MLB Player News

Severino will be shut down for two weeks with rotator cuff inflammation, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

The diagnosis means Severino will almost certainly miss Opening Day. In the best-case scenario, he'll be back on a mound about a week before the first game of the season, but it will likely take longer than that for him to get up to speed. Barring setbacks, he'll have a chance to only miss a turn or two in the rotation, as manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Severino's MRI "looked pretty good" other than the inflammation.

Heaney (elbow) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session Tuesday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Heaney has been dealing with elbow inflammation since his spring start against the A's on Feb. 26. After throwing from flat ground for three consecutive days with no issues, the left-hander was able to resume mound work Tuesday. If Heaney checks out OK in the coming days, he could be cleared to rejoin the rotation as soon as Friday against the White Sox.

Sale is scheduled to pitch in a minor-league game March 11, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

The outing is expected to mark the final step for Sale before the Red Sox incorporate him into their Grapefruit League pitching schedule, likely later that same week. Sale notably experienced a decline in velocity after returning from a shoulder injury in time for the Red Sox's run to the World Series last season, so the radar readings for the southpaw could bear watching this spring.

German could be needed in the Yankees' rotation if Luis Severino's shoulder injury turns out to be a significant one.

German was expected to be competing for a bullpen job, but he started 14 games for the Yankees last season and could be called on again. Of the Yankees' in-house options, Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa appear to be German's primary competition, though Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez remain options on the free agent market.

Heaney (elbow) will throw a bullpen session Tuesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Heaney skipped his previous start due to elbow inflammation, but the issue is apparently a minor one. He threw from flat ground Monday and will throw again just one day later. If all goes well during the bullpen session, he should be ready to rejoin the Angels' pitching schedule in Friday's Cactus League matchup with the White Sox.

Severino was scratched from his start Tuesday against the Braves due to shoulder discomfort.

Severino will undergo an MRI later Tuesday to determine the extent of the issue. A minor setback wouldn't seriously threaten his start to the season, but if he's shut down from throwing for any significant period of time, a trip to the injured list would be likely, with just over three weeks remaining before Opening Day.

Severino was scratched from his scheduled spring start Tuesday against the Braves for undisclosed reasons, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.

Stephen Tarpley will start in his place. No specific reason for the scratch was announced.

The Tigers assigned Mize to their minor-league camp Tuesday, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Mize, the top overall pick in the 2018 first-year player draft, made two appearances in Grapefruit League play, giving up one run and striking out a pair of hitters over two innings. He'll likely open the 2019 campaign at Double-A Erie or High-A Lakeland.

Gibson (illness) threw two scoreless innings in his spring training debut Monday with three strikeouts and two walks. He lost around 15 pounds after battling E. coli in January, but has gained some of the weight back, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Gibson weighed 215 pounds before the illness and is back to 205 pounds. It sounds like he's on track to be ready for the start of the regular season, but watch his progress this spring.

Rodriguez allowed three hits and struck out two over two scoreless innings Monday against the Mets.

Rodriguez's line looked good, but manager Alex Cora had a different perspective. "For him to go deeper into games, he needs to attack guys -- his stuff was good, he got some swings and misses but those are things we need to get better and he knows it," Cora told Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. "We need that next step -- 5 1/3 (innings), it's tough -- we want him to go deeper into games, and his stuff, he can do that whenever he feels like it. It's part of the learning process. He's holding up, he's been in the league a long, long time -- it's time for him to step up." This was Rodriguez's second spring outing, a game when most starters throwing three-plus innings, so Cora has a point. The left-hander has yet to throw more than 137 innings in a season and averages 5.3 innings per start.