MLB Player News

Treinen fired two perfect frames in an extra-innings loss to the Mariners in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday. He struck out four.

The ultra-efficient 22-pitch outing was simply an extension of the dominance Treinen exhibited during Cactus League play, and for that matter, all of last season. The closer was shut out of a save opportunity Thursday due to the score remaining deadlocked at 4-4 during his pair of frames, but Treinen projects to have no shortage of such chances on a talented squad over the course of the season.

Romano has been informed he won't make the Rangers' roster, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

As a Rule 5 pick, Romano will now have to be offered back to the Blue Jays. He failed to make his case for a roster spot after recording a mediocre 6:5 K:BB in 9.1 innings this spring.

Axford has a stress reaction in the olecranon of his right elbow, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Axford has been with the Blue Jays as a non-roster invitee, but he'll have to wait for his chance to crack the big-league roster. His exact timeline is unclear, but he's expected to open the year on the injured list.

McHugh threw 65 to 70 pitches in a simulated game Wednesday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McHugh, who is one start behind schedule due to back soreness earlier in camp, needs innings, and rain has impacted the team's pitching plans this week. The right-hander feels he can still get up to where he needs to be before the start of the regular season.

Colome allowed two runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning Wednesday in a minor-league game, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Colome is expected to be named the White Sox's closer despite a 4.76 ERA over six Cactus League appearances. He'll pitch again Thursday, his first back-to-back outings of the spring.

Junis is expected to start the Royals' second game of the regular season March 30 versus the White Sox, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic reports.

Beyond announcing that Brad Keller would take the hill for Opening Day, the Royals haven't formally outlined their rotation plans to begin the season. Manager Ned Yost did clear things up somewhat Tuesday, however, when he said Ian Kennedy would head to the bullpen, leaving Junis, Jorge Lopez and Homer Bailey to follow Keller in the pitching schedule. Junis had some decent moments in 2018 -- particularly in the second half -- but he served up a whopping 32 home runs in 30 starts to prop up his ERA and WHIP to an underwhelming 4.37 and 1.27, respectively. He hasn't seemed to correct his struggles with reining in the long ball so far this spring, serving up two homers over 12.1 innings.

Martin was optioned to Double-A Frisco on Wednesday.

Martin spent all of 2018 with Frisco, but it's hard to say he doesn't need more time there after he stumbled to a 7.28 ERA in 89 innings last season. Some positive regression may be all he needs to take the next step, however, as his ERA was affected by an unsustainably high .443 BABIP and an unsustainably low 57.2 percent strand rate. His FIP was actually quite good, coming in at 3.36.

Jurado was optioned to Triple-A Nashville on Wednesday.

Jurado had at least a chance to crack the Opening Day roster as a reliever but will have to prove himself at the Triple-A level, a stop he skipped last season. There's no reason to believe he'll be much much of a weapon if and when he returns, however, as he posted a 5.93 ERA in 54.2 innings for the Rangers last season while striking out an extremely low 9.1 percent of opposing batters.

Trivino struck out the side in the ninth inning of a 9-7 loss to the Mariners in Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday.

Trivino disposed of the dangerous trio of Jay Bruce, Edwin Encarnacion and Domingo Santana on a modest 17 pitches, notching a swinging strikeout of each. It was an auspicious start to 2019 for the 27-year-old, who was a valued component of the bullpen last season while racking up an 8-3 record, 2.92 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 82 strikeouts over 74 innings. When considering Trivino also mowed down nine batters over just five Cactus League innings prior to Wednesday's dominant performance, it appears the right-hander is poised for a successful encore to his stellar rookie campaign.

Manager Charlie Montoyo said that Axford experienced elbow pain earlier this week and will be checked out by doctors Wednesday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Axford has been attending spring training as a non-roster invitee, but he was seemingly in good position to break camp as a member of the big-league bullpen. The injury suddenly puts him on shakier ground to crack the Opening Day roster, but the Blue Jays will await analysis of Axford's health from doctors before revealing whether he's merely day-to-day or dealing with a longer-term setback.