MLB Player News

Fulmer allowed two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out three over three innings in Friday's start against San Diego.

Fulmer has an inside track to the starting rotation, but he hasn't pitched all that well this spring, allowing 10 runs (seven earned) on 13 hits and seven walks over five innings. After serving up back-to-back home runs Friday, he's given up four long balls and at least one in each start. His performance has allowed Hector Santiago (one run, 10 K, 10 IP) to slip into the conversation for the fifth starter spot.

Snow was optioned to minor-league camp Friday, Maureen Mullen of MLB.com reports.

The career minor leaguer was perfect through his first two spring appearances before getting touched up by the Red Sox for five earned runs on four hits -- including a pair of home runs -- over one inning Tuesday. Snow is slated to provide organizational depth in the coming season at Triple-A Durham, as he's yet to make a regular-season major-league appearance in a professional career that dates back to 2010.

Whalen (0-1) allowed two unearned runs on four hits, a walk, a wild pitch and a hit batsman over three innings in Thursday's 4-0 Cactus League loss to the Giants. He struck out three.

As his line implies, the 23-year-old undeniably had some location problems, but he also kept the strikeouts coming. Whalen is up to nine whiffs over eight spring innings, and one of the two unearned runs he allowed Thursday came on a double-play ball. Whalen's pair of exhibition starts have come as a result of Felix Hernandez's forearm injury, and with the latter beginning to ramp up his activity level in anticipation of a return, Thursday's turn may have been Whalen's last in the spring rotation. However, he's expected to continue getting a look out of the bullpen in anticipation of a potentially steady relief role with the big-league club at some point during the coming season.

Green will start transitioning back to the bullpen according to manager Aaron Boone, Erik Boland of Newsday Sports reports.

Boone made it sound as if Green was never really in consideration for a spot in the rotation, which makes sense when you factor in his success in 2017 and the strength of the team's starting arms. Last season, Green posted a 1.61 ERA and 0.74 WHIP with a 103:17 K:BB in 69 innings as a multi-inning weapon. Expect a similar workload for the 26-year-old in 2018.

Fulmer (elbow) allowed just one earned run and struck out five during three innings against the Mets on Friday, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Fulmer had experienced some right elbow soreness last weekend, but took the mound after a 10-day hiatus and looked like his normal self. The right-hander was able to toss a successful bullpen session Tuesday and received clean results from a precautionary MRI, so there shouldn't be any concern over his status moving forward.

Santos has been impressing people in the Blue Jays' organization so far this spring, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

The 27-year-old righty reached the big leagues for the first time in 2017, putting up a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings. There was a lot of luck involved in that ERA, though, as it came with a 5.08 FIP, and it didn't line up with his performances in the minors. Still, he's yet to give up a hit in five Grapefruit League outings. He's very much a long shot to start in the big-league bullpen, but with continued strong performance he could return to Toronto sometime this summer.

Graveman allowed three earned runs on three hits and two walks over 2.2 innings in Thursday's 7-3 Cactus League win over the Angels. He also recorded two strikeouts.

The first inning was a particular trouble spot, a 35-pitch frame in which Graveman allowed an Albert Pujols RBI single and Kole Calhoun sacrifice fly that accounted for two of the three runs he surrendered. The right-hander did draw a starter-heavy lineup against the Angels, affording him an opportunity to assess his progress against quality bats. While his first-inning location left much to be desired, the potential Opening Day starter was heartened by how he bounced back during the rest of his outing, Chris Gabel of MLB.com reports. "It didn't go the way I planned it in the first," Graveman said. "But to go back out and have a quick second and a decent third, I think you take that and build off that and move forward. The biggest thing next outing is in the first inning to get ahead of that thing without 30 pitches."

Manager Bob Melvin didn't completely rule out the idea of Puk breaking camp on the Opening Day roster, Julian McWilliams of The Athletic Bay Area reports. "Who knows," said Melvin when the question of Puk opening the year in the big leagues was posed to him.

Puk is probably already one of Oakland's top five starting pitchers, even though he has never pitched at Triple-A, so Melvin, as the manager, would probably love it if he got to open the year with the electric 6-foot-7 lefty in his rotation. However, from a business sense, it would be a foolish move for the rebuilding A's to sacrifice a year of team control by putting Puk on the Opening Day roster. The main takeaway is that Puk might make his big-league debut sooner than many expect. He has dominant stuff, led by a fastball and slider that could each be 70-grade offerings. While his ratios may be middling in his rookie campaign, he should have no problem striking out a batter per inning, which will make him relevant in a lot of formats.

Honeywell (elbow) was officially optioned to to Triple-A Durham on Friday, Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reports.

This was strictly a procedural move for the Rays as Honeywell is set to miss the entire 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery a couple weeks ago. The 22-year-old is expected to get back to game action in early 2019.

Scribner was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday.

Scribner posted a 4.18 ERA in 23.2 innings with the Angels last season, though it came with an ugly 7.00 FIP. The 26-year-old righty will return to Triple-A, where he recorded a 4.35 ERA in 103.1 innings last season, and could be back up when someone in the Angels' injury-prone pitching staff inevitably gets injured, though his track record doesn't suggest he'll be a particularly interesting fantasy asset if and when he returns to the big leagues.