MLB Player News

Houck allowed three runs on two hits and five walks while striking out four over 2.2 innings in Friday's spring training start against the Braves.

Houck was roughed up in his second Grapefruit League start and has walked eight over five spring innings. Despite the results, Houck did not sound too concerned when speaking with Ian Browne of MLB.com following the game. The right-hander stressed the importance of getting in the work over outcomes, and he developed a plan to work on the issues that led to the results. "Felt good. Obviously out of the stretch, I'm getting a little too rotational," Houck said. "I talked with [pitching coach Dave Bush] about it already. Get back in tomorrow and look at some video and just re-sort things out and make a game plan going forward with it." He's scheduled to start the third game of the regular season, a Sunday night primetime meeting with the Yankees in New York.

Dunning allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out two over 2.2 innings in Friday's spring training game against Kansas City.

Dunning was backed by three home runs, which gives the Rangers an MLB-leading 17 spring homers. If that kind of power continues into the regular season, it would help all of Texas' starters. The right-hander made his second Cactus League start and broke out a new slider, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports. Dunning said the pitch has more horizontal break than vertical and stressed it's something he's still working on, noting the two he threw Friday were "horrible." Dunning plans to use both sliders this season, along with his sinker, curveball, changeup and cutter for a six-pitch arsenal. He makes his living off the sinker, which he threw 52.2 percent of time in 2021.

Severino tossed 1.2 innings in a Grapefruit League game against the Phillies on Friday, allowing three runs on four hits and four walks. He did not strike out any batters.

Severino struggled mightily to get the ball over the plate in his second spring outing, throwing only 22 of 49 pitches for strikes and issuing four free passes. When he avoided throwing balls, the right-hander was hit relatively hard, yielding two doubles among his four hits allowed. Severino is penciled in to fill a rotation spot for the Yankees this season, but he's struggled in both of his spring outings thus far, allowing a total of seven earned runs, eight hits and five walks over 3.2 innings while notching only one punchout.

Bundy gave up one run over three innings with four strikeouts and no walks in Friday's spring training loss to Pittsburgh.

Bundy finished 2021 with a strained shoulder and inked a one-year deal with Minnesota before the start of the lockout. He's looked sharp this spring with five strikeouts and one walk over five innings with one run allowed (on a home run). With the Twins failing to sign more veteran pitchers, Bundy looks locked in as the No. 3 or No. 4 starter to begin the season.

Bello was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on Friday, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Bello made just one Grapefruit League appearance for the Red Sox this spring and struck out one in a perfect relief inning. He'll begin the regular season in the minors but is one of the team's top prospects and will likely be in the mix to make his major-league debut at some point this year.

Lyles is dealing with an illness and will not start Friday as scheduled, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports.

Lyles is only dealing with a stomach bug, but he is not feeling well enough to take the mound Friday. Chris Ellis will get the nod in Lyles' place.

Gray allowed one run on four hits and struck out four over two innings in Thursday's spring training start against the Athletics.

Gray made his spring debut and looked sharp. All four strikeouts were the result of a revamped slider, Jesse Borek of MLB.com reports. "It's moving a lot more," Gray said of the slider he worked on with pitching coach Brendan Sagara. "It's got a lot more horizontal action on it. It probably moves double the amount my old one does... This one kind of goes across the whole plate." The right-hander already had a pretty good slider, as batters were limited to a .156 batting average and .300 slugging percentage against the pitch he threw a career-high 38.1 percent of the time in 2021. Gray is a leading candidate to become the ace of a Rangers' staff that's looking for a bona fide No. 1 starter.

Kirby is considered a candidate for the Mariners' vacant No. 5 starter role, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

The Mariners' No. 3 prospect logged 67.2 innings last season between High-A Everett and Double-A Arkansas, putting together a 5-3 record, 2.53 ERA and 1.08 WHIP while generating an 80:15 K:BB. The fact Kirby worked the fewest frames between him and fellow candidates Matt Brash and Levi Stoudt a year ago may hurt his chances to a degree, however, as Kramer notes Seattle intends for him to pitch deep into the season and would therefore likely have to keep a closer eye on his workload.

Stoudt is a candidate for the Mariners' currently vacant No. 5 spot in the rotation, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

Stoudt's main competition appears to be Matt Brash and George Kirby, two fellow prospects with no shortage of talent or pedigree. Stoudt built up more extensively than Kirby last season in the minors, but his 81.2 innings during 2021 check in just behind Brash's 97.1. Stoudt, who has just one season of professional experience under his belt, held his own during his first Cactus League start against the Dodgers on Saturday, throwing 55 pitches over 2.1 innings while facing regulars Trea Turner, Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor.

Mize tossed three scoreless innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees. He allowed a hit and a walk, while striking out six.

New York wasn't playing all of its regulars, but it was still an impressive performance for Mize. Through two spring starts, the righty has logged five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. After an up-and-down rookie campaign in 2020 and some marked improvement last year, Mize could be primed for a full breakout in 2022.