MLB Player News

Paxton (elbow) has progressed to throwing a bullpen session and is ahead of schedule in his recovery from elbow surgery, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Paxton was throwing off flat ground in mid-March, and he's apparently advanced to mound work over the past couple weeks. The veteran left-hander is returning from Tommy John surgery in April of 2021 and hadn't been expected to see game action until the middle of summer, but it's possible he'll be ready to return a bit earlier.

Blackburn has allowed four earned runs on nine hits and two walks while recording three strikeouts across 5.2 innings in two Cactus League appearances.

Blackburn worked in relief in his Cactus League debut against the Angels back on March 18, and he drew the start versus Los Angeles on Monday and was able to log four frames in that outing. While he's given up a pair of earned runs in each trip to the mound thus far, Blackburn's ability to work multiple innings could allow him to stick on the Opening Day roster as a long reliever that can also serve as a spot starter in a rotation that could be in flux if the team decides to continue shedding payroll.

Milone signed a minor-league deal with the Mariners on Thursday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Milone spent the majority of the 2021 season in the Blue Jays organization, which included 14 innings with the big-league club. He struggled while posting a 6.43 ERA and 1.64 WHIP. Milone will almost certainly start the season at Triple-A Tacoma, though he could reach the majors and appear in low-leverage roles as the season progresses.

Kopech threw two innings while allowing one earned run in Thursday's Cactus League matchup against the Reds, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Kopech was behind in his preparation for the regular season due to an illness that he suffered from over the winter. However, he was strong in his spring debut, as he was hitting between 95 and 98 mph with his fastball and also consistently threw his curveball for strikes. "The plan today was no more than what I did," Kopech said after the outing. "But I said when I came out [of the game] that I felt like I was good to go for another [inning]." It remains to be seen whether the right-hander will be ready to start the season in the rotation, though this is a positive step in that direction.

Bieber was named the Guardians' starter for Opening Day against the Royals on April 7, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

Bieber is healthy after being limited to 16 starts last season due to a shoulder strain, and he'll unsurprisingly receive the nod on Opening Day for Cleveland. The 26-year-old has a 2.92 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 33.0 percent strikeout rate in 62 games over the past three years.

Manager Scott Servais said Thursday that Ray will start the Mariners' Opening Day game April 7 in Minnesota, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

Ray will unseat Marco Gonzales as the Mariners' No. 1 starter this season after Seattle brought him aboard on a five-year, $115 million deal following his improbable run to the American League's Cy Young Award in 2021 while he was with Toronto. Ray has always made bats miss at a prolific clip, but he reached a new level of success thanks largely to cutting his walk rate down to 6.7 percent last season after turning in rates north of 10 percent in each of the previous four years. So long as he proves that he can keep the free passes to a minimum, Ray shouldn't take too much of a step back statistically with the move from Toronto to Seattle.

Sale (ribs) was scheduled to undergo a pre-planned MRI on Thursday, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

The MRI isn't the result of any setback in his recovery from a stress fracture on the right side of his rib cage; instead, Sale is being sent in for imaging so he and the Red Sox can assess how much his ribs have healed since he was shut down in mid-March. If the imaging shows the desired improvement, Sale could resume throwing before the end of camp, though he'll stick around at extended spring training in any case while he opens the season on the injured list.

Ryan will start Minnesota's Opening Day matchup against Seattle on April 7, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Even though the Twins acquired Sonny Gray during the offseason, Ryan will be on the mound for the team's season opener at home against the Mariners. The 25-year-old Ryan made just five starts for Minnesota last year in his first taste of major-league action, and he logged a 4.05 ERA and 0.79 WHIP in 26.2 innings. However, he's struck out six in five scoreless innings across two Grapefruit League starts this spring and will be rewarded with the nod on Opening Day.

Detmers is likely to open the season as the Angels' sixth starter, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

The team has reportedly picked its sixth starter but won't announce the winner yet, though indications are that Detmers has beaten Jaime Barria for the job. The 2020 10th-overall pick didn't show all that much in his five-start debut last year, posting a 7.40 ERA and a 6.36 FIP, but that's understandable given that he'd only made 13 starts as a professional prior to earning his first call-up. His 42.0 percent strikeout rate in the minors last season hints at his potential, though just how much of it he'll realize right away this season remains to be seen.

Stripling will not be part of the Blue Jays' Opening Day starting rotation, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Stripling seemed likely to be the odd man out after the team signed Yusei Kikuchi in mid-March. He's been a starter in 21 of his 29 appearances for the Blue Jays since joining the team in the middle of the 2020 season, and he should add a handful more starts this season. Stripling is likely the next man up whenever one of Toronto's starting five suffers an injury, though the nod could also go to Nate Pearson depending on the young righty's health and development.