MLB Player News

Lynn allowed five earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out five over 2.2 innings in Sunday's game against the Dodgers.

This was Lynn's first spring start after throwing simulated games in camp. He cruised through the first two innings, striking out the side in the first, before getting into trouble as his outing was coming to a close. Manager Chris Woodward gave him the opportunity to escape a bases-loaded, two-out jam, but he allowed a double to end his work. "The stuff was all right, because there wasn't any hard contact or any balls that were barreled up, that's for sure," Lynn told Dave Sessions of MLB.com. "I'll stay there, fine-tune it a little bit more, get ahead and then quicker innings would be nice." The right-hander was a victim of the free-agent squeeze in 2018 and didn't sign with the Twins until mid-March, which hurt his early season performance. He appeared in only two spring games, going 0-3 with an 8.37 ERA in April. He recovered to pitch well the rest of the way (4.13 ERA, 135 strikeouts, 133 innings). After signing a three-year deal with the Rangers in December, he will have plenty of ramp-up to the regular season.

Bridwell was reassigned to minor-league camp Sunday, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports.

Bridwell didn't fare well in his first three games of camp, posting a 31.50 ERA with two strikeouts over 2.0 innings. He saw limited time in the majors a season ago with the Angels (one start) but is unlikely to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster after getting cut from big-league camp.

Cole fired two scoreless innings, striking out three and walking one in Sunday's game against the Nationals.

Cole was making his second start of the spring and first with Houston's new catcher, Robinson Chirinos, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. "I liked it," Cole said of his chemistry Chirinos. "He was familiar with where I like to throw the ball, so he gave me some good targets. He was on the plate when he wanted us to challenge guys, on the corner when we kind of wanted to pick away. Good rhythm, good flow. I didn't shake too many times, so it was good." The right-hander walked the first batter, then retired the final six Nationals faced. Cole threw all of his pitches and was pleased with his fastball command.

Glasnow continued to experiment with his new delivery with mixed results in Saturday's 11-3 Grapefruit League loss to the Phillies, J. Scott Butherus of MLB.com reports. Glasnow allowed three earned runs on two hits and two walks over his 1.1 innings.

The righty delivered only 18 of his 40 offerings into the strike zone. He continued frequently deploying his new delivery, one in which he double pumps his lead leg after a brief pause before releasing the ball. Glasnow continued to exhibit improved velocity Saturday when utilizing the new approach, as he maxed out at 99 mph on the gun on a strikeout of Scott Kingery. Glasnow assigned blame for his second-inning struggles to a combination of fatigue and some hiccups when trying to switch between his more conventional delivery out of the stretch and his new one, but he remains encouraged with the overall results of his spring experiment. "I know today wasn't really the greatest get-ahead, strike-throwing day," Glasnow said. "But it was a little better than the first, and I think as I build up everything will come into place."

Montas fired three scoreless innings in Saturday's 1-0 Cactus League win over the Indians, allowing two hits and recording a pair of strikeouts.

Montas put up his second scoreless effort in as many spring appearances, with Saturday's outing coming in relief. The hard-throwing right-hander worked the final three innings of the win, earning the save and making another strong case in his bid for the fifth and final rotation spot. According to Jane Lee of MLB.com, Montas is one of two candidates for the job -- Aaron Brooks being the other -- that is out of minor-league options, which could serve as a tiebreaker in his favor when it comes time for manager Bob Melvin to make a final decision.

Kremer (oblique) was seen playing catch Sunday, Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun reports.

It was reported early last week that Kremer was still weeks away from throwing as he has battled the left oblique strain for about a month. A return appears to be on the horizon for the 23-year-old, though he'll first need to progress to throwing off a mound. Kremer was also reassigned to minor-league camp Sunday, per Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports.

Blackburn allowed two hits and recorded a strikeout over three scoreless innings in Saturday's 1-0 Cactus League win over the Indians.

One of multiple pitchers vying for the Athletics' fifth and final rotation spot, Blackburn turned in a gem during this time on the mound. Following an injury-marred 2018 that featured a pair of injured list stints, Blackburn has yet to walk a batter over five spring frames and earned high praise from manager Bob Melvin following Saturday's appearance, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports. "He looked by far the best, his bullpens, anything," Melvin said. "Good life in his arm today. Ball was moving late, had a good breaking ball. Looked like when we've seen him pitch really well in Oakland. This was a different guy for me."

Stroman struck out three over two perfect innings in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays.

After a bumpy spring debut earlier in the week, Stroman looked sharp in this one. The right-hander is looking to rebound from his worst season in the majors, and the first step will be staying healthy after he made only 19 starts last year. Even if does return to his 2017 form, Stroman's lack of strikeouts puts a damper on his fantasy value in most formats.

Heaney's next start has been pushed back due to left elbow inflammation, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Heaney apparently complained of the issue after making his 2019 spring debut Tuesday against the Athletics. Elbow inflammation is often cause for concern, but the 27-year-old continues to participate in long toss and has no MRI scheduled. It's unclear when Heaney will return to game action, though the injury is being described as minor, and Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports he could have a bullpen session Monday.

Kikuchi allowed two earned runs on two hits over three innings in the Mariners' 8-0 Cactus League loss to the Royals on Saturday. He struck out three.

The prized offseason acquisition has been impressive through his first two appearances, even as he gave up his first two earned runs this spring against the Royals. The left-hander was perfect through his first two frames Saturday and struck out two in the first inning. Kikuchi is still naturally in the early stages of adjusting to the majors after a successful career in Japan, and he's already tweaked his pregame routine in an attempt to make it more abbreviated. Moreover, Owen Perkins of MLB.com reports that Kikuchi is actively taking mental notes of in-game adjustments that he'll need to make in order to be successful stateside. "All my pitches are feeling really good," Kikuchi said, speaking through an interpreter. "I need to be a little more fine with my two-strike pitches, because I've noticed if it's too much in the zone that they're going to take advantage of that, so that's the next thing I'm going to work on."