MLB Player News

The Rays are specifically not naming Anderson (or anyone else) the closer, John Romano of The Tampa Bay Times reports. "We've tried to stay away from naming specific roles because we think it's a benefit to our club to be able to be versatile and prioritize matchups," manager Kevin Cash said. "But there's no way you can doubt the value of how challenging getting the last three outs of the game is."

The Rays had 11 pitchers record saves last year, but Anderson wasn't one of them. Yet following the Emilio Pagan trade, he's the favorite to inherit at least the majority part of the role, but given the Rays' approach to the role, perhaps a little caution is advised, despite his excellent skills.

Poche is working on throwing his slider more frequently this season after throwing it only 9.7 percent of the time in 2019, Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reports.

Poche used his slider on a few occasions in Thursday's intrasquad scrimmage with some success. "I got some swing and misses on it (Thursday), which is always a good sign," he said. "Anytime you can get high-level hitters to swing and miss at a pitch that's not my fastball, it's a big confidence booster for me. The more and more I get comfortable with it, the more it can really be a weapon and actually make my fastball even better.''

Trivino is battling shoulder soreness but is expected to resume throwing Thursday, John Hickey of the East Bay Times reports.

Trivino took several days off while experiencing shoulder soreness, but manager Bob Melvin said that he's expected to resume throwing Thursday. It wouldn't be surprising to see the team proceeding cautiously with the right-hander as he resumes activities, but whether the issue will impact his availability for Opening Day remains to be seen.

Manager Ron Roenicke said McHugh (elbow) is scheduled to throw at least "a couple more bullpens," Bill Koch of The Providence Journal reports.

Roenicke added that McHugh, who is working his way back from a flexor strain, is not yet ready for game action. It's still unclear whether he'll be ready for the start of the regular season at this point.

Adams (knee) faced hitters in a live batting practice session Wednesday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Aside from allowing a long home run to teammate Kyle Lewis, Adams looked sharp in what was his first appearance against hitters since he tore the ACL in his left knee Sept. 21. The Mariners consider Adams a full go for summer camp, but it wouldn't be surprising if the coaching staff elected to use him mostly in simulated-game settings initially rather than intrasquad or exhibition contests. In any case, the expectation is that Adams will be a member of the Opening Day bullpen, likely handling a high-leverage role after ranking third in the American League among relievers in 2019 with a 14.8 K/9 rate.

Norris said Thursday that the Tigers placed him on the COVID-19 injured list, but he indicated that he otherwise feels healthy and strong, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

After he was absent for the first six days of summer camp, Norris was placed on the IL late Wednesday, but it wasn't clear if he was heading to the 10-day IL or the COVID-19 IL. The southpaw offered clarity on the transaction after speaking to the media, and indicated that he'll still need to submit two negative test results before he's allowed to rejoin the Tigers for workouts. Due to the timing of his placement on the IL, Norris appears unlikely to be ready to go for Opening Day, which could allow either Michael Fulmer (elbow) or Tyler Alexander to crack the rotation to begin the season.

The Tigers placed Norris on the 10-day injured list Wednesday due to an unspecified issue, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

The transaction comes after Norris hadn't been in attendance for any of the Tigers' six summer-camp workouts to date. Due to his lack of training along with his placement on the IL, Norris now appears unlikely to be ready for Opening Day on July 24, creating an opening in the Detroit rotation. Michael Fulmer (elbow) could be the top candidate to take Norris' spot if he can get the green light from team doctors, while left-hander Tyler Alexander also looms as a potential replacement.

Yarbrough's performance in Wednesday's simulated game, when he threw 3.1 innings, helped his chances of solidifying a rotation spot, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports. "Like I said in spring training, and it's still my goal right now, it's just to continue to show them and prove to them that I could be a full-time starter," Yarbrough said. "We have a couple of outings to continue to show that and prove to them that long term this is what I want to do and best help the team."

The versatile southpaw faced the foursome of Willy Adames, Brandon Lowe, Ji-Man Choi and Mike Zunino, and he allowed just one hit while recording three strikeouts during his time on the mound. Yarbrough came away pleased with the opportunity to once again face hitters and throw to one of the team's catchers, as well as the chance to continue to prove worthy of a rotation spot. Manager Kevin Cash also heaped praise on the 28-year-old, noting the Rays would not have gotten as far as they did in 2019 without Yarbrough's efforts. It's also worth noting that with Tyler Glasnow and Yonny Chirinos both currently away from summer camp workouts for undisclosed reasons, the Rays actually find themselves short-handed on starting pitchers with less than three weeks to go before Opening Day.

Richards was dominant while throwing 2.2 innings in a simulated game Wednesday against a quartet of teammates, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports. "I don't know if we saw the best of Trevor at any point last year, but his stuff is pretty unique," manager Kevin Cash said. "That changeup from behind almost looks like a breaking ball the way it drops. The changeup is going to be the big equalizer. When we see that pitch on, he's generally on track for a pretty good outing."

The 27-year-old could be set to fill a number of different roles during this coming regular season, and Wednesday's outing certainly inspired confidence he could thrive in whatever capacity he's deployed. Richards completely flummoxed the foursome of Brandon Lowe, Willy Adames, Mike Zunino and Ji-Man Choi -- who each took two at-bats against him -- by impressively ringing up seven total strikeouts and only allowing one of his 34 pitches to be put in play.

Fulmer (elbow) tossed two innings in an intrasquad game Wednesday, allowing an unearned run and striking out one, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

It was Fulmer's first action in a game setting since spring training of 2019, so while it was just a scrimmage, it was good to see the righty on the mound. The team didn't have a radar gun on him, meaning no velocity readings to gauge quite yet. Fulmer will continue to build up his arm during summer camp, and the team could use him in a long-relief role to begin the season to limit his workload after he missed all of last year.