MLB Player News

Cole will toss a live batting practice session Saturday instead of starting the Grapefruit League contest against Pittsburgh, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.

Cole is not dealing with any issues; the team has simply decided to keep him in Tampa due to a rainy forecast in Bradenton, where the exhibition game is scheduled to be played. Look for Cole to continue on his regular throwing schedule and make his second spring appearance near the end of next week.

According to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, Severino (elbow) is doing well with his throwing program and should start pitching off a mound soon, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

News of Severino's return to the mound has been floated for several weeks, and it appears that there have been no setbacks with the right-hander's progression. Though an exact date for Severino's next step has yet to be determined, he remains on track to return to big-league action sometime this summer.

Manager Dusty Baker said Friday that Javier is out due to health and safety protocols, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Javier is on track to break camp with a spot in the Astros' rotation, but his preparation will be thrown off at least to some degree until he is cleared to resume team activities.

Houck allowed three runs on two hits and five walks over two-thirds of an inning in Thursday's spring game against Baltimore.

Houck, who made three promising starts at the end of 2020, is expected to open the season in the minors, but that didn't diminish the anticipation for his spring debut. Unfortunately, he was unable to lock into his delivery and was all over the place. The right-hander still has enough time in camp to make a push for a spot in the big-league rotation, but keeping his crossfire delivery in sync might always be something of a challenge.

Urquidy will start Friday's spring game against the Marlins.

The new-look Urquidy will be making his spring debut Friday. He arrived at camp 15 pounds lighter in preparation for what could be 30 starts and 200 innings if he remains healthy. Urquidy became a more important piece this week after fellow starter Framber Valdez sustained a finger injury that could lead to season-ending surgery.

McCullers struck out one over a scoreless inning in Thursday's spring game against the Cardinals.

McCullers breezed through his one inning, needing just 12 pitches to dispatch the side in order. The right-hander's fastball lived in the 94-95 mph range, and he had a good feel for his curveball, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. He was scheduled to throw one inning but was prepared to throw a second after an efficient first frame. Those plans were scuttled when the Astros sent 10 men to the plate in their half of the inning, so McCullers finished his night throwing in the bullpen, where he was able to throw his changeup.

McClanahan, who fired a scoreless first inning in Wednesday's Grapefruit League win over the Pirates, hit 101 mph on the radar gun during his impressive outing, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports. "There was also a lot of strikes, which I'm more happy about," McClanahan said. "I've been feeling good. The guys here put me in a good position to be healthy and to be ready to compete, day in and day out, so I think that's just the result of being prepared."

McClanahan isn't embellishing with his remarks about location, as he found the strike zone with eight of his 10 pitches. In addition to the triple-digit heater, McClanahan also deployed his slider with great effectiveness, raising expectations further about what he might be able to accomplish in 2021 as a left-handed bullpen option for manager Kevin Cash. The southpaw is trying to render his struggles two seasons ago at Double-A Montgomery -- his highest stop in the minors to date -- irrelevant by making a strong enough case for an Opening Day roster spot in spring training.

Maeda threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in his spring debut in Thursday's loss to Tampa Bay. He worked on his curveball, which he hopes to use more this season. "I don't think the curveball's going to be my payoff pitch with two strikes, but concentrating on the command, I'd like it to be a pitch that I can control to get strikes consistently," Maeda told MLB.com.

Maeda threw his curveball just 3.4 percent of the time last season, so he's likely trying to add something extra rather than revamp his approach. It's hard to find much to improve after he went 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA and was the runner-up in the AL Cy Young award voting last season. The only question is whether he can remain as effective while holding up over a full season after his innings were limited from 2017 to 2019 with the Dodgers.

Turnbull allowed two runs on four hits across two innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. He walked one and struck out three.

Turnbull was fairly hittable in his spring debut, and the righty needed 39 pitches to navigate his two innings. Despite the so-so start, Turnbull should have a rotation spot firmly locked down on a Detroit team that isn't exactly full of proven options at this point. The 28-year-old turned in a solid 3.97 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 56.2 innings last season.

Civale revamped his delivery and also developed a split-change this offseason, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

Civale worked with assistant pitching coach Ruben Niebla to develop a new windup and pitch from a different arm angle. The result has been a shorter arm path with the hopes of making the action more repeatable. He also tinkered with his changeup, shifting from a traditional offering to a split-change. Civale has experienced plenty of success through 22 major-league starts, racking up a 2.69 ERA and 1.20 WHIP while posting a 115:32 K:BB. He should be locked into the Cleveland rotation this season.