MLB Player News

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Monday that Taylor is dealing with a minor back issue that could affect his availability for Opening Day, Chad Jennings of The Athletic reports.

Taylor contended with a back injury late in the 2021 regular season, but he was reinstated from the injured list prior to the Red Sox's wild-card round series. Though he seemingly came out of the postseason without any setbacks, the back issue has apparently reared its head again while he's been throwing during the spring. The 29-year-old was an important bullpen arm for Boston in 2022, but the Red Sox are better equipped to handle a potential Taylor absence after adding two lefties to the bullpen this offseason in Jake Diekman and Matt Strahm.

Beeks (elbow) is listed as the Rays' starting pitcher for Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

The Rays will likely ask Beeks to cover only one or two innings in what marks his first competitive action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2020. Before sustaining the season-ending injury, Beeks had made 12 appearances out of the Rays' bullpen, but the decision to have him start Monday could signal that the organization plans to have him work as a starter at Triple-A Durham to begin the 2022 campaign.

Cisnero (elbow) threw a live batting practice session Monday, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Cisnero has yet to make his Grapefruit League debut, but his ability to face hitters suggests that he's moved past the elbow laceration that resulted in him concluding the 2021 season on the injured list. After submitting a 3.65 ERA and 1.33 WHIP while striking out 62 over 61.2 innings in 67 appearances last season, Cisnero should be in good position to break camp as a member of the Detroit bullpen.

The Mariners will use a committee to close out games again in 2022, Jesse Borek of MLB.com reports. "We'll have a number of guys who will finish off games for us," manager Scott Servais said.

Sewald was one of the top breakout relief pitchers of 2021, using the change in his fastball angle to explode his strikeout rate. He certainly possessed closer skills last season with a 39.4% strikeout rate and a 30.3% K-BB%. But his ability to go longer in outings can work against him, as it could encourage Servais to turn to Sewald earlier in the game and get 4-to-5 critical outs, as he did five times in September last year.

Giles (elbow) has been throwing 95 mph in batting practice and will make his spring training game debut soon, Jesse Borek of MLB.com reports.

Giles will not be a full-time closer for the Mariners, nor will anyone else in their pen, as they will be going by committee again by design. "We'll have a number of guys who will finish off games for us," manager Scott Servais said.

Akin (hip) will start Monday's spring training game against the Twins, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Akin underwent a hip procedure early in the offseason, but it doesn't appear it will affect his availability for the start of the season. The 26-year-old struggled in 24 appearances (17 starts) for the Orioles in 2021 with a 6.63 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 82:40 K:BB over 95 innings.

Pivetta retired all nine batters he faced and struck out five over three perfect innings in Saturday's spring game against the Twins.

Pivetta turned in a dominant effort Saturday and appears poised to be the team's No. 2 starter behind Nathan Eovaldi following the rib injury that knocked Chris Sale off schedule. "I felt good. Was able to command the zone very well, get my curveball over for strikes, get a couple changeups, a couple sliders -- two sliders -- for strikeouts. So it was good," Pivetta told Ian Browne of MLB.com. "A good one to build on." The 29-year-old right-hander earned a larger role after he turned in several sparkling performances in 2021, including a couple in the playoffs. Pivetta's on tap to start the second game of the season, April 9 in Yankee Stadium.

Honeywell started Friday's Cactus League win over the Angels and allowed three earned runs on seven hits over 2.1 innings. He struck out one.

The right-handed offseason acquisition, who may have a chance at a back-end rotation spot, got his outing off to a rough start by surrendering a two-run home run to Jo Adell in the first inning and pitched to plenty of additional contact. Honeywell was able to work up to 40 pitches, however, an encouraging sign given the array of injuries that essentially wiped out three seasons of his development while in the Rays organization.

Even with trade rumors surrounding Manaea, he is focusing on getting ready for the regular season, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

With the Athletics trading away their core players, Manaea could be on the move next. In Manaea's first outing of spring training, he allowed five hits, five earned runs and one walk with one strikeout in 1.1 innings. Over a career-high 179.1 innings in 2021, Manaea's sinker velocity averaged 92.1 mph, which was the highest since 2016 (92.9 mph). With that increased velocity, the sinker elicited a career-best 10.7% SwStr%, plus two other pitches with double-digit SwStr% in the changeup (16.5%) and slider (11.7%).

Duran threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts in his spring debut Saturday against the Red Sox. He reached 100.4 mph with his fastball, according to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com.

Duran is one of Minnesota's top pitching prospects, but he threw just 16 innings last season due to elbow issues. He could contend for the major-league rotation later this season, but his workload may be managed as he works his way back to form, Park also reports.