MLB Player News

The Red Sox reassigned Olivarez (shoulder) to minor-league camp Wednesday, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

Once a promising pitching prospect in the Rockies organization, Olivarez's star has faded after shoulder problems limited him to just two total regular-season innings in the minors over the past two years. He joined the Red Sox on a minor-league pact in November and is seemingly healthy again, as he made two Grapefruit League appearances, giving up two earned runs on three hits and two walks over 1.2 innings. Given that Olivarez has yet to appear above the High-A level, he could be a candidate to open the campaign at Double-A Portland rather than Triple-A Worcester.

Valdez will not make his scheduled Grapefruit League start Wednesday against the Mets and will instead face hitters in a simulated game, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

With a threat of rain in the afternoon, the Astros have changed plans and will now have Valdez throw on the back fields in the morning to ensure he gets his work in. Seth Martinez will step in to face the Mets, weather permitting. Coming off a second straight All-Star season, Valdez looks like a lock to start for Houston on Opening Day, especially given that Justin Verlander (shoulder) has been ruled out for the start of the season.

Stroman adjusted his hand position in Saturday's Grapefruit League outing against the Orioles and is "probably tinkering with something every single time he walks to the mound," Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Hoch notes that Stroman held his hands a bit higher in the outing, and while it's unclear how much of an impact that made on his performance, the veteran hurler's results were excellent -- he tossed four scoreless innings, giving up two hits and no walks while striking out three batters. That was considerably better than his first start this spring, when he gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out two over 2.1 frames against Philadelphia. Stroman is set to slot into the middle of New York's rotation behind Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon this season after signing a two-year deal with the team in January.

Civale is working on narrowing his pitch mix this spring to more effectively retire right-handed hitters, Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Civale has minor reverse platoon splits for his career, surrendering a .319 wOBA to righties as opposed to a .290 wOBA to lefties. The Rays have asked him to focus on retiring righties by narrowing his pitch mix, as he currently throws four pitches at least 12 percent of the time. Given that context, he wasn't particularly concerned with his first appearance in the Grapefruit League, during which he surrendered five earned runs across 2.2 innings Monday against the Pirates.

Miller pitched three scoreless innings in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Angels, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out one batter.

Miller tossed 42 pitches in his second start this spring, and the only two hits he allowed were singles. The right-hander went two frames in his first spring start, allowing one run on a pair of hits. Miller is on track to serve as the Dodgers No. 3 starter this season behind new arrivals Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Whitlock allowed two runs on four hits with two strikeouts over three innings in Tuesday's spring start against Tampa Bay.

Whitlock made his third Grapefruit League start and has now allowed runs in all three. When the day began, he was in a competition with Tanner Houck and Josh Winckowski for a single rotation spot; however, circumstances changed by the time he took the mound. The club announced Lucas Giolito is experiencing elbow soreness. One report called it a partial UCL tear and flexor strain, which is likely season-ending injury. That would mean two of the Whitlock/Houck/Winckowski trio will enter the rotation, unless the organization reaches out to an existing free agent, such as Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell. Whitlock has allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out 10 over eight innings.

Nelson allowed two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out two over three-plus innings in Tuesday's spring start against San Diego.

Nelson navigated around traffic through the first three innings but hit a road bump in the fourth, when he was pulled without retiring a batter after giving up a two-run single. Nelson and Tommy Henry have been locked in a battle for the No. 5 starter job, and the two pitchers have mirrored each other. Both had impressive outings the first two starts before each faced adversity the third time out. Nelson has allowed three runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out 12 over eight innings.

Olson tossed three scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against Atlanta. He allowed two hits and struck out four.

Olson pitched well against an Atlanta lineup that featured a few of the team's regulars. The young righty came into the contest having allowed four runs across his first 3.2 innings this spring. Olson is locked into a battle for one of Detroit's final rotation spots, with Matt Manning and Alex Faedo presumably in the mix as well.

Gallen will make his first start of spring training Thursday against the Rangers.

Gallen has thrown live batting practice and in a simulated game on the back fields in preparation for his Thursday debut. He'll be followed by Merrill Kelly on Friday, and Arizona's top two starters should each get four starts through the month before Gallen takes the ball Opening Day, March 28, against the Rockies.

Lyles experienced lower back tightness Tuesday but is feeling better, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Lyles exited Tuesday's "B" game versus the Rangers with the injury after fielding a grounder. The details regarding the injury were initially not available, but he was feeling better when he left the complex and will be reevaluated Wednesday morning.