MLB

Injuries to Gerrit Cole (elbow) and Luis Gil (lat) have put Carrasco in the proverbial driver’s seat to make the Yankees’ season opening rotation. To his credit, he’s done pretty much everything possible to make it happen, allowing just three runs over 16 innings of work this spring in Grapefruit League action. The 37-year-old right-hander has an opt-out this weekend in his minor league contract, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see New York officially add him to their 40-man roster in the coming days. He’s unlikely to make an impact for fantasy purposes, but it’s nice to see Carrasco still have something left in the tank after last year’s disastrous return to Cleveland.

Cardinals manager Oli Marmol told reporters Winn was able to take live batting practice on Wednesday and there’s optimism he’ll be able to get back into the Cardinals’ lineup later this week. The 22-year-old shortstop was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup for precautionary reason with right wrist soreness. His status for next week’s season opener isn’t in jeopardy, but it’s a situation fantasy managers should continue monitoring.

Bohm was back in Philadelphia’s lineup for the first time since last Saturday due to a foot contusion. The 28-year-old third baseman should be ready to roll for next week’s season opener.

Soderstrom was back at first base today, but he has caught five times this spring. If he gains eligibility there at some point, as currently seems likely, he should be a top-10 fantasy catcher. The 23-year-old hit .233/.315/.429 with nine homers in his 61 major league games last season, and he’s only going to get better,

Miller was more vulnerable than usual today; his velocity was down nearly three mph from last year and he got just one missed swing on his 14 pitches. Still, no damage was done. Miller has allowed one run in seven innings this month.

Williams’ velocity peaked in his spring debut Feb. 26, and he’s currently a little down from last year. There’s still a fair amount to like here, and his new sweepier slider should be a bigger asset against right-handed hitters. However, there was more reason for excitement three weeks ago.

He did have a 413-foot drive to center that would have been a homer much of the time, but not here. The A’s are planning to give Brent Rooker some outfield time this season. That will probably lead to fewer at-bats for Brown, assuming that Brown doesn’t have a big rebound in store. The 32-year-old did finish strong last season, but he has a 92 OPS+ the last two seasons; he’s very much a fringe player at this point.

Baty scalded an RBI triple to right field in the fourth inning to raise his spring average to .333 (14-for-42). The 25-year-old former top prospect is doing everything possible to put himself in the mix to break camp as New York’s starting second baseman over Luisangel Acuña, who might get pushed to a utility role instead.

Peterson struck out four and issued three walks against a Houston lineup that featured most of their big-league regulars. The 29-year-old lefty has allowed just one earned run over 15 2/3 innings of work in Grapefruit League action. He’ll open the regular season in New York’s starting rotation and offers some immediate streaming appeal for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues.

Tomczyk added that Jones will not pitch again in spring training due to right elbow discomfort and remains without an official diagnosis or timetable to resume throwing. The electrifying 23-year-old righty will open the regular season on the injured list with his absence opening the door for Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington or Carmen Mlodzinski to break camp in Pittsburgh’s rotation. Chandler would be the most intriguing from a fantasy standpoint by a considerable margin, but he might be the least likely to get the nod. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status at some point later this week.