MLB Player News

The Blue Jays announced Thursday that Berrios will start the team's April 8 season opener versus the Rangers, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Berrios made 32 starts between Minnesota and Toronto last year and posted a career-best 3.52 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 204:45 K:BB in 192 innings. He'll be rewarded with the chance to lead Toronto's rotation to begin the 2022 campaign.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Lyles will start the team's second game of the season April 9 in Tampa Bay, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Though he owns a 5.24 ERA over 182 career MLB starts between stops with the Astros, Rockies, Padres, Brewers, Pirates and Rangers, Lyles will begin the season as the Orioles' No. 2 starter due mainly to the lack of appealing alternatives in the rotation. While he was with Texas a year ago, Lyles offered little fantasy value aside from eating innings, as he surrendered an MLB-high 38 home runs en route to a 5.15 ERA and 1.39 WHIP across 180 frames. The move to the historically hitter-friendly Camden Yards may not dramatically help him in limiting home runs, even though the Orioles have implemented dimension changes to their home park in an effort to make the field more favorable for pitchers.

Manager Brandon Hyde announced Thursday that Means will start the Orioles' April 8 season opener in Tampa Bay, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Coming off a 2021 campaign in which he submitted a 3.62 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 134:26 K:BB across 146.2 innings, Means was the clear top choice for the Opening Day nod in an Orioles rotation otherwise lacking in quality options. Means proved vulnerable to the long ball (30 home runs allowed) last season, but the ballpark changes at Camden Yards in 2022 could help the southpaw in terms of power suppression. In addition to increasing the distance from home plate to left field and left-center field by nearly 30 feet, the Orioles raised the height of Camden Yards' outfield wall by nearly six feet.

Wells will open the year in the Orioles' rotation, though he'll piggyback with a multi-inning reliever, Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Wells was a starter throughout his minor-league career, though he hasn't started a game since 2018. He missed all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and didn't pitch in 2020 due to the canceled minor-league season, but he returned as a reliever last season and pitched fairly well. He recorded a 4.11 ERA in 57 innings, with his strong 29.0 percent strikeout rate and 5.4 percent walk rate being offset by a very low 21.4 percent groundball rate. The 27-year-old could be an interesting deep-league option if he can keep his strikeout and walk numbers from regressing too much over longer outings, though he may not pitch deep enough to qualify for the win in most of his starts.

Skubal tossed four scoreless innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies. He allowed three hits and a walk, while striking out five.

Skubal continued a strong run this spring, as he now has a 2.08 ERA across 8.2 Grapefruit League innings with 13 strikeouts. The lefty took a step forward last season following an uneven rookie campaign in 2020, and he certainly has big strikeout upside after fanning 164 batters across 149.1 innings in 2021. If Skubal can pitch a bit deeper into games, he could be primed for a breakout in 2022.

Perez allowed one run on two hits and one walk while striking out none over three innings in Wednesday's spring training start against the White Sox.

Perez made his first Cactus League start and was efficient through his three innings. The left-hander worked on a curveball that he's thrown less than 10 percent during his 10-year career, Jack Magruder of MLB.com reports. "I feel great with that pitch, and I think it is another weapon that I have with my stuff," Perez said. He'll add it to his current arsenal which features a cutter, a two-seam fastball and a changeup. "I just need to continue to throw it and get people out" the pitcher added. Where Perez slots into the rotation is up in the air, given that he was the final Rangers starter to appear in a spring game. He'll have one more start before the regular season and could be pushed toward the back end of the rotation. Texas manager Chris Woodward said he's still "working working though" the rotation beyond Opening Day starter Jon Gray.

Manager Mike Matheny announced Wednesday that Greinke will start Opening Day against the Guardians on April 7, Josh Vernier of 610 Sports Kansas City reports.

The veteran right-hander inked a one-year, $13 million deal with Kansas City in mid-March, and the start on Opening Day will be his first time taking the mound for the organization since 2010. Greinke had a 4.16 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 120:36 K:BB over 171 innings with the Astros last season.

Houck allowed one run on five hits and struck out four over four innings in Wednesday's spring training game against Atlanta.

In his third Grapefruit League start, Houck had plenty of run support early and helped himself by not walking anyone. He entered the contest with eight bases on balls over his first five spring innings. Still, he and manager Alex Cora noted improvement is still needed, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports. The 25-year-old right-hander had a wild pitch and hit two batters, which contributed to a lot of traffic. Cora stressed the need to attack the zone more and made note of mechanics that need to be ironed out. Houck will have one more start to prepare for his regular-season debut, the third game of the season against the Yankees.

Severino (arm) reported no issues following his bullpen session Wednesday and is expected to start Saturday's Grapefruit League game against Atlanta, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Given the multiple arm-related injuries and setbacks Severino has experienced over the last few seasons, fantasy managers were rightful to have some anxiety when he reported arm soreness earlier in the week. At least for the time being, Severino investors can breathe easy, as he wasn't shut down from throwing and felt fine physically coming out of Wednesday's mound session. Provided Severino is able to start Saturday as expected, he'll be only slightly behind in his throwing program, and the expectation remains that he'll be part of the Yankees' season-opening rotation. However, because Severino said he expects to throw just 40 pitches Saturday in his final outing of the spring, he could be capped at around 60-to-75 pitches when his first turn in the rotation comes up during the regular season.

Manager Dusty Baker confirmed Odorizzi will start the Astros' second game of the season April 8 against the Angels in Anaheim, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Odorizzi won out over Cristian Javier for the fifth and final spot in the rotation, a role that opened up when it became apparent earlier this spring that Lance McCullers (forearm) wouldn't be ready to go for Opening Day. Though he was moved to the bullpen during the playoffs last fall when the Astros shortened their rotation, Odorizzi's larger body of MLB starting experience and solid first half in 2021 before forearm issues torpedoed his season were enough to give him the edge on Javier for the rotation spot heading into 2022. Odorizzi helped his cause by proving his health in his lone Grapefruit League appearance March 22, when he tossed two scoreless innings against the Mets. He's since continued to build up his pitch count in simulated games.