MLB Player News

Mize allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk across 3.2 innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. He struck out five.

The five strikeouts are about the only silver lining here, as Mize otherwise had another poor performance after allowing six runs in his previous start, and his spring ERA is up to 9.90. The 23-year-old should still have a bright future in the majors, but he might benefit from starting the season at Triple-A and building up some confidence first.

Dunn started Thursday's Cactus League win over the Giants and allowed three earned runs on a hit, three walks and a wild pitch over 2.2 innings. He struck out three.

Locked in a battle with Nick Margevicius for the sixth and final spot in the Mariners' starting rotation, Dunn may have damaged his case some with his control issues Thursday. The location problems sprung up suddenly, as Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports the right-hander retired the first seven batters he faced while striking out Tommy La Stella and Evan Longoria before unraveling. "I'm taking the learning lesson," Dunn said. "I'd rather have it happen now. [I need] to be able to speed that up and not have three walks and be able to get the next hitter right after the first one."

Means was officially named the Orioles' Opening Day starter Friday, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

Means will face Eduardo Rodriguez and the Red Sox at Fenway Park on April 1, lining him up to face the Yankees at Yankee Stadium for his second outing. The lefty was expected to start on Opening Day last season but wound up missing his chance due to arm fatigue. He'll be the Orioles' sixth Opening Day starter in the last six seasons.

Gilbert won't pitch in any more Cactus League games this spring as the Mariners seek to manage his innings, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

It's possible Gilbert is already one of the Mariners' top six starters, as he posted a 2.13 ERA and a 31.7 percent strikeout rate in 26 starts across three levels of the minors in 2019, topping out at Double-A. He could make his big-league debut fairly early in the season, but the Mariners have no incentive to give him credit for a full year of service time in 2021, so a promotion likely won't happen until late April at the earliest.

Odorizzi doesn't expect to be built up enough to take his first turn in the rotation but expects to be ready to debut during the Astros' first homestand, which runs from April 8-14, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Odorizzi didn't sign with the Astros until March 6, giving him less than a month to get ready for Opening Day. That's not quite enough time, but he should be ready to go without missing more than one start. The Astros do have six games in six days to start the season, however, so they'll need to turn to a spot starter for one of those. If Odorizzi's prediction about his timeline is accurate, he'll make his Astros debut against the Athletics or Tigers.

Ray's fastball averaged 96.2 mph and topped out at 98 mph Friday against the Tigers as he struck out seven and gave up one run on four hits and a walk over 5.1 innings, picking up the win, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

That velocity is up slightly from the average of 95.8 mph he recorded in his previous outing and up significantly from the 93.7 mph he averaged during his disastrous 2020 campaign. Few pitchers have a wider range of outcomes this season than Ray, who's recorded an ERA as low as 2.89 and struck out more than 31 percent of opposing batters in three straight years before falling flat last season, struggling to a 6.62 ERA and a 17.9 percent walk rate. If his spring numbers are any indication, he's set for one of his good seasons, posting an 18:5 K:BB and a 1.98 ERA through 13.2 Grapefruit League innings.

Sale is behind schedule in his recovery from Tommy John surgery and has yet to throw off a mound due to setbacks unrelated to his elbow, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM on Friday.

Sale is a year removed from the procedure, at which point most pitchers have advanced to mound work. The southpaw isn't there yet, as he dealt with neck stiffness over the winter and then came down with COVID-19. While those setbacks might ultimately delay his timeline somewhat, it's certainly a positive that nothing has gone wrong with his arm thus far. Sale remains without a precise timeline for his return to game action.

Odorizzi will throw live batting practice Friday before making his spring debut Wednesday against Washington, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Odorizzi is locked into a rotation spot, but the fact that he didn't sign until early March means he may not have time to get up to speed by the start of the regular season. The Astros start the season with six straight games, so they'll need a fifth starter right away. They'll likely to use a spot starter for one of those games, but they'll then have four off days in the next 13 days, so Odorizzi could take as much time as he needs while only needing a replacement once.

Bubic was optioned to Triple-A Omaha on Friday.

The 23-year-old was competing for a spot in Kansas City's starting rotation but will open the season in the minors. Bubic made his big-league debut for the Royals last season and had a 4.32 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 49:22 K:BB over 50.0 innings (10 starts).

Detmers is being considered for an Opening Day bullpen spot, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

It would be something of a surprise if Detmers did indeed break camp with the big-league team, as last year's canceled minor-league season prevented him from making his professional debut at any level after being selected 10th overall in the draft. He was an advanced college pitcher who was already reportedly under consideration to make his major-league debut last year, however, so there's seemingly a very real chance he debuts at some point this season, even if it's not on Opening Day.