MLB Player News

Whalen (calf) was seen walking around without crutches Tuesday, Bob Dutton of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

This is certainly a good sign moving forward, although it's unclear how much activity he's actually been able to do while off of the crutches. Unless Whalen has made significant progress in his rehab from the calf strain, he very well could open the season on the disabled list, but things should become clearer in the coming days as he ramps up his activity further.

Schultz (elbow) will undergo elbow surgery Wednesday to remove some bone chips, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

It's still unclear if there's a larger issue looming beyond the bone chips, but the doctors performing the operation intend to also check for any ligament damage, so this situation is worth monitoring in the coming days. Either way, it appears that Schultz will be out for an extended period of time, although a firmer timetable likely won't be available until after the surgery takes place.

Reyes will begin the 2017 season with Triple-A Round Rock, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

The 28-year-old spent the past three seasons at the Triple-A level, but he wasn't able to find enough success in that time to warrant a trip to the big leagues. Unless he picks up his performance out of Round Rock's bullpen, Reyes will likely serve as an organizational depth piece moving forward.

Crockett was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday.

After entering camp with little hope of making the Opening Day roster, Crockett put on a decent show during spring training and nearly made the cut. The left-hander appeared in a team-high 10 games this spring, managing a 2.70 ERA and 0.90 WHIP over 10 innings. Unfortunately for Crockett, the Indians don't need another southpaw in the bullpen, so his services won't be needed unless an injury or suspension occurs.

Lawrence was reassigned to minor-league camp Tuesday, Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reports.

He will be one of the first minor-league relievers to get a call later this season, Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling reports. Lawrence posted a 3.86 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 11 strikeouts over 16.1 innings this spring.

Girodo was reassigned to minor-league camp Tuesday, Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reports.

The side-arming southpaw notched a 2.08 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and seven strikeouts in 8.2 innings this spring, so he could be an option if the big-league club needs to add a lefty to the bullpen this season.

Indians team president Chris Antonetti confirmed Armstrong would be included on the club's Opening Day roster, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports.

The Indians had four pitchers competing for the final bullpen spot that was up for grabs, with Armstrong beating out Kyle Crockett, Carlos Frias and Nick Goody for those honors. Armstrong is expected to fill a lower-leverage role for the Indians and won't have an easy path to holds with Andrew Miller and Bryan Shaw firmly entrenched as the top two options in the bridge to closer Cody Allen.

Chavez was the winning pitcher of record Monday, tossing six shutout innings while walking none and striking out three in a win over the Diamondbacks.

The 33-year-old wrapped up his final outing in Arizona on a strong note, lowering his Cactus League ERA to 2.51 with 12 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. The righty appears to be at the top of his game right now, hitting 96 mph on the radar gun for the first time this spring. Chavez has already locked up the Angels' fifth starter role out of camp, giving him some deep-league value as a pitcher who can generate strikeouts at a decent clip (8.0 career K/9). On the flip side, he can be too aggressive in the strike zone at times (4.54 career ERA and 1.3 HR/9), keeping him off of standard league radars until he shows a string of consistency.

Boshers was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

The lefty was in contention for a bullpen gig with the big club, but an awful spring (10.61 ERA, 1.93 WHIP in 9.1 innings) effectively undermined his chances. He'll look to find success at Rochester before potentially receiving a promotion when the Twins are in need of another lefty reliever at some point later in the season.

Kelly is expected to be Boston's setup man after it was learned Tyler Thornburg (shoulder) will "most likely" begin the season on the disabled list, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports.

Kelly flourished as a full-time reliever in 2016, but has had an uneven spring, with seven strikeouts and seven walks over eight innings. Manager John Farrell feels Kelly is trying to be too perfect on every pitch and wants the right-hander to trust his stuff and get ahead of batters. As the eighth-inning reliever, Kelly is in position for save opportunities when closer Craig Kimbrel is not available.