MLB Player News

Cole allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five over 5.1 innings Sunday against the Nationals.

Cole was his usual stingy self this spring, holding opponents to a .179 batting average and posting a 2.81 ERA over five starts (16.1 innings). His next outing will be the second game of the season, Friday against Tampa Bay.

Montas fired three scoreless innings in an exhibition win over the Giants on Sunday, allowing two walks and recording three strikeouts.

The right-hander brought his spring ERA down to a minuscule 0.56 with the outing, which may have cemented his claim to one of the two open rotation spots. Montas has added a bit more variety to his repertoire thus far this year, utilizing sinkers and changeups to make his mid-90s fastball even more effective. Chris Haft of MLB.com reports that while manager Bob Melvin isn't ready to announce his final personnel decisions, he's clearly been impacted by Montas' spring performance. "Frankie Montas is pitching great," Melvin said. "I'm not saying he's on there for sure -- we'll let guys know at the appropriate time -- but, man, he's done everything that you would ask to make a team. And when you're pitching like he is to make a team, there's more pressure on you. So it's been doubly impressive."

Kikuchi will be limited to one inning every few starts in the coming season in order to preserve his arm during his first major-league campaign, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. "The whole key with Yusei is to get him through the entire season healthy," manager Scott Servais said. "I can't tell you if it'll be the fourth start or fifth start or sixth start or seventh start. I don't know when exactly, but it's definitely something we want to stay on."

The Mariners will deploy the unique approach with the goal of having Kikuchi steer clear of the arm issues that often plague Japanese pitching transplants once they're exposed to the more accelerated pitching schedule stateside. The team also plans to utilize most of those abbreviated starts as opportunities to have a Triple-A prospect such as Justus Sheffield or Erik Swanson work as a long reliever and thus get experience against big-league bats. Following a solid major-league debut versus the Athletics in Japan last Thursday, Kikuchi is slated to next take the mound against the Red Sox on Friday night.

Verlander allowed two hits and struck out nine over five scoreless innings Saturday against the Marlins.

Verlander put a nice cap on spring training, during which he posted a 2.60 ERA. He reported being out of sync earlier in the camp but found something by watching video Friday and made adjustments Saturday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports. The right-hander didn't get into detail but said the adjustment revolves around the way he's loading his hips. "I saw something I thought I could improve upon now," he said. "I think I told you guys how kind of off I was as I was trying to make some adjustments. I think that kind of led me down the path of where I'm at now. I was looking for some things. ... I'm pretty good intuitively listening to my body and it doesn't get much better than it does tonight for me with the feel I had." Verlander's next outing will come Opening Day, March 28, against the Rays.

Cobb was diagnosed with a mild right groin strain after exiting Saturday's spring game against the Twins, Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports.

Cobb was forced from Saturday's game after tossing a scoreless first inning. The 31-year-old was slated to start Opening Day against the Yankees on Thursday, but his availability for that game is now up in the air as he is set to be evaluated over the next few days. According to Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports, Cobb has no additional tests scheduled and will throw a bullpen session Monday or Tuesday to help determine his status.

Kluber will be the Indians' Opening Day starter next Thursday against the Twins, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

Klubot posted a 2.89 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 222:34 K:BB over 215 innings last season, so it's not much of a surprise he'll get the chance to start things off for the Indians again in 2019. The 32-year-old did show a drop in velocity toward the end of 2018, but Kluber took things slow in spring training in an attempt to manage his workload. Kluber has exceeded 200 innings during each of the last five seasons, with a 2.85 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in that span.

Cobb left his start Saturday against the Twins with right groin soreness, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Cobb had been named the Orioles' Opening Day starter, but suffering an injury just five days before the season begins casts some doubt over his availability. It's unclear if his removal was simply precautionary or if he's expected to miss an extended period.

German will open the season as the Yankees' fourth starter, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

CC Sabathia (knee, chest) isn't expected to miss too much time and will bump German back one spot when he returns, but German's starting role should be relatively safe until Luis Severino (shoulder) gets back on the mound in May. Gio Gonzalez, Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa loom should German fail to impress in his first few starts.

Montgomery (elbow) was placed on the 60-day injured list Saturday.

Per Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, Montgomery revealed earlier in the day that he doesn't expect to be ready to pitch in the majors until mid-August, thus making it unsurprising the Yankees will stash him on the 60-day IL. At this point in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, Montgomery is throwing off a half mound, but not at full effort. He's expected to resume tossing fastballs off a full mound next week, but will again be barred from throwing at full capacity.

Valdez will make the Astros' Opening Day bullpen, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Valdez beat out Reymin Guduan as the Astros' only left-handed reliever. The 25-year-old started five games for Houston last season and relieved in three more, finishing with an impressive 2.19 ERA. His 4.65 FIP casts some doubt on that number, however, as he walked 15.6 percent of opposing batters, though he keeps the ball on the ground very well, generating a 70.3 percent groundball rate.