MLB Player News

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.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said Thursday that Gausman is tentatively in line to start the team's second game of the season April 9 against the Rangers in Toronto, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reports.

Gausman was bypassed for the Opening Day nod in favor of Jose Berrios, but that's most likely a result of the latter having more seniority in the organization. Among the five projected members of Toronto's Opening Day rotation, Gausman was the top performer in 2021, when he compiled a 2.81 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 227 strikeouts across 192 innings with the Giants. Gausman cashed in on his career-best season by signing a five-year, $110 million deal with Toronto in November, with his big payday indicating the Blue Jays view him as a front-of-the-rotation arm.

Ramirez signed a minor-league deal with Minnesota on Thursday, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Ramirez owns a 4.71 ERA in 288.1 career MLB innings, though just 14.2 of those have come in the last four years. He's been out of affiliated ball entirely over the last two seasons, pitching in Mexico and Taiwan. In nine starts for the Fubon Guardians of the CPBL last season, he recorded a 3.69 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

The Blue Jays announced Thursday that Berrios will start the team's April 8 season opener versus the Rangers, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Berrios made 32 starts between Minnesota and Toronto last year and posted a career-best 3.52 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 204:45 K:BB in 192 innings. He'll be rewarded with the chance to lead Toronto's rotation to begin the 2022 campaign.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Lyles will start the team's second game of the season April 9 in Tampa Bay, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Though he owns a 5.24 ERA over 182 career MLB starts between stops with the Astros, Rockies, Padres, Brewers, Pirates and Rangers, Lyles will begin the season as the Orioles' No. 2 starter due mainly to the lack of appealing alternatives in the rotation. While he was with Texas a year ago, Lyles offered little fantasy value aside from eating innings, as he surrendered an MLB-high 38 home runs en route to a 5.15 ERA and 1.39 WHIP across 180 frames. The move to the historically hitter-friendly Camden Yards may not dramatically help him in limiting home runs, even though the Orioles have implemented dimension changes to their home park in an effort to make the field more favorable for pitchers.

Manager Brandon Hyde announced Thursday that Means will start the Orioles' April 8 season opener in Tampa Bay, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Coming off a 2021 campaign in which he submitted a 3.62 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 134:26 K:BB across 146.2 innings, Means was the clear top choice for the Opening Day nod in an Orioles rotation otherwise lacking in quality options. Means proved vulnerable to the long ball (30 home runs allowed) last season, but the ballpark changes at Camden Yards in 2022 could help the southpaw in terms of power suppression. In addition to increasing the distance from home plate to left field and left-center field by nearly 30 feet, the Orioles raised the height of Camden Yards' outfield wall by nearly six feet.

Wells will open the year in the Orioles' rotation, though he'll piggyback with a multi-inning reliever, Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Wells was a starter throughout his minor-league career, though he hasn't started a game since 2018. He missed all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and didn't pitch in 2020 due to the canceled minor-league season, but he returned as a reliever last season and pitched fairly well. He recorded a 4.11 ERA in 57 innings, with his strong 29.0 percent strikeout rate and 5.4 percent walk rate being offset by a very low 21.4 percent groundball rate. The 27-year-old could be an interesting deep-league option if he can keep his strikeout and walk numbers from regressing too much over longer outings, though he may not pitch deep enough to qualify for the win in most of his starts.

Skubal tossed four scoreless innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies. He allowed three hits and a walk, while striking out five.

Skubal continued a strong run this spring, as he now has a 2.08 ERA across 8.2 Grapefruit League innings with 13 strikeouts. The lefty took a step forward last season following an uneven rookie campaign in 2020, and he certainly has big strikeout upside after fanning 164 batters across 149.1 innings in 2021. If Skubal can pitch a bit deeper into games, he could be primed for a breakout in 2022.

Perez allowed one run on two hits and one walk while striking out none over three innings in Wednesday's spring training start against the White Sox.

Perez made his first Cactus League start and was efficient through his three innings. The left-hander worked on a curveball that he's thrown less than 10 percent during his 10-year career, Jack Magruder of MLB.com reports. "I feel great with that pitch, and I think it is another weapon that I have with my stuff," Perez said. He'll add it to his current arsenal which features a cutter, a two-seam fastball and a changeup. "I just need to continue to throw it and get people out" the pitcher added. Where Perez slots into the rotation is up in the air, given that he was the final Rangers starter to appear in a spring game. He'll have one more start before the regular season and could be pushed toward the back end of the rotation. Texas manager Chris Woodward said he's still "working working though" the rotation beyond Opening Day starter Jon Gray.

Manager Mike Matheny announced Wednesday that Greinke will start Opening Day against the Guardians on April 7, Josh Vernier of 610 Sports Kansas City reports.

The veteran right-hander inked a one-year, $13 million deal with Kansas City in mid-March, and the start on Opening Day will be his first time taking the mound for the organization since 2010. Greinke had a 4.16 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 120:36 K:BB over 171 innings with the Astros last season.