MLB Player News

The Athletics reassigned Blackburn to their minor-league camp Monday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Blackburn was one of eight non-roster invitees dismissed from big-league camp in the Athletics' first round of cuts. He's made 21 appearances (18 starts) across parts of the past four seasons with the big club, logging a 5.69 ERA over 99.2 innings.

Paxton was scratched from his scheduled start in Monday's Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Paxton was expected to make his spring debut Monday, but he'll instead throw in a simulated game since he had to address a personal matter that would have conflicted with the Cactus League game. The left-hander is still expected to increase his pitch count in the sim game, so he remains on track to be ready for the start of the season. Ljay Newsome will get the start against the Diamondbacks in Paxton's stead.

The Angels announced Monday that Bundy will start their April 1 season opener versus the White Sox.

After a ninth-place finish in the American League Cy Young balloting in his first season with the Angels, Bundy was unsurprising awarded the Opening Day nod for 2021. Though Bundy has lost a few ticks on his fastball since reaching the big leagues as a teenager in 2012, he's made up for his drop in velocity by making significant improvements in his control and command, which has in turn allowed him to raise his strikeout rate and induce weaker contact. Despite his sketchy track record prior to arriving in Los Angeles, Bundy still looks like a quality No. 2 or 3 starter for a fantasy pitching staff.

The Athletics optioned Kaprielian to Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Kaprielian was one of seven players optioned to the minors in the Athletics' first round of roster cuts. After losing two years of development time earlier in his career while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Kaprielian reached the big leagues for the first time in 2020, working in a relief role over two appearances with Oakland. The Athletics could still look to develop him as a starter at the Triple-A level, but he'll likely be in line behind several other pitchers for a promotion if a rotation spot opens up at the big-league level at any point this season.

Manager Dusty Baker announced Monday that Greinke will start Opening Day against the A's, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

With Justin Verlander (elbow) out for the season, this announcement was merely a formality, as Greinke will be the Astros' ace in 2021. It was also announced Monday that Greinke will be away from the team for the next few days for "personal reasons," but according to Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest, that should not affect his throwing program.

Whitlock allowed two hits and struck out two over two scoreless innings in Sunday's spring game against the Twins.

Whitlock, a Rule 5 draft pick, owns a 1.50 ERA with seven strikeouts and no walks over six spring innings. A starter in the minors, Whitlock appears to be winning a spot in Boston's bullpen, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Eovaldi allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out three over four innings in Sunday's spring game against the Twins.

Eovaldi was largely unscathed through the first three innings, executing the game plan of pounding the zone, but it came unglued in the fourth when he allowed three runs and five hits. "He was good, pounding the strike zone," manager Alex Cora told Ian Browne of MLB.com. "Home run, [Buxton] hit the ball hard, [Miguel] Sano on the breaking ball, but besides that, obviously we don't like the hits, but it's weak contact and the more he pounds the strike zone with his stuff, he's going to be successful and we like that." Eovaldi threw 64 pitches (51 strikes) and 10 of them lit up 100 mph on the radar gun. He'll get two more starts before the end of camp and is on schedule to start the second game of the regular season.

Arihara allowed two hits and struck out three over a scoreless four innings in Sunday's spring game against the Rockies.

Arihara has made the typical progression in spring outings, working his way from two to three and now four innings. He'll get at least two more spring starts to get ready for the start of the regular season. Arihara is projected as one of the top three rotation members.

Javier allowed one walk over a scoreless inning in Sunday's spring game against the Nationals.

This was the first game action since March 3 for Javier, who was away from camp on health and safety protocols. He's expected to be part of the starting rotation and feels there's enough time to get ready for the regular season, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. With 17 days remaining before Opening Day, Javier could get three more outings to build pitch counts and innings.

McCullers allowed three hits and struck out six over four scoreless innings in Sunday's spring game against the Nationals.

Like all pitchers, McCullers has worked on a measured progression in early camp: a fastball-dominant first outing followed by a second outing focusing on specific pitches. In Sunday's outing, however, he and catcher Martin Maldonado worked to formulate plans to face specific hitters multiple times and use all four pitches, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. "I was able to go into the game with that mindset, more like a starting mentality," McCullers said. "Settling in, mixing my pitches and having to think that I was going to probably face these guys two times, not exposing everything too early." McCullers threw 55 pitches (35 strikes) and should get at least two more starts to prepare for the regular season.