MLB Player News

Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed Severino (arm) is "good" following a four-inning start in Saturday's 10-0 win over Atlanta, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Severino was initially set to make his third start of the Grapefruit League slate Wednesday, but the Yankees instead had him throw a bullpen session after he dealt with arm soreness. Fortunately, Severino came out of the throwing session fine and returned to the mound Saturday with his best outing of the spring, as he limited Atlanta to no runs on one hit and no walks while striking out three in the 57-pitch appearance. The outing was Severino's final tuneup of the spring, with Boone indicating that the right-hander will take the hill for the Yankees' second game of the regular season next Saturday at home versus the Red Sox. Expect him to be capped at around 75 or 80 pitches in that start.

Manager Mark Kotsay said Sunday that Montas will start the Athletics' Opening Day game Friday in Philadelphia, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Though Kotsay said the Athletics planned all along to have Montas take the hill for the opener, it became more apparent that the right-hander would get the nod after Oakland dealt Sean Manaea to San Diego earlier Sunday. Montas could be the next domino to fall in the Athletics' ongoing fire sale, but for the time being, he'll operate as the club's clear No. 1 starter. He enjoyed an excellent 2021 campaign for Oakland, covering a career-high 187 frames and finishing with a 13-9 record to go with a 3.37 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 207:57 K:BB.

The Rangers informed Allard on Sunday that he'll be included on the Opening Day roster, independent baseball journalist Jeff Wilson reports.

Allard is expected to serve as a bulk-relief or multi-inning option for the Rangers after he was most commonly deployed as a traditional starter over parts of his first three big-league seasons in Texas. The southpaw has made two Cactus League appearances for the Rangers, working five innings in total and giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and one walk while striking out six.

Rodriguez allowed two runs on three hits across five innings in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles. He walked one and struck out eight.

Making his final tune-up start before his Opening Day nod Friday, Rodriguez looked sharp and brought his spring ERA down to 3.71. He also recorded 19 strikeouts across 17 Grapefruit League innings. The lefty should be a good source of strikeouts all season, and he may see improvements in ERA and WHIP working in a more pitcher-friendly home ballpark. With Boston last season, Rodriguez posted a 4.74 ERA and 1.39 WHIP, both of which were career worsts. However, he also won 13 games and struck out 185 batters across 157.2 innings.

Anderson is one of several pitchers still competing to fill out the back end of Detroit's bullpen to begin the regular season, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Woodbery notes that six pitchers (Anderson, Jacob Barnes, Jason Foley, Rony Garcia, Will Vest and Drew Hutchison) are likely competing for five roster spots. Anderson has largely been a starter during his MLB career, but it appears that he won't be in the rotation to begin the year for the Tigers, so he'll likely need to make the team as a long reliever.

Eovaldi was announced as the Red Sox' Opening Day starter for the April 7 game against the Yankees.

Chris Sale (ribs) is unavailable to begin the season, so it's no surprise Eovaldi will take the mound Opening Day for Boston. The right-hander had a 3.75 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 195:35 K:BB across 182.1 innings last season, which was only the second time in his MLB career he's topped 160 innings.

The Astros optioned Bielak to Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

In addition to Bielak, the Astros also optioned Seth Martinez to Triple-A, clearing the way for Ronel Blanco and Bryan Abreu to secure the final two spots in Houston's Opening Day bullpen, according to Rome. Bielak had been competing for a long-relief role with Houston, but he could stretch out for starting duty as he heads to Sugar Land.

Lynn was forced to exit Saturday's game against the Diamondbacks early with right knee discomfort.

Lynn left the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, ending the outing having surrendered four earned runs (seven total) on seven hits while striking out four and walking one. With less than a week until Opening Day, Lynn's injury could prove to delay his debut for the 2022 campaign. More information on the injury will likely be provided Sunday.

McKenzie's first outing of the regular appearance is expected to come in relief, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

The Guardians kick off the season with a strange series against the Royals, in which they'll play four games spread over five days. McKenzie is expected to piggyback one of the four starters in that series, but he'll likely return to the rotation after that.

Kirby will begin the 2022 campaign at Double-A Arkansas after Matt Brash was named the Mariners' fifth starter Saturday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Kirby has performed well in the minors to begin his career, and he'll attempt to continue making his case for a big-league roster spot early in the 2022 campaign. He had a lackluster 7.04 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 7.2 innings across three appearances (one start) this spring, but he posted a strong 12:2 K:BB. He tossed just 67.2 innings in the minors last year, and while he was unable to crack the Mariners' rotation to begin the regular season, it seems likely that the 24-year-old will make his major-league debut at some point in 2022 once he gets some more experience in the minors.