MLB Player News

Rodriguez (knee) won't be ready to start a regular season game until April 26, the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson reports.

He will throw 20 pitches off a mound Wednesday -- the first time he will have done so since dislocating his right kneecap in a fielding drill Feb. 27. The team hasn't officially closed the door on Rodriguez being ready for the start of the season, but manager John Farrell has also said they won't skip steps, meaning the young lefty is already out of time to get ready in time for his first turn in the rotation. Each of the other starting pitchers in camp with the Red Sox are scheduled to make at least six starts/multi-inning appearances before Opening Day, so Rodriguez is well behind schedule. He will throw off a bullpen mound Wednesday and hopefully progress to getting in his first game March 22. Roenis Elias, Henry Owens and Steven Wright are the candidates to make three starts in the Red Sox's rotation while Rodriguez gets up to speed. While Rodriguez appears to be headed for the DL to start the season, if he can return in mid-to-late April he will still have plenty of time to generate value for his owners.

Snell was optioned to minor league camp Tuesday.

Snell was terrific last season, posting a 1.83 ERA at the Triple-A level while boasting a 57:13 K:BB walk ratio in 44.1 innings. He should get the chance to make his big league debut at some point in 2016, but it appears as though he'll start the season back in the minors.

Rodriguez is expected to throw approximately 20 pitches off a mound for the first time since his knee surgery, Alex Speir of The Boston Globe reports.

This will likely give the Red Sox a better idea of when Rodriguez can return to pitching at full strength. Manager John Farrell has stated that Rodriguez will not skip any steps in his recovery, making it a real possibility that the 22-year-old could miss his first start of the season.

Milone gave up no runs and one hit over four innings to lower his spring ERA to 2.00 in Monday's spring training win over the Reds.

Milone may be leading the competition with Trevor May and Ricky Nolasco for the fifth starter role at this point. May has struggled and the Twins are predisposed to keep him in the bullpen while Nolasco has given up six runs in 7.1 innings.

Sale threw 75 pitches in a "B" game Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Sale has yet to pitch in a Cactus League game due to a desire to keep his workload down this summer and prevent opposing teams from getting too much film on him or at-bats against him. However, he appears to be building up his arm appropriately. He should debut against the Dodgers this weekend.

Keuchel fired three scoreless innings against the Nationals on Monday, allowing just one hit while striking out four.

The reigning AL Cy Young award winner appeared to be in midseason form, breezing through a Nationals' lineup that featured mostly regulars. The 28-year-old southpaw will take the mound for the Astros when they visit the Yankees on Opening Day.

Miley gave up three runs in his second spring start, all in the second inning, striking out one and walking none in three innings.

Miley was perfect in the first and third innings and said his trouble in the second inning stemmed from working on certain pitches. "I was trying to work on fastballs in, sinkers in, trying to get them to come back," Miley told the Seattle Times. "They were coming back more than I'd like." Miley is slated to be the second or third starter in the rotation this season.

Boyd allowed five hits, two walks and four earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched, picking up only three strikeouts in Sunday's spring training loss to the Pirates.

Boyd looked fairly solid in his previous two starts, only allowing one earned run in five innings, but Sunday's performance seems more in line with his performance last year. Boyd had a 7.53 ERA in 13 games last season while bouncing between Triple-A and the majors for both the Tigers and Blue Jays.

Darvish threw 20 pitches in a bullpen session on Monday, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Darvish will begin to include more of his pitches in these bullpen sessions in the next few weeks and his rehab appears to be going well. He is on pace to return to the Rangers' rotation in the middle of May.