MLB Player News

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.

Gonzales allowed two earned runs on four hits over six innings while recording five strikeouts in a Cactus League win over the Diamondbacks on Monday. He also hit a batter.

The left-hander allowed a couple of extra-base hits, including a solo home run to Neyfy Castillo, but he was otherwise in fine form in his final start of Cactus League play. Gonzales will no longer function as the de facto ace of the staff with Robbie Ray in the fold, but he enjoyed a productive spring that included three starts with two or fewer earned runs allowed as well as 12 strikeouts over his last pair of outings.

Syndergaard pitched five innings in an exhibition game against the Dodgers on Sunday, allowing one run on two hits and one walk while striking out seven.

Syndergaard yielded a second-inning run but held the Dodgers scoreless in each of his other four frames. This was his longest outing of the spring, and his fastball averaged around 95 mph, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Over 8.2 spring innings, the right-hander posted a 1.04 ERA, 0.58 WHIP and 11:2 K:BB. His injury history certainly provides reason for concern, but Syndergaard could be a fantasy steal at his current ADP if he's able to stay healthy throughout the campaign.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that Schmidt has an "excellent shot" to make the Opening Day roster, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Schmidt has enjoyed a strong spring, posting a 3.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 11:2 K:BB across 9.1 innings. The right-hander made only two appearances for the big club in 2021 after dealing with an elbow injury for most of the campaign. Schmidt would likely open the season in the bullpen if he indeed breaks camp with the club, but he'd be among the prime candidates for a starting role if a spot in the rotation were to open up.

Cortes is likely to start the season at the back end of the Yankees' rotation, Max Goodman of SI.com reports.

Cortes enjoyed a breakout campaign for New York in 2021, posting a 2.90 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 103:25 K:BB across 93 innings. That performance was strong enough to earn him a starting role to kick off the coming campaign despite having struggled in his previous opportunities in the majors. The southpaw doesn't have dominant stuff, but he proved last year that he's capable of getting big-league hitters out through deception and savviness. Cortes is the type of pitcher who could just as easily be a bust as a steal in fantasy drafts.

Cueto signed a minor-league contract with the White Sox on Monday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. His deal is worth $4.2 million at the MLB level and contains an opt-out date of May 15 if he's not in the majors, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

Cueto was previously in talks with Minnesota about a potential contract, but he'll head to Chicago following Monday's signing. Since he signed this late in the spring, he'll need to start the 2022 campaign at Triple-A Charlotte to ramp up his throwing program before a potential promotion to the big leagues. Cueto proved he has plenty left in the tank last season with the Giants, posting a 4.08 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and a 98:30 K:BB across 114.2 frames.

Skubal tossed five scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. He allowed five hits and struck out eight.

Skubal wrapped up his spring work with a tidy 1.32 ERA and 21 strikeouts across 13.2 innings. The lefty will likely make his regular season debut either this weekend against the White Sox or early next week against Boston. Skubal posted a 4.34 ERA and 164 strikeouts across 149.1 innings last year, and based on his Grapefruit League results, a breakout performance could be on tap in 2022.