MLB Player News

Texas manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged Wednesday that Eovaldi (side) is likely to be on a restrictive pitch count to start the season, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

The reports indicates a pitch count for both Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom (side) in the 75 to 80 range, which roughly translates to five innings. In that event, Dane Dunning, Glenn Otto or Cole Ragans could act as a piggyback option. Eovaldi recently returned to game action, firing off a couple of innings against Double-A hitters.

Dunning allowed one hit and one walk while striking out six over five shutout innings in Wednesday's spring start against the Royals.

Since getting rocked as a reliever in his Cactus League debut, Dunning has been superb in subsequent outings. In three starts, the right-hander has allowed one run on six hits and two walks while striking out 13 over 12 innings. Despite the good numbers, Dunning is on the outside of the Rangers' projected rotation, which includes newcomers Jacob deGrom (side), Nathan Eovaldi (side) and Andrew Heaney. He's setting himself up to be the top fill-in starter and possibly a piggyback option for deGrom and Eovaldi, both of whom Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said may be on restrictive pitch counts to open the season, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Rangers also have a long man in Jake Odorizzi, but an arm issue means he won't be ready by Opening Day.

Paxton will undergo testing on his injured hamstring Friday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

If he's cleared to return after Friday's exam, Paxton will begin throwing bullpen sessions. He's one of three possible rotation members expected to open the season on the injured list. Garrett Whitlock (hip) made his spring debut Wednesday and Brayan Bello (forearm) is expected to follow shortly.

Whitlock (hip) walked one and struck out three over two scoreless relief innings in Wednesday's spring game against Tampa Bay.

Whitlock looked impressive in his spring debut following rehab from hip surgery. While he pitched in relief Wednesday, following five strong innings from Corey Kluber, the right-hander is expected to be a starter in 2023. Whitlock will not be ready for the opening series and could miss up to two April starts, but the positives of his Grapefruit League debut outweigh a couple of missed cold-weather starts.

Kluber allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out six over five innings in Wednesday's spring start against the Rays.

On the day Kluber was named Boston's Opening Day starter, the right-hander authored the best of his four Grapefruit League outings. The 36-year-old commented on the progression he's made since the first outing, noting his ability to command pitches and throw them for strikes, per CJ Haddad of MLB.com. Kluber has allowed three runs on 13 hits and five walks while striking out 14 over 12.2 spring innings.

Greinke allowed a run on one hit and struck out seven over four innings in Tuesday's Cactus League loss to the Reds.

Greinke appears to be ramping up just fine this spring. The run he allowed Tuesday was his second of the spring, and it came on a solo home run by Tyler Stephenson. Greinke has added an 11:1 K:BB across nine Cactus League innings. He should get at least two more appearances before lining up to pitch in the Royals' first series of the season.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy confirmed Wednesday that Odorizzi (arm) won't have enough time to complete his throwing progression prior to Opening Day, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Odorizzi resumed throwing bullpen sessions just over a week ago but has yet to pitch in any Cactus League or minor-league games up to this point in spring training, so he looks like he'll stay back in Arizona to continue building up when the Rangers close camp in less than two weeks and head back to Texas. The Rangers have characterized Odorizzi's injury as right arm fatigue, so he doesn't appear to be dealing with a major concern and will most likely be ticketed for a brief stint on the shelf to begin the season. Odorizzi's absence should clear a path for Dane Dunning to break camp as the Rangers' No. 5 starter, and the team may have another spot available in the rotation if Nathan Eovaldi (side) is unable to gain clearance for Opening Day.

Rodon's rehab from a forearm muscle strain is going well, and he could miss just two or three starts if he doesn't have any setbacks once he resumes throwing, Randy Miller of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Rodon underwent an MRI last week, which revealed that he's dealing with a mild muscle strain and that the UCL in his left arm is intact. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that the veteran hurler could begin a throwing program "hopefully soon," indicating that Rodon has reached "a point that he needed to get to from a range of motion standpoint." Boone added that he's optimistic about the injury and its long-term implications, which should alleviate the fears of Yankees fans (and managers who have drafted Rodon in fantasy) about the forearm strain being a devastating issue. In fact, if all goes well moving forward, Rodon could make his regular-season pitching debut sometime around mid-April.

Kluber will start Opening Day versus the Orioles on March 30, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Manager Alex Cora confirmed Wednesday that Kluber will toe the rubber for the season opener at Fenway Park, stating that he informed Kluber of that decision in January. Kluber signed with the Red Sox this offseason and is looking to recapture some of his former glory as he joins his fourth team in four years. The right-hander produced a serviceable 4.34 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with 139 strikeouts over 164 innings in 31 starts with Tampa Bay in 2022; however, his ERA has been at 3.83 or higher since 2018 after clocking in below that figure for each of the five seasons prior.

Eovaldi (side) threw two innings against Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Monday, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.

Eovaldi, who's been battling tightness in his left side, allowed a pair of hits and struck out two while landing 22 of 29 pitches in the zone. "It's definitely nice being back out there. I threw all my pitches and mixed everything in there. There were a couple times where I was 0-2 or 1-2 on guys and just didn't quite finish the pitches where I wanted to," the right-hander said. Eovaldi expects to be ready for the start of the regular season. He could get as many as three more appearances leading up to Opening Day.