MLB Player News

Kopech (hand) appeared in an extended spring training game for the first time Monday, throwing two scoreless innings and striking out three, the Boston Globe reports. The right-hander's fastball topped out at 99 mph.

Kopech, who broke his right hand punching a teammate in spring training, in time will be assigned to a minor league team, mostly likely Low-A Greenville. The Red Sox are high on Kopech, but this is his second off-field incident. Last season, Kopech was suspended 50 games when testing positive for a banned amphetamine.

Verlander (4-5) allowed four runs on four hits with seven strikeouts over 7.1 innings in Monday's loss to the Angels.

Verlander had a shutout going through seven innings but ran out of gas in the eighth, as he was finally pulled after 116 pitches (81 strikes). He got no help from his bullpen, as reliever Buck Farmer allowed two inherited runners to score to spoil Verlander's bid for a quality start. Other than that, Verlander was fantastic -- he drew 13 swinging strikes in a vintage Verlander performance through the first seven frames. He has been back in form of late, with four consecutive quality starts with 37 strikeouts over his past four outings.

Carrasco (hamstring) could rejoin the rotation as soon as Friday but might be limited to 80 pitches, MLB.com reports.

The Indians could still opt to have Carrasco make one more minor league start before rejoining the rotation but a lot may depend on how well he responds to Monday's throwing session.

Nuno struck out four batters and allowed just one hit in 2.2 scoreless innings during Sunday's loss to the Twins.

Nuno has been a key contributor to a dominant Seattle bullpen that has a collective ERA of 2.51. His 1.08 ERA and 0.78 WHIP have been made possible by his incredible ball control, as he has an astronomical 20.00 K/BB and 0.54 BB/9 after pitching 16.2 innings across 19 games. He's also given up just one home run this season, which is a relief to the Mariners, as his HR/9 in 2015 was 1.52.

Rodriguez (knee) was activated from the 15-day DL Monday, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Rodriguez was announced as Tuesday's starter earlier in the week, and the demotion of Heath Hembree to Triple-A to free up a roster spot made it official. The left-handed Rodriguez will draw a tough matchup in his first game back, facing the Orioles in the hitter-friendly Camden Yards.

Quintana took the loss Monday against the Mets despite striking out seven while holding the Mets to one run on six hits over seven innings.

Matt Harvey was slightly better, with seven scoreless frames of his own. Quintana continues to impress in 2016, and he now boasts a 67:14 K:BB in 72 innings. Entering Monday's start, Quintana ranked fifth among qualified starters in WAR (6.2) over the past calendar year, while his 2.69 ERA during that span is backed by a 2.81 FIP. He'll face a righty-heavy Tigers lineup in Detroit on Sunday in his next scheduled start.

Alvarez (shoulder) threw from flat ground Monday without any issues, MLB.com's Jane Lee reports.

Alvarez began throwing a day earlier than initially expected, but the progress is minimal on what has been a rocky road to recovery. The hope is that this will eventually lead to a full side session, and that he can start another rehab assignment in short order. The best-case scenario for Alvarez might be a mid-June return to the rotation, but everything would have to fall right into place for that to be realistic.

Hill (groin) will have an extra day off between starts thanks to an off-day in the A's schedule Thursday, John Hickey of the San Jose Mercury News reports. It's unclear, however, if the A's will use another off-day June 6 to simply skip Hill this time through the rotation.

Kendall Graveman, who is scheduled to start Monday against Minnesota and Sunday at Houston, could start on regular rest Saturday against the Astros, allowing Eric Surkamp (Tuesday's starter) to get a turn in the weekend series with Houston on Sunday. In that scenario, the A's could use their June 6 off-day, along with their June 9 off-day, to keep Hill out of their rotation until after the series against the Reds, which runs from June 10 through June 12. Regardless of how they choose to operate, the A's have the luxury of adjusting their schedule in a way that gives Hill plenty of rest for his groin injury, even if they don't end up giving him a brief stint on the DL.

The Yankees activated Severino (triceps) from the disabled list Monday and optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Severino has recovered from the triceps injury that landed him on the disabled list, but he got off to a rough start this season and the Yankees want him to work through things at the minor-league level for the time being. He did post a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts with the big league club last season and is one of the team's top young pitchers, so there is a good chance he returns to New York once he has thins ironed out.

Gibson (shoulder) will be activated from the DL and start Thursday against the Rays, MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger reports.

Gibson will take the rotation spot of Phil Hughes, who will be moved to the bullpen according to manager Paul Molitor. Gibson had limited success earlier in the season (6.10 ERA), but has emerged from two rehab starts relatively unscathed, and could be in line for improvement now that he's healthy.