MLB Player News

Gibson (illness) is scheduled to take the mound in Monday's spring game against the Orioles, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Gibson was scratched from the first week of spring games as he continued to recover from a bout of E. coli in January. Barring a setback, the 31-year-old's return to action should solidify his status for the start of the regular season, as he is set to play a major role in the Twins' starting rotation.

Smyly pitched a scoreless inning in Thursday's game against the Angels.

A victim of Tommy John elbow surgery, Smyly faced major-league hitters in a game environment for the first time in 23 months. He threw 12 of his 16 pitches for strikes in what was an encouraging short outing. The 29-year-old left-hander should have a place in the middle of the Rangers' rotation to begin the season.

Giolito allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits while striking out two over two innings in Thursday's game against the Mariners.

Giolito, who debuted a shorter arm swing in his delivery, was victimized by a dropped flyball that led to two unearned runs. The right-hander contributed to the messy outing, hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch. He was pleased with the new delivery, but noted he needs to work on pitching out of the stretch. "The windup felt good, like I was in control and relaxed the whole time,'' Giolito told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Out of the stretch I felt like I was leaking a little bit. Need to work on pitching out of the stretch."

Dunning (forearm) will not throw for the next 7-to-10 days, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Dunning was shut down earlier in the week after experiencing forearm discomfort. Fortunately, it was determined after further evaluation that the right-hander wouldn't require surgery; instead, he'll rest and receive treatment for at least the next week before picking up throwing thereafter. The White Sox figure to handle Dunning with care moving forward after a sprained elbow cut short his 2018 campaign.

Mize made his spring training debut and allowed a hit to the only batter he faced in Wednesday's Grapefruit League win over the Yankees.

Mize, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 first-year player draft, didn't have the chance to do much on the mound in this one, but the Tigers surely want to get a good look at their potential future ace this spring. The 21-year-old right-hander posted a 3.95 ERA and 14:3 K:BB across 13.2 innings between rookie ball and High-A in 2018. He figures to begin this season at either High-A or Double-A as he looks to increase his minor-league workload before advancing to the majors.

Rodriguez allowed two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three over two innings Wednesday against Baltimore.

Rodriguez has been praised often by manager Alex Cora this spring, and the manager isn't putting too much weight on the left-hander's rocky debut. "(He was) okay. Velocity was good," Cora said. "0-2 breaking ball to Sisco. Usually he doesn't make those mistakes against lefties in the season. He gave up some hits with two strikes. Obviously, for his first outing, he's in one piece. So we're good." The left-hander brought out a new slider he's been working on, throwing two of them, one resulting in a Chance Sisco home run. Rodriguez is lined up to be Boston's fifth starter.

Rodon will start Saturday against the Rockies, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Rodon is ready to make his Cactus League debut after coming away from a simulated outing earlier in the week pleased with the results. While nothing has been confirmed at this point, Rodon is the leading candidate to start for the White Sox on Opening Day.

Keller will make his Cactus League debut Friday against the Angels, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

After a surprisingly productive season as a Rule 5 pick in 2018, Keller is assured a rotation spot with the Royals heading into the upcoming campaign. The right-hander turned in a stellar 3.28 ERA in his 20 starts, but relied mostly on inducing weak contact rather than whiffing batters (16.8 strikeout percentage). Keller at least showed some notable improvement in making bats miss over the final month of the season, when he posted an 11.6 percent swinging-strike rate. That might give him some nascent sleeper potential heading into 2019.

Giolito has shortened his arm swing before delivering a pitch, Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune reports.

When Giolito removes his right hand from the glove during his delivery, he does not extend his arm out wide; it stays closer to his ear. The right-hander described the change as cleaner and more efficient. "It's more direct to my good firing position," he said. "I feel more athletic. You can compare it to how an infielder throws a baseball. It just happened naturally over the offseason and it feels really good, so I'm going with it." Regardless of the arm swing, the key for the 6-foot-7 Giolito, who walked an AL-high 90 batters last year, is repeating his mechanics. We'll get to see the new motion on display Thursday, when he makes his first spring start against the Mariners.

Gonzales allowed one hit and one walk while striking out five over three scoreless innings during Tuesday's spring game against Texas.

Gonzales was set to start the Mariners' Cactus League opener last Thursday but ended up having to wait a few days due to a postponement. It was a fantastic showing to start spring for the 27-year-old, who needed only 24 pitches to get through three frames.