MLB Player News

Chirinos allowed an earned run on two hits and recorded three strikeouts over one inning in a 2-2 Grapefruit League tie with the Red Sox on Monday.

The slimmed-down right-hander worked around a couple of singles to Jose Peraza and Kevin Plawecki, the latter driving in the former. Outside of those hiccups, Chirinos recorded whiffs of Tzu-Wei Lin, Michael Chavis and Rusney Castillo to work out of the inning, and Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports Chirinos could already feel the benefits of his offseason work during his brief time on the mound. "I feel good," Chirinos said. "I lost some good pounds, and I feel good physically. All I'm looking for is feeling comfortable out on the mound, and thankfully that's how I'm feeling right now."

Eovaldi allowed two hits and struck out four in two innings in Monday's spring game against the Twins.

Eovaldi cited the return of his splitter as the catalyst for his strong spring debut. "Yeah, I'd say my splitter for sure," Eovaldi told Ian Browne of MLB.com. "Last year it was real inconsistent. That was one of the pitches I really focused on this offseason. Make sure I got that back on track. Today they were really consistent." After an inconsistent 2019 season, during which he served some time as a reliever, Eovladi will resume his role as a full-time starter in 2020. With David Price off to Los Angeles, the Red Sox need the 2018 version of Eovaldi, a starter who helped them win the World Series.

Sale will throw an extended batting practice session later this week, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Sale, who felt good following a bullpen session Sunday, will simulate a multiple-inning situation during the extended bullpen. "He'll throw, probably take a couple minute breather and then get up and throw again. It's kind of an up-and-down for him," said interim manager Ron Roenicke. Sale, who was shut down early in camp due to pneumonia, may not get the six spring starts Boston had hoped for him. It's not yet clear when he'll begin to get into Grapefruit League games.

Walker, who was slated to make his first Cactus League start Thursday against the Giants, will instead pitch in a simulated game Friday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. "We'll bump him back," manager Scott Servais said. "We'll probably do one more live up-down before we slide him into the regular 'A' game rotation. I thought he threw well on the backfields today. He felt good coming out of it, so he'll continue building on that."

The right-hander is being treated with an abundance of caution after shoulder and elbow injuries wiped out most of his last two seasons. Johns adds that Walker could potentially pitch in a "B" game Friday as well. Walker got through two innings of live batting practice Monday without issues.

Cole pitched a scoreless inning in his Yankees debut Monday, allowing one walk and striking out two batters in a tie with Pittsburgh.

Cole allowed a walk to Cole Tucker after getting ahead in the count 0-2, but he was otherwise impressive in his first game action with the team that signed him to a massive nine-year contract in the offseason. He threw 20 total pitches -- 12 of which were strikes -- and induced a pop out in addition to his two strikeouts.

Boyd took the loss in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros, allowing a solo home run and a walk across two innings of work. He struck out three.

The outing was a microcosm of Boyd's 2019 campaign, as he gave up plenty of home runs (39, second most in the league) but also racked up the strikeouts (238 in 185.1 innings pitched). The southpaw continues to show glimpses of brilliance, but he's yet to sustain it across a full season. He'll line up as Detroit's unquestioned ace heading into 2020 and will look to improve his consistency on the mound.

Maeda gave up a run, on a home run, with a strikeout over two innings in his Twins debut in Saturday's spring training win over Boston.

Minnesota has said that Maeda will be part of the starting rotation and there's no indication he may be used in the bullpen at times like he was with the Dodgers. He moved to the bullpen in September each of the last two seasons in Los Angeles. His 26.4 K% and 8.3 BB% as a starter should help make Maeda an above-average starter with the Twins.

Rodriguez (knee) completed a bullpen session Monday, Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe reports.

Rodriguez's spring debut was pushed back after he hurt his knee during a bullpen session last week, but his ability to get back on the mound a few days later suggests the injury won't threaten his availability for the start of the season. If Rodriguez's knee responded well to Monday's side session, he could be cleared to face hitters in live batting practice later this week.

Berrios threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts in Sunday's spring training win over Toronto. He reached 95 miles per hour with his fastball, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

The Twins are making plans to reduce his workouts during the season in order to try to give him more endurance in the second half after he struggled after the All-Star break for a second consecutive season. (He had a 5.83 ERA over his last eight starts in 2019.) Berrios looks set to remain a steady presence at the top of the Minnesota rotation and could take a leap forward if he can avoid another late-season decline.

Civale is slightly behind schedule as he deals with a sore groin, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

Civale is dealing with a sore groin after fielding work, and he'll be behind schedule by several days as he recovers. The right-hander is scheduled to throw a simulated game in the coming days, and it's unlikely that the injury will force him to miss much time barring any setbacks. Civale was effective in his first major-league action last season, posting a 2.34 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over 57.2 innings.