MLB Player News

The Phillies haven’t asked for anything more than two innings at a time from Ross this spring, suggesting he’ll remain in middle relief if Ranger Suárez is forced to the IL. Taijuan Walker appears to be the team’s sixth starter right now. It might be for the best; Ross’s stuff hasn’t been up to par this spring, and while he’s managed a 3.12 ERA anyway, he’s fanned only four in 8 2/3 innings. He didn’t get a single missed swing today.

That’s never what you want to hear. While it doesn’t always necessarily mean UCL surgery of some form, that could be the eventual outcome. Expect the Marlins to provide another update on his status after that appointment.

Velázquez is 5-for-17 with just one strikeout. He has a realistic shot at a spot on the Cardinals’ bench as a platoon guy against lefties, though it doesn’t help his case that he doesn’t really have much of a positive split against lefties in his career. He’s hit .211/.306/.428 with a 30% strikeout rate versus lefties and .212/.276/.435 with a 28% strikeout rate against righties in his 615 major league plate appearances.

McGreevy’s velocity is still down about two mph from last year, but he gave up only four singles and walked none today. The likely No. 3 starter for the Cardinals, he has a 3.24 ERA through three starts.

At least for the last few years, Bassitt has typically worked 2-3 mph under his usual velocity in spring games, but that wasn’t the case today; his 91.7-mph average on his sinker was almost identical to his 91.6-mph average from 2025. Perhaps it’s a sign that he’s going to have a little more in the tank this year after his velocity dipped one mph from 2024 to 2025. It’s something we’ll keep an eye on.

No hard-hit balls for Mountcastle today, but everything was well placed. He’s 7-for-18 this spring as he battles for playing time between first base and DH. Pete Alonso will be at one of those spots pretty much every single day, so Mountcastle’s playing time will hinge on how often the Orioles want both Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo in the lineup.

Vierling is a bit of a forgotten man in Detroit because he missed most of last season with an injury, but he’s gone 8-for-15 this spring with no strikeouts and an over 60 percent hard-hit rate. His home run was a 358-foot bomb that let the bat at 100.8 mph, and he also added a 111 mph RBI single and a 105.5 mph RBI double. He will almost assuredly start against all left-handed pitching this season, but there’s a chance that he works himself into a bigger role if Colt Keith or one of the starting corner outfielders struggles at the plate.

Lowe was diagnosed with an oblique injury on the final day of February, but Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said the team was just being extra cautious with Lowe, given his previous oblique injuries. The 28-year-old should likely progress to hitting in the cage and then off live batting practice before returning to spring games. He seems on track for Opening Day.

Red Sox rather ruled the day in this one; Ranger Suárez started and got the win for Venezuela, allowing one run in two innings, and Wilyer Abreu went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Marlins utilityman Javier Sanoja hit the lone homer. Venezuela has Israel and Nicaragua next on the schedule before the showdown with the Dominican Republic to end pool play. The Netherlands are probably going to need to upset the D.R. if they’re going to have a chance of advancing.

Stephenson hovered around 94-95 mph with his four-seam fastball, which is fine. He sat 97 in his breakout season with the Rays, but Stephenson is still working his way back to 100 percent. He will likely progress to a spring training game soon and remains optimistic that he could be ready for Opening Day, where he would serve as the Angels’ closer to begin the year.

Lile came into today 0-for-12 with a walk and five strikeouts in five spring training games, but he did go 2-for-2 in an exhibition game against Venezuela. Everything is a super small sample size at this point in the season, but this was also Lile’s first hard-hit ball of the spring. The 23-year-old had a really nice rookie season last year, but his 2025 performance did come out of nowhere a bit after hitting .262/.347/.388 in 130 minor league games in 2024. He will be the starting left fielder to begin the season, but with James Wood, Dylan Crews, Jacob Young, and Robert Hassell III all MLB-ready as well, Lile will need to produce to hold onto his spot.