MLB Player News

Civale (1-2) took the loss Friday versus the White Sox, allowing one run on five hits and a walk while striking out five in seven innings.

Civale had good stuff, throwing 62 of his 97 pitches for strikes, but Cleveland gave their starter no run support. It's a recurring theme for Civale -- Cleveland has scored just five runs in his three starts this year. The 25-year-old righty has a 2.84 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 23:2 K:BB through 19 innings. He projects to start next Friday in Detroit.

Hill (shoulder) returned to the team Friday and is going through his throwing progression, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Hill has been sidelined since Monday with shoulder fatigue, but he appears to be on the right track toward a return as he was able to throw for the first time Friday. A timeline for the southpaw's return to game action hasn't been announced, but he could presumably return sometime next week if all goes well with his throwing plan.

Sandoval will start Saturday's game against the Rangers, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Sandoval was rumored to be a candidate to start Saturday, but manager Joe Maddon confirmed the decision Friday. The southpaw has reportedly built up to 80-90 pitches. The 23-year-old made one start for the Angels this season before being sent back down to the alternate training site. In that appearance, he allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out four over four innings.

Anderson (oblique) is expected to start Saturday against Boston, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star reports.

Anderson's preseason buildup was delayed by an oblique strain. He's still not ready to handle a true starter's workload, but he's expected to throw up to three innings Saturday before handing the ball to a long reliever.

Chirinos (triceps) is already feeling much better after landing on the 10-day injured list Thursday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The news doesn't amount to a clear return timeline for the right-hander, but it doesn't sound as though he's set for a long absence. Trevor Richards took his place on the roster, though he'll be pitching in a bullpen role, with the Rays potentially set to go with a bullpen game in Chirinos' spot Saturday.

Anderson (oblique) could return from the injured list to start Saturday against the Red Sox, Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reports.

Anderson has been dealing with an oblique strain since early in summer camp. If he does wind up starting Saturday, he isn't expected to throw more than three innings, as he's yet to build up to a full starter's workload.

Keller (1-0) earned the win against the Cubs on Thursday, pitching five scoreless innings and allowing three hits and two walks while striking out seven.

Keller missed most of summer camp due to a positive test for COVID-19, but he looked strong in his season debut Thursday, limiting Chicago to a trio of singles while tossing 52 of 75 pitches for strikes. The Royals' offense made Keller's outing mostly pressure-free, staking him to a nine-run lead by the end of the third inning. The right-hander will look to build on his promising opening act in a tough matchup on the road at Minnesota next Friday.

Montgomery (1-1) suffered the loss against Philadelphia on Thursday, pitching four innings and allowing five runs on six hits and one walk while striking out two.

After shining in his season debut last Friday, Montgomery couldn't tame the Phillies' offense, yielding five earned runs for the first time since his rookie campaign. The southpaw was torched by a three-run homer off the bat of J.T. Realmuto in the first inning, then gave up an additional pair of runs on a Phil Gosselin double in the third. The Yankees have a pair of off days coming up, so Montgomery isn't likely to take the mound again until next weekend against Boston.

Bielak did not factor into the decision during Thursday's loss. He held the Diamondbacks scoreless with one strikeout across five innings, allowing two hits and three walks.

Making his first career start, Bielak had no problem blanking the Diamondbacks over five innings of work. The 24-year-old left the game with the lead, but unfortunately Arizona evened the score and soon took the lead for good. Bielak had previously allowed just one run over his two bullpen appearances this season, bringing his ERA to 0.87 and WHIP to 1.16. Although he was making a spot start, the right-hander just may have earned himself another turn in the rotation. If so, he's projected to battle the Giants on Tuesday.

Carrasco (2-1) allowed one hit and four walks over six scoreless innings in a win over the Reds on Thursday. He struck out eight.

It looked like Carrasco lost a little something as he pushed up close to 100 pitches -- he issued back-to-back two-out walks and uncorked a wild pitch in the sixth inning -- but he was brilliant otherwise. Carrasco now has a 2.50 ERA and 23:6 K:BB in 18 innings this season. A borderline ace serving as the No. 3 starter for Cleveland, Carrasco lines up face the Cubs at home in his next start.