MLB Player News

Cleveland is looking at Clase as an impact reliever who could pitch in the late innings this season, Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com reports.

Pluto speculates that Clase, whose cutter has touched 99 mph this spring, could work in the seventh and eighth innings this season. Clase's goal is to be the team's closer, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Manager Terry Francona has already suggested that James Karinchak could be used to get outs at the highest-leverage moments of the game, even if that happens prior to the ninth inning, so it could be any of Clase, Nick Wittgren, Phil Maton or Blake Parker who ends up with the save in those instances.

Abreu will pitch in a "B" game Saturday against the Nationals, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Abreu will be making his first appearance since finishing his quarantine. He has not thrown in a game situation since going two innings against the Marlins on Feb. 28. The state of Houston's starting rotation is getting dicey already at the mid-point of March. There's still an ongoing evaluation of Framber Valdez (finger), Jake Odorizzi is unlikely to build up his pitch count in time for Opening Day and several depth starting candidates, including Abreu, lost time due to being in quarantine.

Pearson (groin) will throw a bullpen session Saturday but won't be ready to start by Opening Day, Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reports.

Pearson's spring buildup has been interrupted by a groin strain. While the issue isn't a particularly worrisome one, it's disrupted his preseason preparation to the point that he won't have time to stretch out as a starter by the time the regular season begins. It's not yet clear whether he'll start the year in the bullpen or continue building up to a starter's workload while off the roster.

Harvey suffered a left oblique injury Friday against the Phillies, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

Harvey winced in pain following his first pitch of the outing and left the game with team trainers. It's a positive in some ways that he's not dealing with yet more arm troubles, though oblique issues can be worrying as well. His recovery timeline for his latest in a long line of injuries is not yet clear.

Harvey winced after throwing his first pitch Friday against the Phillies and left the game without throwing another one, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

Injuries have unfortunately been the story of Harvey's career, as he's thrown just 154.1 total innings over the last six years. The exact diagnosis for his latest issue remains to be seen, but his track record leaves little reason to be anything other than pessimistic. If he's sidelined to start the year, Tanner Scott and Cesar Valdez could emerge as the top closing options in Baltimore.

Foster has been dealing with soreness early in camp but is expected to see game action within the next few days, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

The specifics of the injury remain unclear, but it doesn't appear to be a serious concern with the 26-year-old scheduled to see game action in the near future. Foster made his big-league debut for the White Sox last season and impressed with a 2.20 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 31:9 K:BB over 28.2 innings.

Montero, the Mariners' presumptive 2021 closer, has allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits and a walk while recording three strikeouts across the two innings covering his first two Cactus League appearances.

A late arrival to spring training due to a visa issue may still have Montero a bit off-kilter, as he's been atypically hittable following a mostly effective last two seasons with the Rangers. Montero was charged with a blown save Thursday versus the Dodgers, but the Mariners figure to continue affording the hard-throwing right-hander plenty of spring opportunities to get himself right prior to Opening Day.

McHugh was saddled with the loss in Thursday's Grapefruit League defeat at the hands of Atlanta, allowing an earned run on a solo home run while giving up two other hits and a walk over two innings. He also hit a batter and recorded one strikeout.

The veteran continues to round himself back into shape after missing all of 2020, with Thursday's outing going a bit smoother than his Grapefruit League debut Sunday. McHugh notched a scoreless fifth frame upon entering the game before surrendering the home run in the sixth inning, but he was able to inch closer to the Rays' goal of stretching him out to up to four frames by the end of spring training in order to prepare him for what could be multiple roles.

Fairbanks allowed an earned run on a solo home run and did not record any walks or strikeouts over one inning in his first Grapefruit League action of the spring Thursday.

The right-handed reliever had seen his spring debut delayed by a recent bout of food poisoning. The long ball Fairbanks allowed was aided by wind, but he was otherwise effective. The 27-year-old failed to convert either of the two save chances he saw in 2020, but he proved his mettle as a strong later-inning option with a 2.70 ERA, seven holds and a 32.4 percent strikeout rate.

Hearn hit a batter and struck out two over 2.1 scoreless innings in Thursday's spring game against the Athletics.

Hearn hit the first batter he faced then recorded seven consecutive outs during his second Cactus League start. "It was dominant," manager Chris Woodward told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. "He blew the doors off some guys. I think he really found himself last year and that has only continued. He looks like he belongs." The left-hander has relied heavily on a fastball-slider combination so far, but he'll get stretched out and face a lineup a second time through in his next outing, and he'll need to make his changeup an effective third pitch.