MLB Player News

McCullers struck out one over a scoreless inning in Thursday's spring game against the Cardinals.

McCullers breezed through his one inning, needing just 12 pitches to dispatch the side in order. The right-hander's fastball lived in the 94-95 mph range, and he had a good feel for his curveball, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. He was scheduled to throw one inning but was prepared to throw a second after an efficient first frame. Those plans were scuttled when the Astros sent 10 men to the plate in their half of the inning, so McCullers finished his night throwing in the bullpen, where he was able to throw his changeup.

McClanahan, who fired a scoreless first inning in Wednesday's Grapefruit League win over the Pirates, hit 101 mph on the radar gun during his impressive outing, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports. "There was also a lot of strikes, which I'm more happy about," McClanahan said. "I've been feeling good. The guys here put me in a good position to be healthy and to be ready to compete, day in and day out, so I think that's just the result of being prepared."

McClanahan isn't embellishing with his remarks about location, as he found the strike zone with eight of his 10 pitches. In addition to the triple-digit heater, McClanahan also deployed his slider with great effectiveness, raising expectations further about what he might be able to accomplish in 2021 as a left-handed bullpen option for manager Kevin Cash. The southpaw is trying to render his struggles two seasons ago at Double-A Montgomery -- his highest stop in the minors to date -- irrelevant by making a strong enough case for an Opening Day roster spot in spring training.

Maeda threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in his spring debut in Thursday's loss to Tampa Bay. He worked on his curveball, which he hopes to use more this season. "I don't think the curveball's going to be my payoff pitch with two strikes, but concentrating on the command, I'd like it to be a pitch that I can control to get strikes consistently," Maeda told MLB.com.

Maeda threw his curveball just 3.4 percent of the time last season, so he's likely trying to add something extra rather than revamp his approach. It's hard to find much to improve after he went 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA and was the runner-up in the AL Cy Young award voting last season. The only question is whether he can remain as effective while holding up over a full season after his innings were limited from 2017 to 2019 with the Dodgers.

Turnbull allowed two runs on four hits across two innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. He walked one and struck out three.

Turnbull was fairly hittable in his spring debut, and the righty needed 39 pitches to navigate his two innings. Despite the so-so start, Turnbull should have a rotation spot firmly locked down on a Detroit team that isn't exactly full of proven options at this point. The 28-year-old turned in a solid 3.97 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 56.2 innings last season.

Civale revamped his delivery and also developed a split-change this offseason, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

Civale worked with assistant pitching coach Ruben Niebla to develop a new windup and pitch from a different arm angle. The result has been a shorter arm path with the hopes of making the action more repeatable. He also tinkered with his changeup, shifting from a traditional offering to a split-change. Civale has experienced plenty of success through 22 major-league starts, racking up a 2.69 ERA and 1.20 WHIP while posting a 115:32 K:BB. He should be locked into the Cleveland rotation this season.

Paxton, whose Wednesday spring start against the Cubs was rescheduled, pitched in a three-inning simulated game to catcher Tom Murphy instead and looked sharp, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

The veteran left-hander's start was rescheduled at his own request, as Paxton wanted additional time to refine his secondary pitches while creating more consistent direction and timing in the downhill portion of his delivery. Paxton noted he's specifically been trying to get his "explosion toward the plate" right and felt that he was able to improve on it the more he pitched to Murphy, with whom he's working on developing a rapport. Paxton anticipates he'll be ready to make his Cactus League debut early next week, potentially Monday against the Indians.

Gonzales allowed just an unearned run on two hits and a walk over two innings in his Cactus League debut against the Padres on Sunday.

The left-hander, already named Seattle's Opening Day starter, turned in a strong performance to kick off his spring. Encouragingly, he was efficient enough to get through multiple frames in his first outing. Despite the return of James Paxton to the Mariners this offseason, Gonzales is still rightfully considered the ace of the staff after following up the combined 29 wins he notched in 2018 and 2019 by posting a 7-2 record alongside career bests in ERA (3.10) and WHIP (0.95) across 69.2 innings in 2020.

Kikuchi, who made several offseason improvements, appeared to back up general manager Jerry Dipoto's recent proclamation that the left-hander is ready for a "breakout" during his first Cactus League start, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports. "Everything that he was doing [in 2020] suggested that he should be experiencing more success," Dipoto said. "I don't know that we had a single pitcher that was probably more unlucky than Yusei last year. I know it's been an inconsistent couple of years, albeit one truncated season. But we love his stuff."

Kikuchi threw 29 pitches across two innings against an Indians B squad Tuesday, allowing one earned run on a hit and walk while recording three strikeouts. The 29-year-old was able to hit 96 mph with his four-seam fastball and remained at 95 mph for the majority of his outing while also utilizing two of his secondary pitches for strikeouts. Kikuchi's velocity uptick was already evident during a 2020 season in which the gap between his expected ERA (3.51) and actual ERA (5.17) was the third largest among 108 qualified pitchers. He also reduced his HR/9 from 2019's 2.0 to 0.6 last season.

Keuchel is scheduled to start Monday against the Dodgers, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

This will be Keuchel's first Cactus League start of 2021. The left-hander will be among the top three White Sox starters, joining Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn.

Lynn allowed one walk and struck out three over two scoreless innings in Thursday's spring game against the Giants.

Lynn told Scott Merkin of MLB.com that he wanted to go out for a third inning. He'd thrown more pitches during batting practice than he threw Thursday. The veteran righty projects to be the No. 2 starter for his new team.