MLB Player News

Verlander faced off against Aledmys Diaz and Trey Cabbage in the simulated outing. He threw 37 pitches and was clocked as high as 94 mh with his fastball. It’s the second time in five days that the right-hander has thrown a live bullpen as he works his way back from the neck trouble that has sidelined him since June. A rehab start could be next, and Verlander has a chance to rejoin the Astros in the middle of August.

Barring an unexpected development, Torrens will open the regular season as New York’s starting catcher while Francisco Alvarez remains sidelined until late April recovering from a hamate fracture in his left hand. The 28-year-old journeyman isn’t going to make an impact for fantasy purposes in mixed leagues, but could be relevant for a couple weeks in much deeper NL-only formats.

Marte made his Grapefruit League debut after missing the first couple weeks of camp recovering from a right knee bone bruise. The 36-year-old veteran outfielder looked healthy motoring into second base on a second-inning double and told reporters afterwards that he’s feeling healthy heading into the regular season. The elite stolen base totals aren’t coming back at his advanced age, which limits his fantasy appeal to deeper mixed leagues as a late-round option.

Canning extended his scoreless streak to 5 1/3 frames while generating 11 swinging strikes in his second Grapefruit League outing. The 28-year-old righty is poised to open the year in New York’s starting rotation following injuries to Sean Manaea (oblique) and Frankie Montas (lat). There’s some sneaky fantasy appeal here, especially in deeper mixed leagues, if New York’s pitching apparatus can unlock some of his potential.

Gray served up six hits, including homers to Luis Torrens and Juan Soto. The 35-year-old veteran has somehow coughed up five homers already through two spring outings so far. There’s zero reason for concern since he’s healthy for the first time in several years at this early stage of the year. He’s a top-35 range starting pitcher from a fantasy standpoint this spring.

The Cubs indicated Sunday that Gage Workman and Vidal Bruján had made the roster for the Japan series, but they weren’t willing to say the same for Shaw. If it was still up in the air as of this morning, Shaw’s nice game could have made the difference. He’s now 4-for-14 with three RBI since returning from an oblique strain that sidelined him at the beginning of the spring. The Cubs leave Tuesday, so we’ll know then whether Shaw will be on the travel roster. Even if he’s not, he still could be at third base on domestic Opening Day.

A pair of second-inning homers accounted for all of the runs. Imanaga’s stuff isn’t quite there yet, but it’s going to count next time anyway, as his next outing will come against the Dodgers in the regular-season opener in Japan. He averaged just 89.1 mph with his fastball today, down from 91.7 mph last season. Those capable of doing so might want to have him benched for next week’s series.

Wicks allowed three hits, walked none and struck out two. A sleeper last spring, Wicks wound up missing much of the year with injuries and failing to meet expectations when healthy. That’d led to minimal expectations this time around, but the Javier Assad injury has put him back into the mix for a rotation spot and he has a 2.08 ERA this spring. He still might go to Triple-A initially, but he’s worth keeping an eye on.

McKenzie is showing the best velocity of his career this spring, but it’s not getting him outs so far; he has an 8.53 ERA and a 4/5 K/BB in 6 1/3 innings over three outings. One imagines he’ll figure something out and get back to being a useful starter if he can keep throwing 91-95 mph, but he’s not a mixed-league guy at this point.

Brito is just 2-for-21 this spring, but at least both hits have been homers. The 23-year-old had 21 of those while batting .256/.265/.443 for Triple-A Columbus last season. He’s very much in the running to take over as the Guardians’ second baseman this season, though unlike most of the other candidates, he probably won’t be considered for a part-time gig if he’s not a starter.

Holliday filled in at shortstop for an injured Gunnar Henderson (intercostal), who remains without an official return timetable at the moment. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters prior to Monday’s contest that the 21-year-old former top prospect is getting some additional work at shortstop in the event that Henderson isn’t ready for Opening Day. He’s batting .296 (8-for-27) with one homer and three steals this spring in Grapefruit League play.