MLB Player News

Boyd tossed 41 pitches in a bullpen session Thursday and is reportedly ahead of his normal schedule at this point in the spring, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

This is encouraging news early in camp, as Boyd acknowledged that he pitched through a hamstring injury and plantar fasciitis last season. The ailments might have contributed to his subpar 6.71 ERA and 1.48 WHIP, but if he's healthier in 2021, the lefty could return to his 2019 form, when he registered a 4.56 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 238 strikeouts across 185.1 innings.

Gilbert won't be cracking the Mariners' Opening Day rotation but will join the team in late April, team president Kevin Mather said in a talk with the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club in early February that was posted to the club's official YouTube channel.

Previous reports suggested that Gilbert would be given a legitimate chance to compete for a roster spot, but Mather seemed to indicate that wasn't the case. The Mariners can deny Gilbert a year of free agency if they keep him in the minors for a few weeks, and it seems as though they'll be prioritizing that over ensuring that they have their best players on the roster on Opening Day.

Ray spent the winter working on his mechanics and trying to return to the three-quarter arm slot he used prior to last season, Gregor Chisholm of The Toronto Star reports.

Heading into last spring when he was still with the Diamondbacks, the southpaw adjusted his release point to come over the top with his delivery in an attempt to cut down on his walks. The result was the worst stretch of his career, and a trade to the Jays at a steep discount. Thanks to re-signing with Toronto early in the offseason, Ray had the organization's coaching staff available all winter for advice and guidance as he tried to get back to his old arm slot. "Technology has gotten way better and we have slow-mo cameras. They can break down your delivery in very, very small increments of, like, frames per second," Ray said this week. "So, it is a lot different now, and it's really cool to see that technology and be able to go pitch-to-pitch and see the difference: OK, this ball was here and this is what my delivery looked like, and this ball was here and it looked different." If he can re-discover the form he had from 2017-19, when he posted a 3.72 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 12.1 K/9 over 460 innings, Ray will go a long way toward bolstering a Jays rotation that lacks reliable arms behind Hyun Jin Ryu.

Dunn impressed in his first bullpen session of camp Saturday, getting up to 95 mph with his fastball, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

Dunn's fastball has averaged a modest 91.4 mph through his first 14 big-league starts. His 4.13 ERA in those starts looks deceptively decent, but it's taken a .173 BABIP and an 82.0 percent strand rate to get him there, and his 38:31 K:BB doesn't bode well for sustaining the ERA. A velocity bump is exactly the sort of thing he needs to solidify himself as a reliable big-league starter, though he's not a lock to emerge from camp with a rotation role.

Gonzales was officially named the Mariners' Opening Day starter Sunday, Lauren Smith of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

Gonzales will get the ball when the Mariners host the Giants on April 1. The lefty was a fairly clear choice for the honor, though the team could have handed the ball to former ace James Paxton, who returned to Seattle following a pair of seasons as a Yankee. Gonzales doesn't have the traditional strikeout stuff of an ace and probably wouldn't fill that role on a contender, but he's coming off a year in which he rode a roughly league-average 23.1 percent strikeout rate and a stellar 2.5 percent walk rate to a 3.10 ERA and can certainly help both big-league and fantasy rotations.

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said Kopech could be used as a reliever, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Kopech opted to sit out the 2020 season and hasn't thrown in a game since a one-inning stint in spring training last March, just before MLB was shut down. Prior to that, he missed several months following Tommy John elbow surgery in 2018. As such, Hahn, who describes Kopech as a long-term starter, mentioned the possibility of a bullpen role as a way to manage his innings and preserve him for a September/October run. The White Sox have no shortage of rotation candidates, so it's not vital for Kopech to work as a starter from the get-go in 2021.

Manager Kevin Cash relayed Saturday that pitching coach Kyle Snyder was extremely impressed with McClanahan's fastball velocity and breaking ball in a recent bullpen session, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

The southpaw made his big-league debut in the postseason against the Yankees last October, and he heads into spring training firmly in the mix for a bullpen role. McClanahan's last minor-league stop was Double-A Montgomery back in 2019, when he scuffled to an 8.35 ERA and 1.99 WHIP over a modest four-start sample that covered 18.1 innings. McClanahan also made quite the impression on bullpen catcher Misha Dworken, who labeled the session as good as any he's ever caught.

Eovaldi threw his first live batting practice of spring training Saturday and is at full health, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Eovaldi noted after the session that his arm felt fresh and said the decreased workload of the 2020 season could benefit his potential to stay healthy in 2021. In eight full seasons in the majors, Eovaldi has topped 150 innings only twice. In nine starts last year, he posted a solid 3.72 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with a 52:7 K:BB across 48.1 frames.

Bieber (illness) reported to spring training Saturday, Tom Withers of the Associated Press reports.

Bieber missed the first few days of camp after testing positive for COVID-19, but he has been cleared to return and will join the team for workouts Saturday. The right-hander will now begin building up ahead of Opening Day as he prepares to serve as Cleveland's ace after unanimously winning the AL Cy Young award last season.

Wentz (elbow) said Saturday that he could begin a rehab assignment in late April or early May, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Wentz has ramped up his throwing program early in spring training and began mound work Friday. He underwent Tommy John surgery last March but was optimistic about his status Saturday and said that he hopes to be back on an active roster by late May or early June. Whether he's able to meet his goals depends on his progress during camp, but the southpaw has been on the right track so far.