New York Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon debuted a new cutter during his Grapefruit League outing on Sunday. Rodon now features a cutter, fastball, changeup, slider and a curveball in his repertoire. In addition to adding a new pitch, the 31-year-old southpaw has reportedly been touching the high-90s with his heater during live batting practice sessions in camp this year as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing first season in the Bronx in 2023. We won't really know how effective Rodon's cutter will be in game settings in the regular season for a while, but it's an interesting footnote for a pitcher that could be a steal in fantasy drafts if he can stay healthy in 2024. The two-time All-Star only made 14 starts for the Yanks last year and struggled to a 6.85 ERA and 1.45 WHIP with 64 K's in 64 1/3 innings.

Houston Astros right-hander Justin Verlander (shoulder) will throw another bullpen session on Tuesday with more intensity to move him forward in his rehab, according to manager Joe Espada. Verlander came into spring training behind the team's other pitchers after his right shoulder didn't bounce back properly in the offseason, but he's been throwing low-intensity bullpen sessions in camp, consisting of only fastballs. The Astros haven't ruled the 41-year-old out for the start of the regular season, but it seems more likely than not that he'll open the year on the injured list. Even if Verlander is ready for Opening Day at the end of March, fantasy managers should expect the future Hall of Famer to miss some time at some point in 2024 due to injury. He's a poor bet to stay healthy all year at his age and is no longer the fantasy ace that he once was.

Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez (hand) is dealing with inflammation on the top of his left hand in camp. Rodriguez's hand has been checked out and isn't serious, so he should be able to return to Cactus League play by this weekend. Fantasy managers that already drafted Rodriguez shouldn't be too worried, but it is something that we can keep an eye on when he returns to action in spring training. The 23-year-old superstar is a five-category contributor in fantasy and has been an All-Star in both of his big-league seasons to this point. He was even better in 2023, slashing .275/.333/.485 with an .818 OPS, 32 home runs, 37 doubles, two triples, 103 RBI, 37 stolen bases and 102 runs scored in 155 games. J-Rod is a top-five fantasy asset heading into his third MLB campaign.

Free-agent first baseman Garrett Cooper signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs on Sunday that includes a non-roster invite to major-league spring training, according to a source. Cooper will compete for playing time at first base this spring alongside newcomer Michael Busch and Matt Mervis. The 33-year-old veteran was an All-Star in 2022 with the Miami Marlins, and he hit .251/.304/.419 with a career-high 17 home runs, 18 doubles, a triple, 61 RBI and 42 runs scored in 123 games with the Marlins and San Diego Padres last season. At best, Cooper will probably be on the short side of a platoon at the cold corner in Chicago against left-handed pitching. In his seven seasons in the big leagues, he has never reached the 20-homer mark and has just one stolen base in 481 career games.

Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell said that second baseman Matt McLain (oblique) is progressing well and is going through a lot of core/medicine-ball work. The next step for McLain is light swinging. McLain tweaked his right oblique early in spring training and was shut down for five to seven days, so he should resume light baseball activities in the next few days so that the Reds can see where he's at. Depending on how he bounces back, though, there's a chance the 24-year-old won't be ready by Opening Day. Before an oblique injury ended his rookie season in 2023, McLain was excellent for the Reds, hitting .290/.357/.507 with 16 homers, 50 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 365 at-bats. The underlying numbers suggest that the former first-rounder will face some regression in Year 2, though, and the fact that oblique is still bothering him is also concerning for fantasy managers.