MLB Player News

Blackburn (1-0) earned the win over Tampa Bay on Monday, pitching five scoreless innings during which he allowed three runs and one walk while striking out seven.

The fact that Blackburn -- who entered the contest with a career 5.74 ERA -- was the starting pitcher who ended Tampa's season-opening three-game winning streak is improbable in itself, and his effectiveness in doing so is equally surprising. The right-hander racked up a career-high seven strikeouts after posting a K/9 below 7.0 in each of his previous MLB seasons during which he played more than one game. Whether this performance indicates a late-20s turnaround for Blackburn or is merely an aberration remains to be seen, but it is an excellent beginning to the campaign for the hurler. He'll look to build off the performance in his next start, which is tentatively slated to come Saturday in Toronto.

Manning pitched six innings of one-run ball but did not factor into the decision in Monday's win over the Red Sox. He allowed just one hit and no walks, while striking out two.

Manning was dialed in Monday, with his only mistake a J.D. Martinez solo home run in the fifth inning. The righty only logged 68 pitches, so he likely could have gone further, but it was also his first outing of the regular season so the Tigers didn't push him too far. Manning struggled last year with a 5.80 ERA and 1.51 WHIP across 18 starts, so it's encouraging to see a much better 2022 debut. The 24-year-old is slated to pitch again Saturday against the Royals.

Canning (back) is expected to begin throwing off a mound during the Angels' upcoming road trip, which begins Thursday against the Rangers, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Canning progressed to playing long toss in late March and is now set to resume mound work in the near future. The 25-year-old will miss at least the first two months of the season due to a stress fracture in his back, but his rehab appears to be going smoothly since suffering a setback prior to spring training.

Faedo (elbow) covered three scoreless innings Saturday for High-A Lakeland in its 5-1 win over Tampa. He allowed no walks and one hit and struck out two in the 28-pitch outing.

The appearance was Faedo's first in affiliated ball since 2019, as he had missed the past two seasons while recovering from December 2020 Tommy John surgery. The Tigers assigned Faedo to Lakeland so he could built up his pitch count in the more favorable Florida weather during the spring, but he's eventually expected to settle in the rotation at Double-A Erie or Triple-A Toledo.

Singer allowed four runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in three innings during Sunday's 17-3 loss to the Guardians.

Singer's first career relief appearance didn't go very well, though it had little impact on what was already a blowout before he entered the game. The right-hander allowed a two-run home run to Jose Ramirez and an RBI single to Ernie Clement in the seventh inning, and then ran into more trouble that yielded a Franmil Reyes RBI single in the eighth. Starter Kris Bubic and long reliever Jackson Kowar both struggled as well, with the latter being reassigned to Triple-A Omaha on Monday as a result. While Singer is expected to continue working out of the bullpen, he'll need to pitch better than he did Sunday to get back into the rotation.

Gonzales (0-1) was tagged with the loss Sunday against the Twins after allowing six runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks while fanning one across two innings.

Gonzales didn't have major command issues as 36 of his 61 pitches went for strikes, but he served up three homers in just two innings and just couldn't continue on the mound past the first two frames. This wasn't the debut that the Mariners or the southpaw were expecting, as Gonzales has posted an ERA below the 4.00 mark in each of his last three seasons. He will try to bounce back when he pitches again -- he's tabbed to start against the Astros on April 15.

Bubic (0-1) was tagged with the loss Sunday against the Guardians after allowing five runs on three hits and two walks over two-thirds of an inning.

Bubic was atrocious in this one and recorded more runs allowed (five) and hits (three) than outs recorded (two) as he couldn't even finish the opening frame. He's expected to pitch again in the upcoming weekend series at home against the Tigers.

Quantrill (1-0) earned the win Sunday over the Royals after giving up two runs on four hits and a walk while fanning two across five innings. He also hit a batter.

Quantrill needed 76 pitches to navigate through five innings and while he was far from being perfect, his outing was good enough to earn him his first win of the campaign as the offense backed him up with 13 runs through the first four frames. The right-hander will try to build off this decent season debut when he pitches against the Giants on Saturday.

The Orioles selected Watkins' contract from Triple-A Norfolk on Monday, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Watkins was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on April 6 after compiling a 6.35 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 5.2 innings this spring. He'll rejoin the Orioles after DJ Stewart was sent down to Triple-A and Dean Kremer (oblique) was placed on the 10-day injured list. Watkins struggled greatly in 2021, posting an 8.07 ERA and 1.70 WHIP over 54.2 innings with Orioles, but he may be a candidate to start in place of Kremer moving forward.

The Orioles placed Kremer (oblique) on the 10-day injured list Monday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports. Manager Brandon Hyde said he expects Kremer to miss at least 3-to-4 weeks.

The 26-year-old was slated to make his season debut Tuesday against the Brewers, but after hurting his oblique Sunday while warming up, he'll be placed on the shelf. Though the Orioles likely aren't counting on Kremer to return in April, Hyde suggests that the right-hander isn't considered a candidate to move to the 60-day IL. The Orioles haven't announced who will start in Kremer's place Tuesday, but Mike Baumann, Spenser Watkins and Alexander Wells are the most likely candidates to step in.