MLB Player News

Rumbelow allowed a run and four hits in one inning of work in Tuesday's spring training game.

Rumbelow made 17 appearances in the big leagues last season and will be vying for a spot in the bullpen throughout spring training. The suspension of Alrodis Chapman to begin the season could create the need for an extra reliever, but even still, Rumbelow will likely be limited to lower-leverage situations if he cracks the Opening Day roster.

Loup (forearm) threw off flat ground Thursday but is still without a timetable to begin throwing off of a mound and will not be ready for the start of the season, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

This is the left-hander's first time throwing a baseball since straining his flexor tendon earlier this month. Loup is making steady progress, but he'll have to wait awhile before pitching in a game again. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, Loup has been ruled out for the start of the season, which opens the door for lefties such as Randy Choate, Chad Girodo, and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte to take his spot as the second lefty behind Brett Cecil.

Jankowski was reassigned to minor league camp Thursday.

Jankowski struck out six over three scoreless Grapefruit League innings with the Astros. He'll open 2016 with Triple-A Fresno, where he compiled a 3.18 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 77:34 K:BB ratio over 62.1 innings last season.

Moore surrendered five hits and an earned run over 4.2 innings in Thursday's spring outing versus the Phillies. He struck out eight.

He looked dominant in mowing through the Phillies lineup, and induced six ground balls for all of his non-strikeout outs. His only blemish was the solo homer he gave up to Ryan Howard in the fourth inning, the second long ball he's surrendered this spring. Moore now has 11 strikeouts over 10.1 exhibition frames, and has posted an impressive 1.78 ERA through three starts.

Fields has made three Grapefruit League appearances, allowing five baserunners and one run over two innings.

Fields had a productive season with the Astros last season, posting a career-best 3.55 ERA (2.25 FIP), 1.14 WHIP and 11.9 K/9. He'll pitch in middle relief in 2016 with Ken Giles, Luke Gregerson, Pat Neshek, Will Harris and Tony Sipp handling the late-inning duties.

Giles will pitch Saturday and Sunday as Astros manager A.J. Hinch plans to use his relievers on consecutive days for the first time this spring, Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports.

With a little over two weeks left in spring training, Giles and his fellow relivers will ramp up their activity in preparation for the start of the regular season. The 25-year-old flamethrower has a 9.00 ERA through four Grapefruit League innings thus far.

Carroll has allowed four runs over his three appearances this spring in his quest for a bullpen role.

All three of those appearances were for an inning or longer, and he could be the team's second option for a long-man in the bullpen should Jacob Turner disappoint. Carroll still has minor league options, so he could shuttle between Triple-A Charlotte and Chicago for much of the season.

Wilson is working to add a slider to his arsenal of pitches, reports Detroit News.

He has relied mostly on a cutter as his off-speed pitch, but it usually clocks at 91 mph. His fastball ranges in the upper 90s and Wilson fires that pitch about 80 percent of the time. A slider would be a better option, as it would likely hit the radar gun in the mid-80s. Wilson says his health and arm-strength are right on track at this point in the spring and the Tigers will rely on him and Mark Lowe for the seventh and eighth innings. He should deliver a strikeout every inning he pitches and should support those of you who count holds.

Armstrong (back tightness) is scheduled to throw an inning in exhibition play Thursday, MLB.com reports.

Armstrong's been sidelined since March 3 and needs to come up to full speed quickly in order to lock down a bullpen spot.

Smith (back) pitched a scoreless inning in Tuesday's game against the Yankees.

Smith had been out for a little more than a week dealing with back spasms. The right-hander will be part of a tandem of set up men, along with Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara, working anywhere between the sixth to eighth innings this season.