MLB Player News

Sale has been added to Boston's ALDS roster, Bill Koch of The Providence Journal reports.

Sale wasn't on the wild-card roster after he started Sunday's regular-season finale, but it's not surprising to see him on the ALDS roster. The southpaw will start Game 2 against the Rays on Friday.

Rodriguez will start Game 1 of the American League Division Series at Tampa Bay on Thursday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

The left-hander made his final start of the regular season Friday with five shutout innings, and he also picked up a win in relief by delivering a scoreless frame Sunday. Rodriguez had a poor start to the season but ended the campaign strong, posting a 3.26 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 64:19 K:BB in 58 innings across his last 12 outings. Chris Sale is expected to take the mound in Friday's Game 2 for Boston.

Giolito will start Game 2 of the ALDS against the Astros on Friday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

Giolito lasted at least five innings in each of his final three starts of the regular season, and he recorded a 1.10 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 16.1 innings during that time. The right-hander will be on full rest in Friday's postseason start.

Lynn will start Game 1 of the ALDS against the Astros on Thursday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

Lynn made his final start of the regular season Friday and allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out four in five innings to earn the win against the Tigers. The 34-year-old posted a career-best 2.69 ERA across 28 regular-season starts in 2021, and he'll make his first postseason appearance since 2018 during Thursday's Game 1 matchup.

Eovaldi (1-0) allowed one run on four hits and no walks while striking out eight in 5.1 innings to earn the win over the Yankees in Tuesday's AL Wild Card Game.

Eovaldi tossed six scoreless innings in his final regular-season start of the 2021 campaign, and he maintained his success in his first postseason outing of the year. The righty exited the contest after he gave up a solo home run to Anthony Rizzo with one out in the sixth inning, but Eovaldi is a strong candidate to make a start in the upcoming ALDS against the Rays.

Cole (0-1) allowed three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three in two innings to take the loss against the Red Sox in Tuesday's AL Wild Card Game.

Cole closed out the regular season with a 7.64 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 17.2 innings across his last three starts, and he was unable to right the ship in Tuesday's winner-take-all matchup. He gave up a two-run blast in the first inning and exited the game with no outs in the third inning after he gave up a solo home run. The right-hander made 30 starts in his second season with the Yankees and posted a 3.23 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 181.1 innings.

Rasmussen is the top candidate to start Game 3 of the ALDS against the Red Sox or Yankees but could be used in relief in one of the first two games, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Rasmussen has pitched in both roles this season, starting 10 games while appearing out of the bullpen in 15 more. He owns an excellent 1.93 ERA as a starter compared to a 3.97 mark in relief, but that doesn't entirely line up with his underlying numbers, as he's struck out just 18.2 percent of opposing batters in a starting role compared to 29.4 percent as a reliever. The Rays famously care as little as any team about traditional pitcher roles, so Rasmussen will likely handle multiple innings at a time in some capacity, but exactly when those innings will come is tough to predict.

Baz will start Game 2 of the ALDS against the Red Sox or Yankees on Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Rays will elect to go with talent over track record here. Baz has only been a major leaguer for 15 days and has only made three MLB starts, but he's looked excellent, posting a 2.03 ERA while striking out 36.7 percent of opposing batters and walking just 6.1 percent. That comes after he struck out 37.9 percent of opposing batters en route to a 2.06 ERA in 17 starts in the upper minors.

McClanahan will start Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

It's quite an honor for a rookie to get the ball in the first game of the postseason for the No. 1 seed in the American League, but it's hard to say it's undeserved. McClanahan finished his debut season with a well-supported 3.43 ERA across 25 starts, striking out 27.3 percent of opposing batters while walking 7.2 percent. This won't actually be his first taste of the postseason; he made four relief appearances in last year's playoffs despite not pitching a single time in the 2020 regular season.

Valdez will start Game 2 of the ALDS against the White Sox on Friday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Valdez stumbled slightly in September, allowing four runs in three of his five starts that month, though it would be unfair to say he enters the playoffs in a true slump, as his 3.94 ERA over the course of the month is a perfectly respectable number. He'll follow Lance McCullers, who starts Game 1. Both starters would be on full rest if the series stretches to five games, so it's possible both could pitch twice in the series if necessary.