MLB Player News

Whitlock allowed two hits and one walk while striking out five over 4.1 scoreless innings in Friday's spring game against the Twins.

This was the best of Whitlock's five Grapefruit League starts and a reminder that he's not out of the competition for one of the two available slots in the rotation. He threw 62 pitches (44 strikes) and put batters away after getting ahead in the count. "The swings and misses from the get-go, that's a game changer," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told Ian Browne of MLB.com. "He's been working hard with his cutter and the slider/sweeper. The good thing about him is he's always ahead. It's about putting them away. Not only inducing them to weak contact, but swings and misses are good, too." Whitlock has a 3.45 ERA with 16 strikeouts and two walks over 15.2 spring innings. Tanner Houck, Cooper Criswell and, to an extent, Josh Winckowski are also competing for a rotation spot.

Manager Aaron Boone on Friday named Cortes the Yankees' starter for Opening Day against the Astros on March 28, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.

The Yankees had to alter their pitching plans with Gerrit Cole (elbow) set to begin the season on the injured list, and Cortes will end up taking the ball for the opener. The veteran lefty was limited to 12 starts last season due to a shoulder strain and had a 4.97 ERA across 63.1 innings, but New York would benefit if he can return to the form that saw him post a 2.61 ERA between 2021 and 2022.

Astros manager Joe Espada announced Friday that Valdez will be the team's Opening Day starter, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

Valdez was the obvious choice with Justin Verlander (shoulder) on the shelf. The veteran left-hander held a 2.51 first-half ERA but a 4.66 ERA after the All-Star break last season. He will be taking on the Yankees at home March 28.

Urquidy pulled himself from an appearance in a minor-league game Friday due to right elbow discomfort, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

Urquidy -- who threw 43 pitches in the outing before exiting -- is being examined by the Astros trainers Friday. The team reportedly was already on the lookout for rotation help with Justin Verlander (shoulder) opening the season on the injured list, and a serious injury to Urquidy could increase the urgency to sign someone like Blake Snell.

Verlander (shoulder) bounced back well from a bullpen session Thursday and said Friday that he's "definitely getting close to facing hitters," Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Verlander didn't rule out facing hitters the next time he throws but said that will be decided by the team. A stint on the injured list to begin the season awaits him, and given that he has not yet faced hitters, the IL stint could be longer than the minimum. The 41-year-old right-hander is trending in the right direction, however.

The Rays re-assigned McKay to minor-league camp Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

McKay looked solid this spring after re-upping with the Rays on a minor-league contract, but the club wants him to knock some rust off in the minors first after missing so much time due to injury. The left-hander should open the season in Durham's rotation.

The Rays placed Springs (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The move frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for the addition of Jacob Waguespack. Springs will be out until around midseason while working his way back from Tommy John surgery.

Parsons walked two and struck out one over three no-hit, scoreless innings of relief during Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Twins.

The 31-year-old right-hander worked his longest outing of the spring, and it's perhaps not a coincidence it came just before Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reported that Blue Jays manager John Schneider was hinting that Kevin Gausman (shoulder) wouldn't be ready for Opening Day. Parsons likely isn't in the mix for a rotation spot, but Schneider is comfortable patching together a bullpen day when needed. Should the team decide none of the candidates for a temporary assignment as the fifth starter are up for the job, Parsons could win a spot on the 26-man roster as a long reliever instead.

Gray allowed three hits and struck out three over five scoreless innings in Thursday's spring start against Cincinnati.

Gray is healthy and was locked in for a second straight Cactus League start. Needing to get his pitch count up, Gray threw additional pitches in the bullpen after he was removed. He's yet to give up a run over eight innings in his two starts. The only run allowed this spring was in an intrasquad game, when Evan Carter took Gray deep.

Gausman (shoulder) is unlikely to be available for Opening Day, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Gausman has made nice progress since experiencing some right shoulder fatigue, but the Blue Jays just don't want to push him to be ready for Opening Day. The right-hander will throw one inning of live batting practice Friday and continue to build up from there. Regarding the pace of Gausman's buildup, manager John Schneider said Friday that "if that means 30 starts as opposed to 32, we'll be pretty happy with that." That would seem to indicate a rough timeline of mid-April for Gausman's season debut. Bowden Francis already looks like a lock for Toronto's rotation with Alek Manoah (shoulder) out, and now there's room for someone else to step in. Mitch White, Chad Dallas and Paolo Espino are the main candidates for that spot.