MLB Player News

Martin (illness) threw a bullpen session Monday for the first time since being cleared to work out, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Martin missed most of summer camp after testing positive for COVID-19 and will start the season on the injured list. He was encouraged by the session, the first time he's thrown off a mound since he was quarantined, when he threw off flat ground.

Pressly started Tuesday's exhibition game against the Royals and set the side down in order in his one inning of work, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Pressly, who had been dealing with a blister on his right index finger, showed no effects during a surprise start. With rain threatening a cancellation, the Astros scratched starter Josh James and used a steady stream of relievers to get through the nine innings. Pressly struck out the first two batters on his way to a 1-2-3 inning on 12 pitches, and his fastball approached 96 MPH. "I was really happy with my breaking stuff, the fastball had some life to it," Pressly said. "I'm really excited with where I'm at compared to the end of last year. Everything is moving better and more in sync so I'm excited to get the season going." He'll open the season as Houston's closer while Roberto Osuna (not injury related) is unavailable.

Manaea, who allowed three runs on four hits and recorded four strikeouts over five innings in Monday's exhibition loss to the Giants, came away very pleased with his slider, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. "I thought it was awesome," Manaea said of the slider. "Judging everything on how it looked from my perspective and how the swings looked, I'm pretty close to being able to backdoor it and just pitch off of that. For now, I'm extremely happy with how it's turned out and how I feel with it."

Manaea was able to retire the final 10 batters he faced after an uneven performance over the first pair of frames, and he came very close to his target of 65 pitches. Gallegos reports Manaea deployed the slider on 22 occasions overall Monday, continuing a focus on developing the pitch that dates back to spring training. The left-hander did top out at just 89 mph with his fastball, but Manaea shrugged off the middling velocity by expressing confidence in his ability to overcome it with good pitch sequencing. The 28-year-old lines up to make his first regular-season start Saturday against the Angels in the second game of the season-opening four-game set, and he's expected to be limited to 75-85 pitches.

Puk (shoulder) will be sidelined at least two weeks after receiving a cortisone injection, Shayna Rubin of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

The 25-year-old landed on the injured list Monday with a left shoulder strain, which appears to be a related to the issue he dealt with in the spring. Puk could face a longer recovery timeline, but for now he'll rest for a couple days before potentially attempting to throw again. Daniel Mengden will step into the A's starting rotation to begin the season.

Covey was traded from the Rays to the Red Sox on Tuesday.

Covey had a clause in his contract with the Rays that forced the team's hand if he was given an opportunity on a 40-man roster elsewhere, and Tampa chose to let him go Tuesday. The 28-year-old spent the past three seasons with the White Sox before signing a minor-league deal with the Rays in February. Covey hasn't produced stellar results in the majors during his career, and it's unclear whether he'll see significant playing time for Boston this year.

Poche suffered a torn UCL on Tuesday and will miss the 2020 season, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

The left-hander was showing improved results throughout camp, but he'll miss extensive time after Tommy John surgery was recommended Tuesday. As a result, he'll be placed on the 45-day injured list and miss the entire 2020 season and most or all of the 2021 campaign. The 25-year-old was set to play a more prominent role in the Rays' bullpen after posting a 4.70 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 72:19 K:BB over 51.2 innings in his first season in the majors last year.

King will be on the Yankees' Opening Day roster, Randy Miller of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

King was battling for a spot with the Yankees' pitching staff during camp, and he was selected for the roster over Clarke Schmidt, who was sent to the alternate training site Tuesday. The pair of moves could signal that King will open the season with a spot in the starting rotation while Masahiro Tanaka (concussion) continues to recover. The right-hander logged a 5.48 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 46 innings in the minors last year.

Garcia was optioned to the Yankees' alternate training site Tuesday, Randy Miller of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Garcia was a longshot to make the expanded major-league roster to begin the regular season, and he'll officially head to the team's alternate training site ahead of the team's season opener Thursday. The right-hander posted a 4.28 ERA and 165:54 K:BB over 111.1 innings in the minors last season and could get the chance to make his major-league debut at some point in 2020.

Yarbrough worked up to 87 pitches during Monday's intrasquad start, his final outing before a scheduled start in the second game of the season versus the Blue Jays, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

The southpaw corroborated his ability to eat up some innings right from the outset of the season with Monday's effort. Yarbrough did run into some trouble, however, allowing five earned runs across 4.1 innings. That aside, Yarbrough has looked good in previous simulated game opportunities during summer camp and put together a 11-6 record, 4.13 ERA and 1.00 WHIP across 28 appearances (14 starts) in 2019.

The Tigers announced Tuesday that Norris (illness) has been cleared to rejoin the team for workouts.

Though Norris has fully cleared all COVID-19 protocols, Detroit will still need to formally activate him from the injured list before he's eligible to appear in games. Since Norris has been absent throughout summer camp, he'll likely require at least a week to get his arm conditioned for game action. Due to the time Norris has missed, Detroit may not be willing to prepare him for a traditional starting role, especially if Michael Fulmer (elbow) is ready to join the rotation shortly after Opening Day. Norris could still be a candidate to work as a tandem starter, a role in which he found some success late in the 2019 season.