MLB Player News

Glasnow compiled 10 strikeouts while allowing three hits and two walks and uncorking a wild pitch over five innings in a Grapefruit League win over the Twins on Saturday.

Glasnow worked up to 79 pitches in his final spring start before taking the ball Opening Day against the Marlins on Thursday and put forth what may have been his most dominant of his four spring outings. The right-hander finished Grapefruit League play with a stellar 27:7 K:BB across just 14.2 innings and has added a slider to an already highly effective fastball and curveball, laying the foundation for what might be his best season yet.

McKenzie will be included in Cleveland's Opening Day rotation, Tom Withers of the Associated Press reports.

McKenzie and Logan Allen secured the final two rotation spots after Cleveland moved Cal Quantrill to the bullpen to begin the season, while Adam Plutko was traded to the Orioles. The 23-year-old righty had an impressive debut season in the majors in 2020, posting a 3.24 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 42:9 K:BB in 33.1 innings across eight outings (six starts).

Quantrill will open the season in a relief role, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

The writing was on the wall when the 26-year-old threw one frame in relief Friday after Logan Allen started and covered five innings, and Cleveland has now confirmed its rotation plans to begin 2021. Quantrill primarily operated out of the bullpen last season and pitched well with a 2.25 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 31:8 K:BB over 32 innings between Cleveland and San Diego. The right-hander could be called upon to start later in the season, but for now he'll work as a reliever.

Athletics manager Bob Melvin confirmed that Luzardo would start the team's second game of the season Friday against the Astros, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Luzardo was left off the Athletics' Cactus League pitching schedule this weekend, instead making his final start of the spring in a simulated game Saturday. With Melvin indicating that Luzardo came out of the outing without incident, the lefty should be ready to handle a fairly normal workload in his 2021 debut. Over his three official spring starts, Luzardo gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits and four walks while striking out 11 in 10.2 innings.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Sunday that he expects Turnbull (COVID-19 injured list) to miss the team's "first few series" of the season, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

While Detroit hasn't explicitly said that Turnbull's placement on the COVID-19 IL a few days ago was the result of a positive test, his projected multi-series absence to begin the season suggests that's indeed the case. Assuming Turnbull doesn't experience any major symptoms during his recovery, he seems unlikely to be ready to go until around mid-April, and he could need additional time beyond that to build up his pitch count after the lengthy break in his throwing progression. Turnbull's absence will clear the way for Matthew Boyd to enter 2021 as the Tigers' No. 1 pitcher.

Manager Aaron Boone said Sunday that Taillon won't start until the Yankees' sixth game of the season April 7 against the Orioles, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.

Taillon will head into Opening Day as the team's nominal fifth starter, with Boone noting that he wants to "slow play" the right-hander as he returns from his second career Tommy John procedure, which he underwent in August 2019. Expect the Yankees to monitor Taillon's workload carefully to begin the season, while also building in extra days of rest for the 29-year-old whenever possible. Taillon has allowed only one run while striking out 14 over 8.1 innings this spring, but he's also walked four while yielding a .257 batting average against.

Bielak or Luis Garcia will start the fifth game of the regular season, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Bielak, who's been a fill-in starter for the Astros during spring training, will have a multi-inning role to start the regular season. It's just comes down to whether that will be as a starter or out of the bullpen. The No. 5 starter job will eventually belong to Jake Odorizzi once he's built up innings and pitch count. Until then, Bielak or Garcia will serve in that role, and whichever one doesn't start will be part of the bullpen.

Garcia or Brandon Bielak will start the fifth game of the regular season, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Houston manager Dusty Baker mapped out the starters for the first four games but left the fifth slot unfilled. The plan is for Jake Odorizzi to eventually fill the role, but he needs time to build up innings and pitch count. That leaves Garcia and Bielak, a pair of stretched-out relievers who could receive meaningful usage early in the regular season. Whichever one does not serve as the No. 5 starter will be part of the bullpen.

Giolito allowed two hits and three walks while striking out nine over 5.2 scoreless innings in Saturday's spring game against the Rockies.

Giolito finished off a dominant Cactus League, during which he posted a 1.17 ERA and 0.87 WHIP over 23 innings. The right-hander focused on his slider and improved its shape, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Giolito will take the ball Opening Day on the road against the Angels.

Manager Scott Servais announced Saturday that Dunn will open the season as Seattle's No. 6 starter, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

The 25-year-old was competing with Nick Margevicius for the sixth spot in the rotation and showed enough during spring training to earn the job. Dunn made 10 starts for Seattle last season and had a 4.34 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 38:31 K:BB over 45.2 innings. Margevicius will begin the season in the bullpen for the Mariners.