MLB Player News

The Orioles reassigned Watkins to minor-league camp Wednesday, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Watkins is expected to open the season at Triple-A Norfolk, where he'll likely be a candidate to fill a rotation spot. He had previously been competing for a spot on the Orioles' Opening Day roster as a long man out of the bullpen, even though he worked primarily as a starter or primary pitcher for the big club in 2021. Watkins didn't find much success over his 54.2 innings with Baltimore a season ago, logging an 8.07 ERA and 1.70 WHIP.

Ray and the Mariners won't face the Twins on Thursday after the Opening Day game for both teams was postponed due to inclement weather in Minnesota.

The contest was rescheduled for Friday, which was originally an off day in the schedule amid the four-game series. Ray remains in line to start Friday's game, which will keep the other four members of the rotation on their normal pitching schedules. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner closed his first spring with the Mariners with a 4.61 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 13.2 innings over his three starts.

Ryan and the Twins won't face the Mariners on Thursday after the Opening Day game for both teams was postponed due to inclement weather.

The contest was rescheduled for Friday, which was an off day in the schedule amid the four-game series. Ryan remains in line to start Friday's game, which will keep the other four members of the rotation on their normal pitching schedules. The 25-year-old right-hander closed the Twins' Grapefruit League slate with six strikeouts in five innings between his two starts.

Cole and the Yankees won't face the Red Sox on Thursday after the game was postponed due to inclement weather, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

The season opener will be postponed to Friday, which was initially an open date for both teams. Cole, who had been in line to start Thursday's Opening Day game, will simply be pushed back a day in light of the postponement, while Luis Severino and Jordan Montgomery are likely lined up to start the final two games of the series with Boston.

Eovaldi and the Red Sox won't face the Yankees on Thursday after the game was postponed due to inclement weather, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

The season opener will be postponed to Friday, which was initially an open date for both teams. The Red Sox still plan to hand Eovaldi the Opening Day nod and keep the rest of their rotation in order.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated Tuesday that Schmidt has made the team's Opening Day roster, Greg Joyce of the New York Post reports.

Schmidt was injured most of last season but came into spring training healthy. He was one of the team's top pitchers in Grapefruit League play, posting a 3.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 11:2 K:BB across 9.1 innings. The 26-year-od will likely take on a bullpen role to begin the campaign.

Kluber gave up one run over five innings with five strikeouts and one walk in Tuesday's spring training loss to Atlanta. He gave up five earned runs with eight strikeouts and one walk in 8.1 innings this spring.

Kluber's 8:1 K:BB ratio is encouraging as he enters the regular season as he looks sharp despite a spring 5.40 ERA and 1.60 WHIP. He's set to make his first regular-season start April 10 against Baltimore.

Kaprielian (shoulder) faced hitters Tuesday, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Kaprielian will miss the start of the season while recovering from AC joint irritation, but he's taking steps in the right direction and could be ready to go before the end of April. He threw 30 pitches Tuesday, with his fastball sitting between 93 and 95 miles per hour.

Turnbull (elbow) agreed Tuesday with the Tigers on a two-year, $3.65 million contract to avoid arbitration, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.

After the two-year deal expires, Turnbull will be arbitration-eligible for one more year before reaching free agency following the 2024 season. Turnbull is expected to miss the majority, if not all, of the 2022 campaign while recovering from July 2020 Tommy John surgery, so he'll be making a modest $1.5 million this season before his salary climbs to $2.15 million in 2023, when he should be back to full health. Turnbull's deal for 2023 also includes an additional $125,000 in performance-based incentives.

Sale (ribs) is expected to begin throwing next week, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

Sale came into camp with a stress fracture in the right side of his rib cage. His previously ambiguous timeline was given some clarity Monday when the Red Sox placed him on the 60-day injured list. He'll now be ineligible to return before early June, giving the back end of the team's rotation some extra job security to start the year.