MLB Player News

Graveman was named the Opening Day starter for the A's on Thursday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

With regular ace Sonny Gray (lat) sidelined for the start of the season, Graveman will take the mound on Opening Day for the A's. The 26-year-old posted a 4.11 ERA and 1.31 WHIP across 184 innings (31 starts) last season with the A's.

Tonkin gave up a run over two innings in Wednesday's spring training loss to Houston. He's competing for a final spot in the bullpen with J.T. Chargois and Alex Wimmers, Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Tonkin has a 4.35 ERA this spring and nine strikeouts in 10.3 innings, but he's allowed six walks. He allowed 12 home runs and had an ugly 5.02 ERA in the majors last year, but had a promising 10.1 K/9. The final bullpen spot may not be decided until the final days of spring training.

Chargois has given up eight runs over eight innings this spring and may not make the final 25-man roster, Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Chargois had a 1.29 ERA with 41 strikeouts against just eight walks in 35.0 innings last year at Triple-A, but struggled in the majors with a 4.70 ERA and ugly 17:12 K:BB ratio. With a high 90s fastball and strong strikeout rate (10.5 K/9 at Triple-A), Chargois could be a needed high-power arm in the bullpen, but it looks like he may need time at Triple-A to begin the season.

Boxberger (back) will officially start the season on the disabled list and is scheduled to take a week off throwing before building back up, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

It was announced Monday that Boxberger was unlikely to be ready prior to Opening Day, as he continues to deal with a strained lat muscle that has plagued him since early March. The penciled-in setup man won't be ready for the opener, but still aims to return to the Rays at some point in April. Until then, the Rays will have to mix and match with the likes of Xavier Cedeno, Erasmo Ramirez and Danny Farquhar in the seventh and eighth innings.

McHugh allowed one run on two hits while striking out five over three innings in a minor league game Wednesday, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McHugh's on a tight schedule to be ready for the first rotation of the season. The right-hander's building his pitch count following a delay due to a dead arm period. He threw 41 pitches and will have another two opportunities to increase that. The prudent approach would be to have him begin the season on the 10-day disabled list and back-date the DL assignment. He would miss the first turn and be ready to go for the rotation's second turn.

Rogers has a 2.00 ERA this spring (2 ER in 9 IP) and appears to be a lock to win a spot in the Minnesota bullpen, Patrick Reusee of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Rogers will be the top lefty specialist in the bullpen. His rookie season featured a decent 3.96 ERA, but an impressive 9.4 K/9 and a 51.4 percent groundball rate. He was even better against left-handed batters with a .547 opponents' OPS. If he can improve against right-handed batters, he could become a top setup man.

Andriese struck out six but allowed three earned runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings Wednesday against Triple-A Rochester, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Rays' projected No. 5 starter wasn't exactly at his most impressive considering the lower level of competition, but did get his work in. Andriese threw 86 pitches overall, keeping him on schedule with his throwing program. He's been a mixed bag this spring, with his solid 2.84 ERA offset by a .345 BAA and 1.89 WHIP.

Loup failed to record an out while allowing three runs on two hits and two walks in Monday's exhibition contest against Minnesota.

The left-hander had run off a string of four scoreless -- and ultra-efficient -- outings before Monday's implosion. Loup's disaster couldn't have come at a worse time. He's among a handful of relievers fighting for one of the team's final bullpen vacancies. Coming off an injury-plagued campaign, Loup may need to log extra innings at the minor-league level before he's ready to contribute for the Jays.

Milner, a Rule 5 pick, will likely be offered back to the Phillies in the coming days, SB Nation reports.

Milner's Cactus League stats (9.00 ERA and 1.71 WHIP) are largely inflated by an implosion against the Brewers on March 6 when he allowed five runs on three hits and two walks in one inning. Outside of that, the 26-year-old has put on a respectable show that still isn't good enough to crack one of MLB's better bullpens.

Zych (biceps) plans to throw in a minor-league game Thursday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

It will be Zych's first appearance in a game setting since he underwent biceps surgery last October. With less than two weeks remaining before Opening Day, Zych isn't likely to build up his arm strength in time and will likely open the season on the DL, but he won't necessarily be in store for an extended absence.