funderburk may not make the Opening Day roster with four left-handed relievers competing for a spot in the bullpen, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Funderburk has a 1.59 ERA and 6:1 K:BB in 5.2 innings this spring.

It's odd that Funderburk is on the roster bubble considering he's having a strong spring and coming off a strong second half. He had a 2.61 ERA and 21:8 K:BB in 20.2 innings after the All-Star break last year. Still, he's seen as behind veterans Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda and Andrew Chafin. It seems unlikely the Twins would have four left-handed relievers in the bullpen, so Funderburk may be the odd man out. A trade of one of the lefty relievers also seems like a possibility.