MLB Player News

Mena was spotted in the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse prior to Tuesday’s game. While Manager Torey Lovullo said Mena is on their taxi squad, Arizona doesn’t have a scheduled starter for Wednesday’s game in Los Angeles and Mena last pitched in Triple-A on June 26th. Mena, acquired in a trade with the White Sox last offseason in exchange for outfielder Dominic Fletcher, is already on the 40-man roster. The No. 11 prospect in Arizona’s system according to MLB.com, Mena had a 4.90 ERA in 16 starts with Triple-A Reno.

Kelly made it back to the big leagues last year, making two relief appearances for the Reds, for the first time since 2018. The 35-year-old journeyman will head to Triple-A Reno as emergency organizational depth for Arizona after spending most of the last half-decade overseas as one of the top arms in Korea.

Roberts re-affirmed that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the ball against fellow countryman Shota Imanaga during the opening contest of the two-game series, but is seemingly leaving every option on the table for the finale. He told reporters last month that Roki Sasaki would likely get the ball during the series for his highly-anticipated major-league debut, but that doesn’t appear to be a lock anymore. The 23-year-old phenom will make his Cactus League debut on Tuesday against the Reds. His performance over the next few weeks will likely determine whether he breaks camp in Los Angeles’ crowded rotation mix.

Phillips will require a trip to the injured list at the outset of the regular season since he won’t have enough time to properly build up his stamina and workload, but it’s an encouraging development that he’s gotten through a handful of throwing sessions without any setbacks. The 30-year-old is working his way back from a rotator cuff tear that he suffered last postseason. He figures to be in the mix for high-leverage work, most likely in a setup role complementing offseason acquisitions Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott, after recording 42 saves for Los Angeles over the past two seasons.

Garcia missed some time at the outset of Rangers camp due to nerve irritation in his left forearm, but hasn’t experienced any setbacks, and will make his spring debut early next week. The 28-year-old figures to operate in high-leverage spots in his Texas debut and would be in the mix to close if veteran Chris Martin misses any time due to injury.

Smith suffered the initial injury last summer when he rolled his ankle on an awkward slide, adding that he’s surprised it’s lingered this long. The notion that the ongoing issue will require some in-season maintenance and treatment, seems to hint towards top prospect Dalton Rushing potentially playing a prominent role at some point this season. There isn’t much of a path to a spot on Los Angeles’ season-opening roster with veteran Austin Barnes still in the fold, but any sort of extended absence would result in Rushing getting plenty of at-bats. It’s a situation fantasy managers should monitor closely since Rushing projects as an immediate impact contributor once he gets an extended opportunity.

The deal was made official earlier this week to bring Finnegan back as Washington’s primary closer. The 33-year-old stopper was a surprising non-tender last November by the Nationals after recording 38 saves to accompany a respectable 3.68 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 60/24 K/BB ratio across 63 2/3 innings of work. There won’t be a ton of saves this season for the rebuilding Nationals, but Finnegan’s experience and relative lack of competition for the role puts him into the top-25 range among relief pitchers for fantasy purposes.

Arguably the most dominant pitcher in the game, when healthy, deGrom looked extremely impressive last year across three late-season starts during his return from Tommy John surgery. The 36-year-old former fantasy ace entered spring training without any restrictions and shouldn’t have any workload limitations. The omnipresent durability concerns aren’t going away, but deGrom’s stratospheric talent alone puts him somewhere in the top 10-15 range at starting pitcher for fantasy purposes.

The quartet will open the regular season back in the minors as extra organizational depth. Poteet was acquired from the Yankees back in mid-December as part of the Cody Bellinger trade and figures to be on the shortlist to return to Chicago should injuries arise to the starting rotation mix. Kilian made two appearances (one start) last year for the Cubs, while both Hollowell and Neely made a handful of relief appearances last season at the big-league level.

Miller has yet to appear in a Cactus League contest this spring, but was set to take the ball on Sunday against the Angels. The 27-year-old lefty made a staggering 73 appearances (10 starts) last year for San Francisco and figures to operate in a versatile swingman role once again this season.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde downplayed the severity of the issue with reporters, so we’re not anticipating a lengthy absence here. O’Neill signed a three-year, $49.5 million contract with the Orioles back in mid-December. The 29-year-old slugging outfielder figures to be one of the primary beneficiaries of the hitter-friendly changes made to the left-field dimensions at Camden Yards as the “Walltimore” era officially comes to a close.