MLB Player News

Gonzalez was optioned to Triple-A Worcester by the Red Sox on Friday, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Gonzalez was added to the 40-man roster over the winter and is one of the club's better pitching prospects, but he was always going to head back to the minors for more seasoning. The 21-year-old should open the season in Worcester's rotation.

Houck allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out four over three innings in Thursday's spring game against Atlanta.

Houck followed starter Nick Pivetta and looked sharp during his third Grapefruit League appearance. "He's throwing more strikes, which is important," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe. "His stuff is a little bit better compared to last year at this point." Houck, who had a 21.4 strikeout percentage in 2023, is up to 31.0 percent this spring. He had been competing for one available rotation slot, but with Lucas Giolito (elbow) out of the rotation for now, there's another slot available for Houck, who is competing with Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowski and Cooper Criswell.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Bello is one of two starters being considered for Opening Day, Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe reports. Nick Pivetta is also a candidate to start Boston's season opener in Seattle.

Given that the Red Sox just inked Bello to a six-year contract extension, it makes sense that he's in line for a big role in 2024. Bello was the team's best starter for much of last season before tiring in September, when a sub-4.00 ERA ballooned to 4.24. In two Grapefruit League starts, the 24-year-old right-hander has allowed one run on five hits while striking out five over five innings.

McKay has thrown two scoreless innings while striking out three and walking one across two outings in Grapefruit League action.

McKay got positive reviews from throwing sessions and live batting practice early this spring. He's largely carried that over to game action, though he's yet to complete more than an inning in either of his outings. McKay is fighting for a roster spot, and while it may not come on Opening Day, he looks to be in line to impact the Rays' big-league roster at some point in the campaign.

Urena allowed one run on two hits and two walks while striking out three over four innings in Thursday's start against the Diamondbacks.

Urena made his second Cactus League appearance and first start. The 32-year-old right-hander is well down the list of starters in camp, but manager Bruce Boche isn't ruling out a flexible role for Urena if he pitches his way onto the Opening Day roster.

Cease allowed one earned run on two hits while striking out five and walking none across three innings in Thursday's Cactus League game against the Brewers.

Cease threw 21 pitches in his second spring appearance and was regularly hitting 96 mph with his fastball, per Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times. The only run against him came on a solo home run, but he was otherwise sharp in the outing. Cease is set to start Opening Day against the Tigers on March 28.

Maeda threw 50 pitches across three innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

The outing marked Maeda's second of spring training and it featured both positives and negatives. Positively, he increased his pitch count from 30 to 53, which should allow him plenty of time to ramp up to a full workload before the regular season. On the other hand, Maeda's velocity and spin rates were both down. While it would be reassuring to see him throwing closer to his peak, there's still plenty of time for him to improve his form before meaningful games begin.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Thursday that the club hopes Gausman (shoulder) will be ready to throw off a mound by Monday, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

That date would mark 17 days before Opening Day, which doesn't give Gausman a ton of runway to get ramped back up if he wants to start that day. The veteran right-hander does appear to be trending in a positive direction as he works his way back from right shoulder fatigue and will look to take another step forward early next week.

McKenzie struck out two batters, walked none and allowed one hit over two scoreless innings Wednesday versus the Brewers.

McKenzie was a little delayed in making his spring debut, but it was an encouraging start. The right-hander is projected to be near the front of the Guardians' rotation in 2024. He pitched just 16 innings in 2023, posting a 5.06 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 16:13 K:BB while battling shoulder and elbow injuries. That health history is a concern, but McKenzie was good enough in 2022 (2.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP) to be a fascinating option for fantasy managers.

Kent was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock by the Rangers on Thursday, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.

Kent was never a real candidate to break camp with the team, anyway, but he didn't help himself in posting a 12.27 ERA in three Cactus League appearances. The 26-year-old will open 2024 in Round Rock's rotation and hope to debut at some point this year with the Rangers.