MLB Player News

Armstrong was designated for assignment by the Mariners on Wednesday, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

A 40-man spot was needed to make the signing of Ichiro Suzuki official, and Armstrong wound up being the roster casualty. The 27-year-old struggled in 24.2 innings with Cleveland last season, producing a 4.38 ERA, but he did have a 3.07 ERA in 29.1 innings with the club's Triple-A affiliate. Armstrong's major-league experience could make him attractive to a few teams.

Rumbelow is dealing with a neck issue in addition to shoulder discomfort, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Rumbelow hasn't appeared in a spring game since Feb. 24 when he exited an outing against the White Sox with a cut on his right thumb. Although the thumb is no longer an issue, shoulder discomfort and neck problems are obviously not good signs as Opening Day looms right around the corner. The 26-year-old was expected to push for a spot on the Opening Day roster in a relief role, but those hopes are all but dashed unless he's able to make a speedy recovery and impress the organization within the next couple weeks.

De Leon was diagnosed with a torn UCL on Wednesday and will require Tommy John surgery, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Once highly touted as a pitching prospect, De Leon missed significant time last season due to a lat strain, forearm tightness and ultimately elbow tendinitis. He'll head to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion according to Topkin, but the worst-case scenario is still expected. De Leon will now miss the entirety of the 2018 season while rehabbing from the major procedure with the hopes of returning during the early portion of 2019.

Banda will be squeezed out of a rotation role by the Rays' four-man rotation experiment, the Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

Banda might be the Rays' fifth-best starter right now, and he'd certainly be in contention for their fifth starter job, but that job is unlikely to exist, at least at the start of the season. Manager Kevin Cash confirmed that the team will run a four-man rotation for at least six weeks and hopefully longer. The added off days in the major-league schedule this season will make a fifth starter less necessary, and the Rays intend to go with a bullpen game whenever they have five games in a row. Banda could be the first pitcher on the mound in those games, but he would be removed after two or three innings and thus would be ineligible for a win. This setup hurts Banda's potential fantasy value, though he's possibly just one injury away from being a member of the Rays' four-man rotation and could still see a decent number of innings as a long man in the team's bullpen.

Manaea (back) fired two scoreless innings in Tuesday's 5-3 Cactus League win over the Rangers, allowing a hit and two walks while recording three strikeouts.

According to a report by Jane Lee of MLB.com, Manaea was especially pleased with his slider, a pitch he allowed a paltry .174 average against last season while inducing 89 swings-and-misses. He worked up to 45 pitches over his pair of frames and the southpaw struck out the side in the first. Manaea had been scratched from his start a week prior due to back tightness. "He ended up getting the swings and misses that we wanted to see, used all his pitches," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "Starting out in a good direction for him."

Tigers pitching coach Chris Bosio confirmed Wednesday that Farmer is no longer under consideration for a rotation spot and will work out of the bullpen for the remainder of Grapefruit League play, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Daniel Norris and Francisco Liriano have been the heavy favorites for the No. 5 starting role since the latter's signing in late February, so Farmer's demotion to the bullpen isn't unexpected. If Farmer fails to beat out Chad Bell, Blaine Hardy (shoulder) or non-roster invitee James Russell for a spot as Detroit's second lefty reliever, he'll likely be stretched back out as a starter at Triple-A Toledo to begin the season.

The Astros optioned Perez to their minor-league camp Wednesday, Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Houston decided to protect Perez from the Rule 5 draft over the winter by adding him to the 40-man roster, but the 21-year-old was never viewed as a serious candidate to crack the Astros' Opening Day roster. Perez will likely open the upcoming campaign in the rotation at Double-A Corpus Christi, where he was roughed up during a 13-inning sample in the second half of last season.

Ramirez (shoulder) is expected to return to the mound within the next couple days, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

Ramirez has been dealing with a sore shoulder, which has prohibited the right-hander from participating in any throwing drills in recent days. Consider him day-to-day as he looks to battle for a spot in the Blue Jays' bullpen for the beginning of the 2018 season.

Hu allowed three earned runs on four hits across two innings in Tuesday's 9-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Red Sox.

The long ball proved to be a problem, as Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts both got to Hu for solo shots as part of a three-run second inning. The 24-year-old right-hander's rocky outing was a stark departure from his first two turns this spring, during which he'd tossed a combined three perfect frames against the Twins and Orioles. Tuesday marked the second consecutive two-inning appearance for Hu, who's battling for a bullpen spot after putting together a solid 2.70 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 9:4 K:BB over 10 innings in six appearances for the Rays last season. According to a report by Bill Chastain of MLB.com, Hu is also one of several relievers that could see multi-inning stints this coming season when manager Kevin Cash utilizes his bullpen as the de facto fifth starter.

Pomeranz returned to his routine and played catch Wednesday after being diagnosed with a left forearm flexor strain this past weekend, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Pomeranz was removed from Friday's spring game due to the injury, but reiterated that he left for precautionary reasons. The left-hander said that he was "pain-free" after being re-evaluated Tuesday, so expect him to work his way back into his throwing program over the next couple weeks.