MLB Player News

Manager Brandon Hyde said Means (arm) has a "really good chance" to pitch during Baltimore's second series of the season, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Means was originally scheduled to start the team's season opener against Boston on Friday before getting sidetracked by arm fatigue. Fortunately, it doesn't sound like the issue will keep the lefty sidelined too long; as it appears he's on track to rejoin the rotation sometime during Baltimore's four-game series against the Marlins, which begins Monday.

Cobb will start in Saturday's game against the Red Sox, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Cobb had a locked-in rotation spot for the shortened 2020 season, and he'll start behind Tommy Milone in the team's opening series. The 32-year-old dealt with back and hip injuries in 2019 that limited him to just three starts all season, but he appears to be back to full health heading into this season. Over 31 starts in the last two seasons with the Orioles, Cobb has 5-17 record with a 5.36 ERA and 110:45 K:BB over 164.2 innings.

Odorizzi (back) is not listed as one of the Twins' projected starters for their first series of the season against the White Sox, which begins Friday.

Odorizzi was scratched from his scheduled intrasquad start Sunday due to what was called mild upper-back stiffness. There hasn't been an indication that the issue is worse than originally anticipated, but he at the very least won't take the mound until Tuesday against the Cardinals. The Twins get an off day Monday, so they can go with just four starters for their first time through the rotation if necessary.

Singer will make his MLB debut Saturday against Cleveland, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports.

Singer will be arriving quite quickly after being selected 18th overall in the 2018 draft. He didn't pitch at all that year but made 26 starts at the High-A and Double-A levels last season, cruising to a 2.85 ERA. He showed good control, walking just 6.4 percent of opposing batters, though his 22.5 percent strikeout rate doesn't pop off the page. He relies on his sinker and slider to generate high groundball rates and keep his ERA down, which could eventually make him a high-floor option in the Royals' pitcher-friendly home park, but he's risky for now considering he's yet to even pitch at the Triple-A level.

Gibson is scheduled to start the fourth game of the season, Tuesday, July 28, against the Diamondbacks.

Gibson had a final tuneup Tuesday when he allowed five runs on six hits and struck out four over five innings. Normally a premier groundball pitcher, Gibson surrendered three home runs during the start. "I think the ball was up just a little bit," Gibson told Sam Blum of the Dallas Morning News. "In some of the situations with the home runs, I probably threw the wrong pitch at the wrong time, probably the ones they were looking for. They took some really good swings on pitches that were actually located pretty good." Much of the talk about the Rangers' new stadium, Globe Life Field, centered around its spaciousness and not being conducive to home run hitters, but that was not evident Tuesday.

Lyles will start Wednesday's exhibition game against the Rockies, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Lyles, who had a shaky start to summer camp, is coming off his best outing. He pitched in an intrasquad game Friday and allowed two runs on three hits and four walks while striking out six over six innings. The Rangers are expected to skip Lyles' first regular-season turn in the rotation, and it's possible they also forgo him a second time, as they have three off days during the first 11 days of the season.

The White Sox placed Kopech (personal) on the restricted list July 10.

The transaction was just a procedural move after Kopech confirmed earlier that day that he would opt out of the 2020 season. While at home for the next several months, Kopech will complete his rehab from his September 2018 Tommy John surgery before reporting to spring training at full health in 2021 with an eye on claiming a rotation spot.

Glasnow allowed two hits and four walks over three innings while recording five strikeouts during Monday's intrasquad start, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. "The feel for things just wasn't there today. I just couldn't get my curveball over, and it let guys sit on the heater," Glasnow said. "But I'm pleased with where I'm at."

As his line implies, Glasnow was a mixed bag in his intrasquad duel versus Blake Snell, with the big right-hander clearly fooling some of his teammates but also experiencing some trouble with location. One of the misplaced offerings resulted in the hardest-hit ball of the contest, a home run by Ji-Man Choi to right field. Glasnow lines up to start either the third or fourth game of the season against the Blue Jays on Sunday or Monday, and manager Kevin Cash attributed some of Glasnow's control issues Monday to the "workload restraints" of the shutdown and summer camp.

Snell faced 10 batters in Monday's intrasquad game and allowed four walks and two hits while bouncing several pitches in the dirt, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The left-hander threw a total of 47 pitches, but Topkin reports at least five of those failed to make it into the catcher's mitt on the fly. Snell chastised himself after the outing for not trusting his fastball sufficiently and attacking hitters, but manager Kevin Cash gave the 27-year-old somewhat of a pass by highlighting that the workload restrictions of the last few months likely led to the lack of sharpness and location. Snell lines up to start against the Blue Jays either Sunday or Monday for his first turn of the regular season.

Manager Bob Melvin pronounced Luzardo as regular-season ready following his performance in Monday's live batting practice against Ramon Laureano, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Luzardo will open the season as a reliever after a delayed arrival in summer camp due to a positive COVID-19 test. The left-hander could see action as soon as the first or second game of the season-opening series versus the Angels, which begins Friday night at Oakland Coliseum.