MLB Player News

VerHagen (shoulder) is included on the Tigers' list of available pitchers for Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

VerHagen has been idle for the past two weeks while battling tightness around his throwing shoulder. His inclusion on the Tigers' travel list suggests the injury is behind him at this point, but he'll still probably need to make an appearance or two in the Grapefruit League to give the team more confidence about his status heading into Opening Day. VerHagen, who posted a 4.53 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 56.1 innings last season, will likely be a factor in the middle innings this season.

The Astros optioned Perez to their minor-league camp Tuesday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Perez was given the chance to compete for the No. 5 spot in the rotation this spring, but it was little more than a token opportunity with Brad Peacock and Framber Valdez always considered the leading options for that final starting gig once Josh James missed time with a quadriceps injury. The 22-year-old ended up making just two appearances in the Grapefruit League, though that may have been a deliberate effort on the Astros' part to limit his workload. Expect Perez to open the campaign as a member of the Triple-A Round Rock rotation.

Giles (shoulder) threw a scoreless inning in a spring game Sunday.

Giles was unavailable for a couple days due to an illness and sleeping on his shoulder wrong, but he was able to get back on the mound over the weekend, a sign he put both issues behind him. Giles has not allowed an earned run in four straight outings after being tagged for four earned runs in his first spring appearance, and is on track to open the season as the closer for the Blue Jays.

Green will be used as an opener in Tuesday's spring game against the Rays, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.

Luis Cessa was scheduled to start Tuesday, but he will instead be used in relief while Green opens the game on the mound. Green was tagged for three earned runs over his last two appearances, but has otherwise had a good spring, allowing just four hits over 5.1 innings while posting a 7:0 K:BB. He has not pitched more than 1.1 frames in any outing, so don't expect him to go deep at all into Tuesday's contest.

Barnes allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits while striking out one in the fifth inning Monday against the Twins.

All of the damage against Barnes came before he received a mound visit from pitching coach Dana Levangie, who told the right-hander he was tipping his pitches, Tom Keegan of the Boston Herald reports. "I was tipping," Barnes said. "He told me, and I was able to fix it right away. It doesn't matter how good your stuff is, if they know what's coming, it's going to get hit. I feel like stuff-wise today was great, and then the swings I got on pitches following the mound visit were more in line with how I felt about my stuff." There are a lot of eyes on Barnes this spring as he competes to become Boston's closer, a role he's been close to but never held.

Beeks, who's competing for one of the "bulk reliever" roles in the Rays' bullpen, has caught manager Kevin Cash's eye with improved velocity in recent outings, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports. "He continues to impress," Cash said. "That long at-bat [on Friday], I don't know if he's capable of doing that last year. He just kept throwing strike after strike. Really encouraged."

Beeks' unsightly spring line -- one that includes an 8.31 ERA -- doesn't tell the whole story regarding the 25-year-old's progress toward a potential Opening Day roster spot. The southpaw, who was acquired in the Nathan Eovaldi trade with the Red Sox last July, made some tweaks to his delivery earlier this spring, which included shortening up his back arm during his motion. That's led to an uptick in velocity with his fastball, which is up as high as 94 mph after averaging 91.8 mph last season. In conjunction with pitching coach Kyle Snyder, Beeks is also working on adding depth to his slider, with the goal of making it a viable complement to an arsenal that already includes a fastball, curve and changeup.

Armstrong (oblique) has a right side injury that will force him to the injured list to start the season, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

While not likely to figure into the closer situation in Seattle, Armstrong was set to be a late-inning setup man for the team. The 28-year-old managed a 1.23 ERA and 0.82 WHIP in 14.2 innings of work last season. He struggled with command this spring -- he surrendered five free passes in seven innings of work -- and this development may offer some explanation for his poor performance.

The Yankees are hoping to have Loaisiga throw over 100 innings this season, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

The 24-year-old threw just 56 innings last year and hasn't thrown more than 68.2 since 2013. Getting to that benchmark would require a multi-inning relief role plus at least a handful of starts. Loaisiga could make some of those starts at the beginning of the year, with both Luis Severino (shoulder) and CC Sabathia (knee) expected to open on the injured list, though he may be behind Luis Cessa and Domingo German. Still, being a team's eighth starter typically leads to at least a few starts over the course of the season, especially for a team whose first five starters are all either old or injury-prone.

Weber was reassigned to minor-league camp Monday, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Weber allowed three runs in nine innings of work this spring. He's not on the 40-man roster but could still be an option when injuries strike the big-league pitching staff.

Fulmer was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte on Monday.

Fulmer will open the season with the Knights after struggling through six spring appearances (8.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP through nine innings). It sounds like the right-hander will continue to work as a reliever. In 11 major-league appearances out of the bullpen, Fulmer has struggled to a 6.62 ERA and 1.47 WHIP through 17.2 innings.