MLB Player News

Giolito allowed one walk and struck out two over three innings in Sunday's spring game against the Rockies.

Giolito looked regular-season ready in retiring the Rockies. Chicago's presumptive Opening Day starter made his second Cactus League start and has allowed one run on one hit and one walk while striking out six in five innings. After throwing mostly fastballs during his first outing that he described as getting acclimated to facing hitters, Giolito largely worked on his breaking stuff Sunday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Gilbert allowed an earned run on two hits and no walks while recording four strikeouts across two innings in a Cactus League loss to the Angels on Sunday.

The 23-year-old provided plenty of reason for optimism with his outing against an Angels lineup replete with regulars, and one of his four strikeouts on the afternoon notably came against Mike Trout. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports Gilbert featured his fastball, slider and curveball during his start and overcame a bit of adversity by working out of a second-inning jam. "He's pretty close," manager Scott Servais said. "Certainly last year did him no favors and the fact that he wasn't able to pitch in a competitive game. ... But super, super high ceiling for this kid, and I love the way he goes about his business and what his future holds."

Montgomery pitched three scoreless innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League contest against Philadelphia, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out one.

Montgomery enjoyed a mostly stress-free outing, allowing only a pair of singles, both of which came in the third inning. Through two starts this spring, the southpaw has yielded just one run across five frames. Montgomery is currently slotted into the fourth spot in New York's starting rotation.

Dunn, battling for the final spot in the Mariners' six-man starting rotation, fired two scoreless innings in a Cactus League tie with the Athletics on Saturday, allowing a hit and two walks while recording two strikeouts.

Dunn battled some adversity early, loading the bases with a hit and the two free passes in the first before the inning was rolled over. The break in the action certainly seemed to help, with the young right-hander coming back to pitch a scoreless frame in the second that included the pair of whiffs. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports Dunn unveiled a new-grip changeup during the outing and also impressed with a fastball that consistently hit 95 mph and ticked up as high as 96. "It's just kind of got to the point of where it's game time, now let's get it on the plate," Dunn said. "Before it was create as much movement as possible, get this stuff as sharp as we can. And now that we're in games, get on the plate and see how efficient we can execute pitches."

Skubal pitched two scoreless innings in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles. He allowed one hit and struck out two.

Casey Mize and Matt Manning might have a little more hype, but Skubal is another promising young arm in Detroit. The lefty looked sharp in his spring debut, and he's hoping to build off an uneven MLB debut in 2020, when he posted a 5.63 ERA and 1.22 WHIP across eight games (seven starts). Skubal did strike out 37 batters in his 32 innings of work last season, though he also averaged 3.1 walks per nine innings. If the 24-year-old can exhibit better control in 2021, he certainly has the stuff to put up solid numbers.

Whitley has been told by a doctor that he'll need Tommy John surgery, Mark Berman of KRIV Fox 26 reports.

Whitley experienced some arm soreness during a recent simulated game and has since been diagnosed with a right UCL sprain, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. It's the latest in a long line of setbacks for the talented 23-year-old, who's thrown just 86 innings since the start of the 2018 season due to a suspension and multiple injuries. It had looked as though he was on the doorstep of making his big-league debut, especially after Framber Valdez fractured his finger, but it now looks as if he won't pitch in any capacity until the middle of next year. He'll get a second opinion, the results of which should be known within a few days, before going through with the procedure.

Taillon started and tossed two scoreless innings against the Pirates in Saturday's Grapefruit League game, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out four.

Taillon was originally scheduled to pitch behind Gerrit Cole in the exhibition contest, but the Yankees instead opted to have Cole throwing a live batting practice session in Tampa while Taillon got the start against Pittsburgh. Taillon breezed through the first inning before allowing a pair of singles and a walk in the second frame, but he was able to escape without allowing any runs thanks to an inning-ending strikeout. The right-hander has now completed three scoreless innings this spring as he ramps up for the third-starter spot in the Yankees' regular-season rotation.

Greinke allowed one run on two hits while striking out one and did not walk a batter across one inning in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Mets.

Greinke made his spring debut Saturday and shrugged off the middling results, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports. "As long as I'm ready when the season comes, that's really all that matters," the right-hander said. "I could have thrown all balls today and it still wouldn't matter. I just have to get better by the next month, that's the goal." He threw 20 pitches and experimented with elevating his fastball. Greinke thought his fastball command was pedestrian but reported no other issues.

Rodon threw three innings of live batting practice Saturday, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Rodon, who was re-signed by the White Sox after the left-hander battled elbow and shoulder injuries the last two seasons, is projected to be Chicago's fifth starter but has not yet appeared in Cactus League competition. Saturday's batting-practice session came on the same day that Reynaldo Lopez, who is being stretched out and has starting experience, pitched two perfect innings as a starter against the Indians. If Rodon falters this spring or during the regular season, Lopez is on hand to take on a spot in the rotation.

Quintana pitched a pair of scoreless and hitless innings against Colorado in a Cactus League contest Saturday, allowing one walk and striking out four.

Quintana allowed only a second-inning walk to Sam Hilliard and was otherwise dazzling, racking up four strikeouts in the short outing. He has now pitched three scoreless innings this spring and appears set for a role at the back end of the Angels' rotation this season.