MLB Player News

Gibson will start on Opening Day against the Royals.

This has more to do with the state of the Rangers' roster than the talent of Gibson, as he would be more of a No. 3 or No. 4 starter on most teams. He reportedly added a cutter after utilizing five different pitches last season, so Gibson will enter 2021 with one of the deeper repertoires in the game. However, he logged a 5.35 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 58 strikeouts in 67.1 innings in 2020.

Paxton has had two Cactus League starts canceled due to appointments to sort out a visa issue, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

The Canadian lefty has pitched simulated games instead of making those starts. He's yet to appear in a Cactus League game this spring but has reportedly looked good in those sim games. Assuming he gets it all sorted out this week, Paxton will debut in exhibition action Sunday against the Brewers.

Ryan, who Adam Berry of MLB.com reports was reassigned to minor league camp Tuesday, has fired three clean innings across three Grapefruit League appearances, recording four strikeouts.

A seventh-round pick in the 2018 first-year player draft, Ryan has been impressive at every minor-league stop thus far, with his 2019 stint at Double-A Montgomery counting as his highest professional foray. Ryan was a candidate for the Rays' 60-man roster pool last summer but never saw major-league action. However, his body of work this spring has at least planted the seed for a possible big-league promotion at some point in 2021, especially if the right-hander is able to keep it up wherever he starts the minor-league season.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Schmidt (elbow) is close to resuming a throwing program, Marly Rivera of ESPN.com reports.

Schmidt has apparently demonstrated some notable progress since the Yankees shut him down March 6 with a common extensor strain in his right elbow, so he looks like he could be cleared to begin playing catch off flat ground by the end of the week. Due to the time he's already missed with the injury, however, Schmidt won't be in contention for an Opening Day rotation spot with the Yankees. Domingo German and Deivi Garcia are currently vying for the fifth starter's role.

Manoah has an 11:0 K:BB through five scoreless innings this spring while allowing only one hit.

The big right-hander isn't in line to break camp on the major-league roster, but Manoah is trying to prove that he's nearly ready to make his Blue Jays debut. A first-round pick in 2019, the 23-year-old only made it up to High-A that season before spending last year at Toronto's alternate training site, but an aggressive assignment to Triple-A to begin 2021 should be in the cards.

Stripling is now the favorite to open the year as the Blue Jays' fifth starter following Nate Pearson's groin setback, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reports.

Stripling looked like he could be the odd man out heading into camp, but now he may get at least a turn or two in the rotation until Pearson gets healthy. He hasn't officially been named the fifth starter, as Thomas Hatch, Anthony Kay and T.J. Zeuch are also in the mix, but Stripling appears to have a clear edge. Whoever wins Toronto's fifth starter job is likely to open with starts against the Rangers, Angels and Royals.

McClanahan was optioned off the active roster Tuesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

There are plenty of reasons to get excited about McClanahan, who flashed triple-digit heat this spring and owns a career 3.17 ERA with a 31.6 percent strikeout rate in the minors. He's yet to pitch above Double-A and has only made four starts at that level, however, so it's no surprise he'll begin the year off the active roster given the Rays' wealth of potential starters. He could certainly fill an important role at some point this season, either as a starter or multi-inning reliever, but it's not yet clear exactly when his name will be called.

The Tigers optioned Manning to Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

The 2016 first-round pick had been given the opportunity to compete for a rotation spot this spring, but since the Tigers have yet to start his MLB service clock, the prevailing expectation was that he would begin the year in the minors. Tuesday's transaction confirms that will be the case, though Manning could still appear in Grapefruit League games as he looks to build back up after a forearm strain cost him time in 2020. He'll likely remain at the Tigers' spring-training facility in Lakeland, Fla. for another month before reporting to Toledo when the Triple-A season begins in May.

Bielak has a chance to pitch as a starter or opener during the first week of the season, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Houston manager Dusty Baker said Bielak, who has minor-league options, has an "outside shot" to make the Opening Day roster. That chance appears to be tied to the status of other projected starters, like Jake Odorizzi, Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia. All three are behind in terms of their progression for various reasons, which opens the door to Bielak being part of the rotation when the Astros play six straight games to open the season.

Urquidy allowed two runs on three hits while striking out three over 3.2 innings in Monday's spring game against the Marlins.

The two runs came on a flyball that right fielder Kyle Tucker lost in the sun, so the line looks worse than Urquidy felt. The right-hander raised his pitch count to 61 pitches (42 strikes) in his third Cactus League appearance. He'll get another two spring starts in preparation for the regular season.