MLB Player News

Snell threw 23 pitches in a simulated game Wednesday, his first time facing hitters since March, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Snell reported no issues with the elbow problems that once plagued him, and he was able to get 14 of his 23 offerings into the strike zone against the quartet of Yandy Diaz, Joey Wendle, Michael Perez and Daniel Robertson. Snell stated he'd already been feeling back to normal after throwing for the last week and a half, emphasizing that he'll "continue to feel better" with the additional work he plans on putting in before Opening Day.

Morton threw four innings in Wednesday's simulated game, allowing two runs and recording three strikeouts, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports. "Overall I felt pretty good," Morton said. "The last live [pitching session] I threw was in the lab here, so really, I think my stuff is getting to where it needs to be. ... I felt like I was working on my endurance and still had pretty decent stuff in the fourth [inning]. I'm pretty optimistic about everything overall."

The veteran right-hander faced the quartet of Yandy Diaz, Michael Perez, Daniel Robertson and Joey Wendle and threw 37 of his 47 pitches for strikes. Morton reportedly looked particularly sharp with his breaking ball, but he did allow two hits to Diaz and a home run to deep right field to Perez.

Whitley threw live batting practice at the main camp at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Whitley, who has spent time at both the main and alternate camps, will not be part of the 30-man active roster when the regular season starts. As such, he will spend the season in the player pool, which will shift activities to Corpus Christi on July 24.

Giolito threw three innings in a simulated game Wednesday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

This marked Giolito's first game action since he pitched one lone inning during a spring training game Mar. 6. The right-hander continued the work on his slider, a pitch he admitted was largely absent during his breakout 2019 campaign. Giolito will make his next camp appearance Monday, when he believes he'll be able to go six innings.

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.