MLB Player News

Arihara allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out two over two innings in Tuesday's spring game against the White Sox.

Arihara had a rough debut while running into trouble in each inning, leading to the second frame getting rolled by manager Chris Woodward with the bases loaded and Jose Abreu due up. The Rangers manager also ended the first inning early after the right-hander reached the 20-pitch limit and permitted a three-run home run to Andrew Vaughn. Through an interpreter, Arihara told Sam Blum of the Dallas Morning News that he was unable to consistently locate many of his seven pitches. He also talked about a more slippery ball in MLB relative to the ball used in the Japanese league. Despite the pitcher's struggles, Woodward had a positive assessment of Arihara's outing.

Giolito allowed one run on one hit while striking out four over two innings in Tuesday's spring game against the Rangers.

Giolito made his spring debut Tuesday and navigated around a Ronald Guzman home run in what he deemed was a successful first start. "The focus was just getting acclimated again with game speed," Giolito told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun Times. "Being able to control my breathing, control the pace of the game, those were my main focuses. I feel like I did pretty well." The White Sox's projected Opening Day starter struck out Joey Gallo, Khris Davis and Nick Solak consecutively over the first and second innings, including coming back from a 3-0 count on Davis. Giolito said he feels he's right where he needs to be at this point.

Mize pitched two scoreless innings in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Pirates. He walked three and struck out three.

Mize didn't have great control, but he made up for it with the three strikeouts and generally looked sharp on the mound. The 23-year-old endured some rough patches in his MLB debut last season, registering a 6.99 ERA across seven starts, but the talent is certainly there for him to take a big step forward this year.

Glasnow came away pleased with his overall performance during his Grapefruit League debut against the Twins on Monday, an outing during which his fastball touched 100 mph multiple times, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports. "I'm a relatively slow starter," Glasnow said. "I just think it's more of getting a rhythm and getting back to that competition aspect. It was honestly just really good to be out there again, to feel that again and then kind of figure out what you need to build on, and then just go out and do it again in five, six days."

Glasnow's final line was far from sparkling, as he gave up two runs on two hits with three walks across 1.2 innings. However, with his first pitch already clocking 99 mph and the towering right-hander proceeding to hit 100 mph on four occasions in the first inning alone, Glasnow had the look of the staff ace he's projected to be this coming season. He also reported encouraging results from the new hybrid cutter/slider he's been developing, which averaged 86-87 mph in Monday's appearance, and manager Kevin Cash dismissed some of Glasnow's second-inning control issues by noting that the majority of his pitches were still around the strike zone.

Hill gave a solid accounting of himself in a live batting practice session Sunday, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

The veteran southpaw is being counted on to help stabilize a starting rotation that lost both Blake Snell and Charlie Morton this offseason, so any indications the soon-to-be 41-year-old is already rounding into shape is certainly encouraging. Manager Kevin Cash reported Hill spun his breaking balls from different arm angles and looked "totally game-ready," but it's likely he gets another crack at pitching to his own teammates before making his Grapefruit League debut.

Cole threw 28 pitches in one inning of work against the Tigers on Monday, allowing one run on three hits and a walk. He struck out one batter and did not factor in the decision.

Cole looked rusty in his first Grapefruit League appearance, though all three hits against him were singles. He escaped with only one run crossing the plate by stranding the bases loaded. The right-hander will have plenty of time to settle in this spring before toeing the mound for the Yankees on Opening Day against Toronto.

Gibson added a cutter over the offseason, Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports.

Gibson already had a rather full repertoire, throwing four pitches (a four-seam fastball, sinker, changeup and slider) all at least 14 percent of the time last year while also working in the occasional curveball. He might need a new weapon to stay relevant heading into his age-33 season, as he's coming off a year in which he struggled to a 5.35 ERA, his worst mark since his debut back in 2013. Of course, it's far too soon to say whether or not the cutter will actually make him a better pitcher, but it could provide a reason to believe in him should he look like a better pitcher in his first few starts.

Kikuchi, the Mariners' projected No. 3 starter, will make his Cactus League debut Tuesday against the Indians, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

The left-hander slimmed down approximately 10 pounds during the offseason in an attempt to improve his overall mobility and mechanics on the mound. Kikuchi has a bloated 5.39 ERA through his first 41 major-league starts across two seasons after a successful career in Japan, but the Mariners are encouraged by the year-to-year change his K/9 (9.0, up from 6.5) and HR/9 (0.6, down from 2.0) exhibited in 2020.

Paxton is scheduled to start Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Cubs, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

The veteran southpaw's work will undoubtedly be scrutinized this spring in his return to Seattle after a mixed bag of a two-year stay with the Yankees. After back and forearm injuries limited him to just five starts in 2020 following a 15-6 mark the prior season, Paxton spent most of the offseason rebuilding his strength and refining his mechanics. He now considers himself at full health and commented last week that he expects to build up to a five- or six-inning workload by the end of spring training.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona said Bieber would start Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Royals and pitch around two innings, Tom Withers of the Associated Press reports.

Bieber was briefly delayed at the start of spring training while recovering from a positive COVID-19 test, but he experienced only minor symptoms of the virus and hasn't experienced any setbacks since resuming workouts. On the heels of a Cy Young-winning campaign, Bieber is looking to turn his slider into more of a weapon this season, so expect him to experiment liberally with the off-speed pitch during his spring outings. Bieber should be ready to handle close to a 100-pitch workload when he likely gets the ball in Cleveland's April 1 regular-season opener in Detroit.