MLB Player News

The White Sox are having internal discussions about signing Clevinger, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

The White Sox are also reportedly in on Michael Lorenzen as they seek much-needed rotation reinforcements following the trade of Dylan Cease and move of Michael Kopech to the bullpen. Clevinger had a solid 2023 campaign with the White Sox, holding a 3.77 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 110:40 K:BB over 131.1 innings.

The Yankees and White Sox are among the teams to show interest in Lorenzen, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

The Yankees are still awaiting more clarity on Gerrit Cole's (elbow) situation, but with their ace likely to miss a chunk of the season, at minimum, they're poking around on rotation help. As far as the White Sox go, they've traded Dylan Cease and moved Michael Kopech to the bullpen, so they desperately need arms for their rotation. Lorenzen posted a 4.18 ERA and 111:47 K:BB over 153 innings last season between the Tigers and Phillies.

White Sox general manager Chris Getz said Thursday that Kopech will begin the season in the bullpen, Scot Gregor of the Chicago Daily Herald reports.

Kopech finished last season in the bullpen, but the White Sox seemingly had been committed to him as a starter again heading into 2024. However, they've reversed course even after trading starter Dylan Cease. Kopech was excellent in relief back in 2021 and immediately becomes a candidate to close for the club, perhaps even the favorite for the job. It's a boost to Kopech's fantasy outlook, but even if he does close he'll be doing so for one of the worst teams in the league.

Irvin allowed only one hit and zero walks over five scoreless innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins. He struck out five.

Facing a Miami lineup that features most of its likely Opening Day starters, Irvin delivered a dominant 52 pitches (43 strikes) as he built up ahead of Opening Day. The 27-year-old right-hander has a somewhat stunning 16:2 K:BB through 12.2 spring innings, but considering he managed only an 18.7 percent strikeout rate against a 10.2 walk rate over 121 innings for the Nationals last season, he'll need to keep producing good numbers when the games start to count before he'll draw significant interest from fantasy GMs.

Espino will miss the entire 2024 season after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair his right shoulder capsule and rotator cuff, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

Espino had surgery last May to repair the anterior capsule in his pitching shoulder and now has an additional shoulder surgery that he'll need to rehab. The 23-year-old had flashed some of the best raw stuff in the minors since entering the professional ranks in 2019, but he simply hasn't been able to stay healthy, as he's battled numerous shoulder and knee problems. It's not clear when Espino might be game-ready again, but it probably won't be until at least midseason in 2025.

Severino allowed one run on two hits over four innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He struck out three without walking a batter.

The 30-year-old right-hander is trying to get his career back on track with the Mets after eight seasons with the Yankees, and so far in camp the results have been excellent. The run Severino gave up Wednesday was his first of the spring, and through nine Grapefruit League innings he's posted an 8:0 K:BB while showing good velocity. The Mets are counting on him to plug a hole in their rotation, but since throwing 191.1 innings in 2018, the biggest workload Severino has managed in the majors is 102 innings during 2022 due to a variety of injuries.

Perez still believes he'll be able to build up properly ahead of Opening Day despite the fingernail issues that have plagued him this spring, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

The precocious 20-year-old right-hander threw only 14 pitches Wednesday due to a recurrence of the issues -- which is problematic when he was scheduled to get up into the 70-pitch range and days are running short on the Grapefruit League calendar. Perez says his early exit wasn't due to his nail splitting again however, but rather that the fake nail he was wearing to protect it began to lift up. "I don't know yet," Perez said Wednesday when asked what the next step in his preparations for the regular season would be. "I spoke with [head athletic trainer] Lee [Meyer], and he told me that we will tackle this early [Thursday], and we're going to make sure we have a plan so this doesn't happen during the season." As yet, Perez's availability for Opening Day doesn't appear to be in real jeopardy, but one more truncated spring outing simply won't leave him enough time to get built up.

Bassitt struck out nine batters in 5.1 innings during Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates, allowing one run on three hits and a walk.

The veteran right-hander faced a Pittsburgh lineup that only included a handful of regulars, but aside from a solo shot by Oneil Cruz in the sixth inning, Bassitt had little trouble carving up the opposition. He built up to 73 pitches (47 strikes) and looks just about ready for Opening Day, having posted a 14:1 K:BB through 14.2 spring innings. Should Kevin Gausman (shoulder) not be quite ready when the regular season begins, it's not out of the question that Bassitt takes the mound for the Blue Jays' opener.

Elder gave up five runs on five hits and three walks over 4.1 innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles. He struck out three.

He did manage to keep the ball in the yard, something his Baltimore counterpart Cole Irvin failed to do, and Elder got closer to being fully stretched out, but there otherwise weren't many positive takeaways from this performance. The 24-year-old right-hander saw his control erode in the second half last season -- he posted a 4.0 BB/9 after July 1, following a 2.6 BB/9 over the first three months of 2023 -- and those issues have persisted this spring, as he's managed a 13:6 K:BB through 12 Grapefruit League innings. Elder remains in the mix for Atlanta's fifth starter role, but Reynaldo Lopez appears to be the favorite to begin the season with the job.

Kelly allowed two runs on five hits and struck out four over three innings in Wednesday's spring start against the Rockies.

Kelly emptied the entire arsenal of pitches Wednesday, throwing 47 overall. He worked on his changeup leading up to his second Cactus League start, after featuring a developing slider the first time out. "I've thrown my changeup for a long time now, it's kind of been the pitch that I've gone to when I needed something," Kelly told Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports. "The slider is obviously something that I want to make more consistent and more into a usable pitch, so the emphasis coming into spring was on the slider and sometimes when you do that the feel for the rest of the pitches kind of isn't as sharp." Kelly will get two more starts to work up to 75-80 pitches before the regular season opens.