MLB Player News

Baz, who Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports was reassigned to minor league camp Monday, was effective in adding a changeup to his arsenal this spring.

The hard-throwing right-hander, who's recorded four strikeouts over two spring frames thus far, already came in with a highly effective fastball and slider, so the addition of the changeup is likely to make him that much more of a challenge for hitters in the future. Baz could conceivably make his big-league debut sometime in 2021 given his electric stuff, and manager Kevin Cash noted Monday the 21-year-old is also in the midst of developing a curveball.

Means has given up six runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out four across 7.2 innings over his first three Grapefruit League starts.

According to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com, Means is slated to pick up his fourth start of the spring Wednesday, when he'll likely pitch four or five innings in a matchup with Atlanta. The Orioles have yet to officially announce an Opening Day starter, but the nod will presumably go to Means, who was able to offset a so-so 4.53 ERA in 2020 with an excellent 0.98 WHIP and a solid 19.9 K-BB% (up from 13 percent in 2019).

Lynn will start Chicago's third game of the season against the Angels, LaMond Pope of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel will be starting the first and second games of the season, respectively. Lynn has struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings this spring.

Keuchel will start Chicago's second game of the season against the Angels, LaMond Pope of the Chicago Tribune reports.

He has a 3.55 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and six strikeouts in 12.2 innings this spring. Lucas Giolito will get the ball on Opening Day and Lance Lynn will slot into the third spot in the rotation. Keuchel will likely be facing Shohei Ohtani or Andrew Heaney in this start, as Dylan Bundy has already been named the Angels' Opening Day starter.

Giolito will start on Opening Day against the Angels, LaMond Pope of the Chicago Tribune reports.

He has a 1.00 ERA, 0.56 WHIP and 11 strikeouts in nine innings this spring. Dylan Bundy has been confirmed as the Angels' starter in what should be an exciting Opening Day matchup.

The Athletics reassigned Blackburn to their minor-league camp Monday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Blackburn was one of eight non-roster invitees dismissed from big-league camp in the Athletics' first round of cuts. He's made 21 appearances (18 starts) across parts of the past four seasons with the big club, logging a 5.69 ERA over 99.2 innings.

Paxton was scratched from his scheduled start in Monday's Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Paxton was expected to make his spring debut Monday, but he'll instead throw in a simulated game since he had to address a personal matter that would have conflicted with the Cactus League game. The left-hander is still expected to increase his pitch count in the sim game, so he remains on track to be ready for the start of the season. Ljay Newsome will get the start against the Diamondbacks in Paxton's stead.

The Angels announced Monday that Bundy will start their April 1 season opener versus the White Sox.

After a ninth-place finish in the American League Cy Young balloting in his first season with the Angels, Bundy was unsurprising awarded the Opening Day nod for 2021. Though Bundy has lost a few ticks on his fastball since reaching the big leagues as a teenager in 2012, he's made up for his drop in velocity by making significant improvements in his control and command, which has in turn allowed him to raise his strikeout rate and induce weaker contact. Despite his sketchy track record prior to arriving in Los Angeles, Bundy still looks like a quality No. 2 or 3 starter for a fantasy pitching staff.

The Athletics optioned Kaprielian to Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Kaprielian was one of seven players optioned to the minors in the Athletics' first round of roster cuts. After losing two years of development time earlier in his career while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Kaprielian reached the big leagues for the first time in 2020, working in a relief role over two appearances with Oakland. The Athletics could still look to develop him as a starter at the Triple-A level, but he'll likely be in line behind several other pitchers for a promotion if a rotation spot opens up at the big-league level at any point this season.

Manager Dusty Baker announced Monday that Greinke will start Opening Day against the A's, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

With Justin Verlander (elbow) out for the season, this announcement was merely a formality, as Greinke will be the Astros' ace in 2021. It was also announced Monday that Greinke will be away from the team for the next few days for "personal reasons," but according to Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest, that should not affect his throwing program.