MLB Player News

Valdez's finger injury is believed to be serious, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Valdez took a groundball off his throwing hand in the first inning of Tuesday's spring game against the Mets, but he threw 19 innings after the incident and said that he was fine after the game. However, the southpaw apparently suffered a serious injury and is expected to be out "awhile." It's not yet clear whether Valdez will be ready for Opening Day, but his injury is a significant blow for Houston's rotation.

Valdez has suffered a finger injury and is being examined by team doctors, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Valdez pitched two innings during Tuesday's spring game against the Mets and allowed just one run on one hit while striking out two. However, his status for the near future is now in question due to his finger issue. The nature and severity of the injury could be revealed once he's examined by doctors, but a timetable for his return isn't yet known.

Perez allowed one hit and didn't walk a batter over two scoreless innings in Tuesday's spring game over the Rays.

Perez told Ian Browne of MLB.com that he's on a mission to improve his control in 2021, and Tuesday's start was a step in that direction. "Everything is about throwing strikes. When you throw a strike and you attack the zone, everything is easier for you as a pitcher," said Perez. He required just 16 pitches (11 strikes) to dispatch the Rays over two innings.

Javier allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two over two scoreless innings in Tuesday's spring game against the Mets.

Javier followed starter Framber Valdez in the game, but he's expected to be a rotation member in 2021. The advanced metrics indicate the right-hander may have overachieved as a rookie in 2020 -- he finished third in Rookie of the Year balloting -- but he's earned the shot to be a starter this year. Javier's main challenge may be to increase last year's workload of 54.1 innings -- he's never thrown more than 113.2 frames in a season.

Valdez allowed one run on one hit while striking out two and walking none over two innings in Tuesday's spring game against the Mets.

Valdez needed just 24 pitches to get through his two innings. His lone mistake was a hanging breaking ball that Jeff McNeil deposited over the right-field wall. Valdez is coming off a strong season, one in which he found control and pitched a league high 94.2 innings, including the postseason. The challenge will be to maintain his effectiveness over the grind of 30 starts. The left-hander is slotted in as the No. 3 starter behind Zack Greinke and Lance McCullers.

Arihara allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out two over two innings in Tuesday's spring game against the White Sox.

Arihara had a rough debut while running into trouble in each inning, leading to the second frame getting rolled by manager Chris Woodward with the bases loaded and Jose Abreu due up. The Rangers manager also ended the first inning early after the right-hander reached the 20-pitch limit and permitted a three-run home run to Andrew Vaughn. Through an interpreter, Arihara told Sam Blum of the Dallas Morning News that he was unable to consistently locate many of his seven pitches. He also talked about a more slippery ball in MLB relative to the ball used in the Japanese league. Despite the pitcher's struggles, Woodward had a positive assessment of Arihara's outing.

Giolito allowed one run on one hit while striking out four over two innings in Tuesday's spring game against the Rangers.

Giolito made his spring debut Tuesday and navigated around a Ronald Guzman home run in what he deemed was a successful first start. "The focus was just getting acclimated again with game speed," Giolito told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun Times. "Being able to control my breathing, control the pace of the game, those were my main focuses. I feel like I did pretty well." The White Sox's projected Opening Day starter struck out Joey Gallo, Khris Davis and Nick Solak consecutively over the first and second innings, including coming back from a 3-0 count on Davis. Giolito said he feels he's right where he needs to be at this point.

Mize pitched two scoreless innings in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Pirates. He walked three and struck out three.

Mize didn't have great control, but he made up for it with the three strikeouts and generally looked sharp on the mound. The 23-year-old endured some rough patches in his MLB debut last season, registering a 6.99 ERA across seven starts, but the talent is certainly there for him to take a big step forward this year.

Glasnow came away pleased with his overall performance during his Grapefruit League debut against the Twins on Monday, an outing during which his fastball touched 100 mph multiple times, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports. "I'm a relatively slow starter," Glasnow said. "I just think it's more of getting a rhythm and getting back to that competition aspect. It was honestly just really good to be out there again, to feel that again and then kind of figure out what you need to build on, and then just go out and do it again in five, six days."

Glasnow's final line was far from sparkling, as he gave up two runs on two hits with three walks across 1.2 innings. However, with his first pitch already clocking 99 mph and the towering right-hander proceeding to hit 100 mph on four occasions in the first inning alone, Glasnow had the look of the staff ace he's projected to be this coming season. He also reported encouraging results from the new hybrid cutter/slider he's been developing, which averaged 86-87 mph in Monday's appearance, and manager Kevin Cash dismissed some of Glasnow's second-inning control issues by noting that the majority of his pitches were still around the strike zone.

Hill gave a solid accounting of himself in a live batting practice session Sunday, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

The veteran southpaw is being counted on to help stabilize a starting rotation that lost both Blake Snell and Charlie Morton this offseason, so any indications the soon-to-be 41-year-old is already rounding into shape is certainly encouraging. Manager Kevin Cash reported Hill spun his breaking balls from different arm angles and looked "totally game-ready," but it's likely he gets another crack at pitching to his own teammates before making his Grapefruit League debut.