MLB Player News

Interim manager Ron Roenicke confirmed Thursday that Sale (illness) won't be available to start Opening Day and will likely begin the season on the 15-day injured list, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Roenicke stressed that Sale is fine physically after the southpaw treated his elbow through non-surgical methods during the offseason, but the 30-year-old simply doesn't have enough time left during spring to build up to a starter's workload after battling pneumonia earlier this month. Sale has since resumed working out and is expected to toss a live batting-practice session Saturday, but he'll still be about two weeks behind Boston's other starting pitchers once the regular season begins. Assuming the Red Sox place Sale on the IL and make his stint retroactive to March 23 (the earliest possible date), the lefty won't be eligible to make his 2020 debut until at least April 7 versus the Rays, per Browne.

Lynn will make his spring debut Friday against the Angels, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

The Rangers will begin incorporating their starters this weekend, when Lynn is expected to work three innings or about 45-50 pitches. He will be followed by Mike Minor, who will throw a simulated game Saturday, and then Corey Kluber on Sunday. Manager Chris Woodward told Dave Sessions of MLB.com that he expects those three, in some order, to start the first three games of the season at Seattle.

Keuchel threw a simulated game Wednesday, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The White Sox are sticking to their plan of not having their starters face AL Central foes, so rather than use Keuchel against the Royals, they had him throw a sim game in the backfields. The left-hander got up and down three times and was upbeat about being able to throw his curveball consistently. That's how he knows he's ahead of schedule relative to previous seasons.

Luzardo started Tuesday's Cactus League loss to the Padres, firing two scoreless innings during which he allowed a hit, no walks and recorded two strikeouts.

The promising southpaw consistently hit 95-97 mph with his fastball, Jesse Borek of MLB.com reports, and he was able to retire the minimum number of batters after giving up a leadoff single. Luzardo made an immediate splash late last season out of the bullpen with his velocity and highly effective curveball, but he projects for the No. 4 slot in the starting rotation in 2020.

Perez allowed one unearned run over two innings in his Grapefruit League debut against the Pirates on Wednesday, striking out three batters in the process. He was hitting 94-95 mph in the outing, Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Interim manager Ron Roenicke said afterward that they want to work with Perez's pitch mix this spring to help him recapture the form he showed over the first two months of last season, perhaps getting him to use his changeup more often and his cutter less frequently. "His changeup is outstanding," Roenicke said. "It's a strikeout changeup."

Morton was credited with a win in a Grapefruit League victory over the Orioles on Tuesday, firing a scoreless first inning during which he issued one walk and recorded a strikeout.

The 36-year-old right-hander threw just 11 pitches overall, with the free pass he issued to Chris Davis his only hiccup. Morton ultimately threw one breaking pitch during the outing, a fact that Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports left the veteran pitcher displeased but manager Kevin Cash wholly unconcerned. "He's got how many years in the big leagues - 12? We're not going to value whether he throws one breaking ball or 10 in his first spring training outing," Cash said. Morton will have a chance to diversify his repertoire in a likely start at some point this coming weekend.

Teheran (hamstring) said he plans on making his first Cactus League start Sunday or Monday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Despite being scratched a day in advance of his scheduled spring debut Wednesday against the Dodgers, Teheran said that his tight left hamstring is only a minor injury and nothing that he thinks will jeopardize his availability for the start of the season. If Teheran can get back to game action within the next few days like he believes, he should remain on pace to get enough innings this spring to secure a spot in the Angels' Opening Day rotation.

Sale (illness) completed his bullpen session without issues Wednesday, but his late start due to pneumonia means he's unlikely to be ready by Opening Day, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Sale didn't exactly need more question marks heading into the season on the back of an injury-filled 2019 campaign. He was considered completely healthy when he showed up to camp, having recovered from the platelet-rich plasma injection he received in August, but the illness led to him getting considerably behind schedule. He's expected to throw a live batting practice session Saturday and then another one next week before jumping into game action. The Red Sox want to be very careful in his buildup this season and will be happy to have him miss a turn or two at the start of the year if it means his odds of staying healthy for the remainder of the season improve.

The Astros have scratched Verlander ahead of his scheduled Grapefruit League start Thursday against the Nationals due to groin discomfort, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Manager Dusty Baker said that Verlander will throw a simulated game instead, which suggests the groin issue isn't viewed as anything significant. Assuming he can make it through the simulated game without any renewed soreness, Verlander should slot back into the Grapefruit League pitching schedule next week.

McCullers threw his first bullpen session of the spring Tuesday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

McCullers, who missed all of 2019 while on the mend following Tommy John elbow surgery, is among the candidates for the No. 3 spot in the rotation. Houston manager Dusty Baker expects the right-hander to get into a game for the first time since 2018 within the next few days.