MLB Player News

Sampson signed a minor-league contract with the White Sox on Saturday.

He had been in camp this spring with the Giants and will move on to a new organization. Sampson should provide organizational bullpen depth.

Schmidt (elbow) has yet to resume throwing, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Hoch says the team is waiting for Schmidt to be completely asymptomatic, which is odd language regarding an elbow strain -- that was the given diagnosis when Schmidt was placed on the 60-day injured list. Nonetheless, it sounds like he is out indefinitely.

Severino (elbow) has progressed to throwing sliders from the mound as well as fastballs, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

He continues to do well, according to manager Aaron Boone, and after being limited to fastballs during spring training, it is encouraging to hear he has progressed to throwing breaking balls. Severino doesn't have a clear timetable for his return, but the hope is that he will be back sometime this summer.

Rodriguez's (dead arm) velocity in Friday's simulated game was not where it normally is, but the Red Sox are attributing that to the cold conditions and lack of game environment, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

He felt fine physically Saturday and the Red Sox will see how he feels Sunday before making a decision about activating him from the injured list. Obviously, if his velocity was normal, he'd be trending toward getting activated as soon as he's eligible, and that still could happen if the team truly believes that the cold was to blame Friday.

Luzardo (0-1) gave up five earned runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out eight in five innings against the Astros on Friday. He took the loss.

The Astros seemed to either be striking out or getting a hit off the young southpaw in this one. He logged scoreless frames in the first, second and fifth innings but gave up a three-run homer to Alex Bregman in the third and a solo shot to Yuli Gurriel followed by a Michael Brantley RBI double in the fourth. The Astros didn't seem to have much trouble squaring up Luzardo's four-seamer in this one, according to Melissa Lockard of The Athletic. He will take the hill Wednesday at home against the Dodgers.

Heaney (0-1) gave up seven earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four over three innings Friday against the White Sox. He took the loss.

Heaney was superb through the first two innings, touching 95 mph with his fastball after averaging 91.5 mph with his heater in 2020. He struck out three in the first two scoreless frames, but then the White Sox got going and tagged him for four in the third and three in the fourth, leading to Heaney getting pulled in the fourth without recording an out that inning. He should start next weekend in Dunedin against the Blue Jays.

Houck will head back to Triple-A Worcester once Eduardo Rodriguez (arm) is ready to return to the active roster, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Houck will take Rodriguez's turn through the rotation Saturday, but it could be his only start for now. Rodriguez threw three innings in a simulated game Friday and is talking about returning April 8. Manager Alex Cora has no plans to go with a six-man rotation, which would include Houck. "We're pitching him tomorrow, then obviously the circumstances will dictate what happens with him in the future. Just give him the ball [Saturday], go five or six (innings), do the things he did in the last (spring training outing) and we'll be happy with that," the manager said. In Houck's final start of spring training, he allowed two hits and one walk while striking out six over 4.1 scoreless innings against Atlanta.

Javier allowed two runs on three hits while striking out four over 3.2 innings in Friday's 9-5 win over the Athletics.

Javier cruised through the first three innings on just 39 pitches but needed 38 in the fourth to get two outs before manager Dusty Baker pulled him. In 2020, Oakland carved up the young right-hander, who earned third place in Rookie of the Year voting, plating seven runs in eight innings against Javier. He had a 2.72 ERA against all other teams. Javier missed time during spring training due to COVID-19 protocols, so his stamina early in the season may not be that of other starters that were able to make a normal spring progression.

Kopech (1-0) walked one and struck out three over two-plus scoreless innings to pick up the win over the Angels on Friday.

It looked like this would be Matt Foster's win after he finished up the fifth inning for starter Dallas Keuchel, but he allowed two inherited runners to score, albeit on a three-base error by right fielder Adam Eaton. So, the win went to Kopech, who entered in the sixth inning and made his first regular-season appearance since Sept. 5, 2018. He pitched two perfect innings before walking Mike Trout to lead off the eighth inning. The right-hander threw 33 pitches (21 strikes) and maxed out at 99.4 mph.

Keuchel allowed six runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out four over four-plus innings in Friday's 12-8 win over the Angels.

Keuchel was given plenty of support -- he had a 7-1 lead entering the bottom of the fourth inning -- but was unable to get through the five innings necessary to qualify for the win. The left-hander will look for a bounce-back performance next Wednesday, April 7, at Seattle.