MLB Player News

Perez moved up to No. 2 starter behind Nathan Eovaldi with Eduardo Rodriguez's status uncertain after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

When Perez first signed with Boston, he was pegged as the No. 5 starter, but his importance to the rotation has increased since then. First it was Chris Sale's elbow injury, then David Price's trade to the Dodgers. And now with Rodriguez unavailable, Perez becomes a very important piece in the shortened 60-game season. The left-hander went 8-3 with a 4.26 ERA over the first half of 2019 before the bottom fell out after the All-Star break.

Manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday that Teheran (undisclosed) may not be ready for the start of the season, even if he reports to camp by this weekend, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

The 29-year-old was placed on the injured list this week and said earlier Wednesday he's awaiting his COVID-19 test results, though he hopes to join his teammates over the weekend. It remains unclear if Teheran contracted the virus, but he's stayed away from the team since family members had shown symptoms. If he is cleared and reports this weekend, the right-hander would have less than two weeks to ramp up for Opening Day, so it's not a major surprise Maddon isn't confident in his availability.

Teheran is still waiting on the results of a coronavirus test but hopes to join his teammates over the weekend if the results are negative, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Teheran was placed on the injured list for undisclosed reasons Tuesday, but it's now evident that the transaction was coronavirus-related. Teheran doesn't yet know if he has the virus himself, but his family members had shown symptoms, so he remains away from the team for now. If he winds up being able to join camp over the weekend, he'll have less than two weeks to get into game shape before Opening Day.

There is "essentially little to no chance" Gilbert reaches the majors this season, Corey Brock of The Athletic reports.

Gilbert, one of the team's top pitching prospects, likely would have made his MLB debut in 2020 under normal circumstances. However, he has only made nine starts above High-A, so it would be pretty aggressive of the rebuilding Mariners to rush him up in this 60-game campaign. Brock reports that Seattle believes its top prospects will receive the necessary development while training at the satellite camp this summer.

McClanahan could debut in the majors this year as a reliever, Josh Tolentino of The Athletic reports.

His top obstacle to reaching the majors is the fact he is not yet on the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay's 40-man roster might be the strongest in baseball, but if a player moves to the COVID-19 injury list or the 60-man injured list, that player would no longer count against the 40-man roster, which could open a spot for McClanahan. While the talented southpaw will be developed as a starter long term, he can regularly touch 100 mph with his fastball and has a plus curveball, which makes him an appealing bullpen weapon in the short term.

Manager Scott Servais confirmed Wednesday that Gonzales will start the Mariners' July 24 season opener versus the Astros, Corey Brock of The Athletic reports.

Servais added that Gonzales will make his first start of summer camp in Sunday's intrasquad game, which would keep the lefty on pace to make one more turn beyond that before the Mariners head to Houston for the opener. With few other established options in the Seattle rotation, Gonzales was the logical choice for the Opening Day nod after starting 63 games across the past tow seasons and accruing a 3.99 ERA over that span.

Walker threw a live batting practice session against Kyle Seager and Dee Gordon in Tuesday's summer camp session, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. "I feel good, my arm feels good. I like where I'm at, " Walker said. "It's usually a marathon to get ready and keep going, but it's almost like a sprint now. We have three weeks to get ready. Obviously we have to do it smart and listen to our bodies, but we don't have much time to get ready and going."

Walker was encouragingly hitting 90-93 mph with his fastball during the session, which was his first live BP of camp. The 27-year-old, who is on the comeback trail after reconstructive elbow surgery and a shoulder capsule issue wiped out much of his last two seasons, is set for a back-end rotation spot to open 2020. Walker was able to keep his arm in condition during the shutdown by building a garage gym in his home, playing catch regularly with a friend and eventually accessing the Mariners' spring training facility in Peoria, Arizona once it reopened in late May. The shortened 60-game season might be a silver lining for Walker, as it sets the right-hander up for a more gradual return to the mound after pitching just 14 regular-season innings since the beginning of the 2018 campaign.

Bassitt would likely be brought into the starting rotation if Jesus Luzardo (illness) isn't cleared before Opening Day, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. "He showed he's a real weapon last year," Melvin said of Bassitt. "It wasn't an easy role. He had to acclimate to it. All guys that were starters want to be starters. They want that routine. Then realizing you have to do things differently, buying in is the big thing. He bought in and realized how important he is to the team. When we talk about starters, you have to include him."

The 31-year-old has worn several hats since joining the Athletics back in 2015, including logging 50 starts over that span. Half of those came last season, when Bassitt forged a 10-5 record, 3.18 ERA and 1.19 WHIP across 144 innings. With Luzardo having tested positive for COVID-19 and now forced to self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days, there's an outside chance the talented southpaw misses at least his first turn through the rotation. If so, Bassitt is a very likely candidate to step in, given his extensive starting experence and solid body of work in that capacity.

Cole pitched five innings in an intrasquad game Tuesday, allowing one run on one hit and two walks while striking out six, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.

Cole gave up a home run to Miguel Andjuar in the first inning, but the staff ace was otherwise dominant, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. Perhaps most impressively, Cole was able to complete five frames, unofficially tossing 67 pitches -- 45 of which were strikes. That bodes well for the right-hander's readiness to hit the ground running when he faces the Nationals in the opening game of the MLB season July 23.

Tigers pitching coach Rick Anderson said he expects Turnbull and the other Detroit starters to be stretched out to at least 75 pitches by the end of summer camp, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

This should put Turnbull and the other starters in line for pretty regular workloads by their first or second start of the season. If that's the case, Detroit will likely stick with a standard five-man rotation and could use Tyler Alexander and Michael Fulmer in long-relief roles out of the gate. Turnbull averaged right around five innings per start in 2019, compiling a 4.61 ERA and 1.44 WHIP, though his 3.99 FIP suggests he could lower that ERA with a little better luck in 2020.