MLB Player News

Gil "seemed likely" to open the 2020 campaign with High-A Tampa prior to the suspension of play, Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media reports.

Though minor-league assignments are not set in stone, the thought that Gil will return to Tampa when the season resumes makes sense given that he was optioned to the High-A club in early March. The 21-year-old excelled with Low-A Charleston last season, posting a 2.39 ERA and 1.19 WHIP along with a 112:39 K:BB over 83 innings, but he was less effective in three starts with Tampa. Nonetheless, Gil possesses one of the best fastballs in the minors and could ascend quickly through the system if he is able to improve his command and consistency with his secondary pitches.

Garcia will likely make the Tigers' Opening Day roster when the MLB season is able to resume, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

It is expected that teams will be able to start the season with as many as 30 roster spots instead of 26. That's good news for players like Garcia, who was competing for a bullpen spot when spring training ended. The righty made his MLB debut toward the end of last season and logged 6.2 innings for the Tigers.

Canning (elbow) has been cleared to resume a throwing program, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

A late-February MRI showed "chronic changes to the UCL" in Canning's right forearm. Many feared the worst, but Canning has responded well to a PRP injection and general manager Billy Epler suggested Wednesday that Canning could be back on elevated ground by the end of April. With that, it seems like Canning is currently on track to be ready whenever the regular season begins, though he will carry elevated injury risk after also dealing with elbow issues at the end of 2019.

The Yankees feel good about Paxton's rehab from lower spinal surgery, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

He has been continuing a throwing program in his home state of Wisconsin and we have been receiving updates roughly every week that he is trending in the right direction. Paxton will need some sort of setting to build up before he would be ready to start a major-league game, but it seems he may have enough time to catch up to the rest of the Yankees' starters.

Gonzales is back in his West Seattle home and is keeping his arm in shape on an offseason routine, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Johns reports the left-hander is throwing and playing long toss with teammate Patrick Wisdom on what normally would be his December routine, acting on the assumption that he'll still have about a three-to-four-week ramp-up period before the regular season begins. Gonzales does have a full basement gym at his disposal and feels confident he'll be able to get fully back on track mentally once MLB has a firm re-start date. "I think once we kind of have a date on the books, things will become clearer for us," he said. "It is an interesting thing for an athlete to go through to have a start of the season on the books, and then to have that scratched. And now we don't know when we're going to start or if we're going to start, so it is kind of a confusing time right now."

Schmidt gave up two earned runs on nine hits and three walks while striking out eight in seven innings during big-league spring training.

He gave up two unearned runs and allowed too many baserunners, but his strikeout total was impressive in this tiny sample. While Deivi Garcia and Michael King have already been optioned to the minors, Schmidt has not been jettisoned from major-league camp -- not that camp is still in progress. It seems possible that James Paxton (back) could be ready when the season begins, so the Yankees may not need to dig into the farm system to fill the No. 5 starter role after all.

Sale underwent Tommy John surgery Monday, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

The surgery should finally allow Sale to move past the elbow issues that bothered him dating back to the second half of last season. He'll miss all of this season, even if the schedule winds up considerably delayed, and should miss a fair portion of the 2021 season as well. According to chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, Sale's recovery is expected to take around 14-to-15 months, per Bill Koch of The Providence Journal. The southpaw will complete his rehab at his home in Florida.

Verlander (groin) is on schedule in his recovery from groin surgery, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Reporters had a conference call Friday with Astros general manager James Click. who relayed Verlander's recovering well and is "ready to get back out there as soon as he possibly can." Verlander underwent right groin surgery March 17 and was given a six-week recovery estimate. Under that schedule, Verlander could be ready to pitch by the time MLB resumes normal operations following the coronavirus pandemic.

Suarez was competing for a spot in the Opening Day rotation before spring training was suspended, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Suarez pitched well in Cactus League play, allowing only one earned run on three hits across eight innings while notching a 9:2 K:BB. However, the southpaw's bid for a big-league roster spot may be hurt by the delay to the start of the regular season as the extra time may give fellow hurlers Shohei Ohtani (elbow) and Griffin Canning (elbow) the opportunity to recover from their injuries in time for Opening Day. Another factor to keep in mind is that Suarez still has minor-league options remaining, providing the Angels with added incentive to keep him in the minors as long as the team does not have a pressing need in the rotation.

Sandoval is among a number of pitchers vying for a spot at the back end of the Angels' rotation, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Sandoval appeared to boost his chance of breaking camp with the Angels after a solid spring in which he posted a 3.60 ERA and 5:3 K:BB across five innings. However, the delay to the start of the regular season could mean less available rotation spots as both Shohei Ohtani (elbow) and Griffin Canning (elbow) could feasibly be ready in time for Opening Day. Sandoval's likelihood of making the big-league squad is also compromised by the fact that he still has minor-league options remaining.