MLB Player News

Cole threw 28 pitches in one inning of work against the Tigers on Monday, allowing one run on three hits and a walk. He struck out one batter and did not factor in the decision.

Cole looked rusty in his first Grapefruit League appearance, though all three hits against him were singles. He escaped with only one run crossing the plate by stranding the bases loaded. The right-hander will have plenty of time to settle in this spring before toeing the mound for the Yankees on Opening Day against Toronto.

Gibson added a cutter over the offseason, Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports.

Gibson already had a rather full repertoire, throwing four pitches (a four-seam fastball, sinker, changeup and slider) all at least 14 percent of the time last year while also working in the occasional curveball. He might need a new weapon to stay relevant heading into his age-33 season, as he's coming off a year in which he struggled to a 5.35 ERA, his worst mark since his debut back in 2013. Of course, it's far too soon to say whether or not the cutter will actually make him a better pitcher, but it could provide a reason to believe in him should he look like a better pitcher in his first few starts.

Kikuchi, the Mariners' projected No. 3 starter, will make his Cactus League debut Tuesday against the Indians, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

The left-hander slimmed down approximately 10 pounds during the offseason in an attempt to improve his overall mobility and mechanics on the mound. Kikuchi has a bloated 5.39 ERA through his first 41 major-league starts across two seasons after a successful career in Japan, but the Mariners are encouraged by the year-to-year change his K/9 (9.0, up from 6.5) and HR/9 (0.6, down from 2.0) exhibited in 2020.

Paxton is scheduled to start Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Cubs, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

The veteran southpaw's work will undoubtedly be scrutinized this spring in his return to Seattle after a mixed bag of a two-year stay with the Yankees. After back and forearm injuries limited him to just five starts in 2020 following a 15-6 mark the prior season, Paxton spent most of the offseason rebuilding his strength and refining his mechanics. He now considers himself at full health and commented last week that he expects to build up to a five- or six-inning workload by the end of spring training.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona said Bieber would start Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Royals and pitch around two innings, Tom Withers of the Associated Press reports.

Bieber was briefly delayed at the start of spring training while recovering from a positive COVID-19 test, but he experienced only minor symptoms of the virus and hasn't experienced any setbacks since resuming workouts. On the heels of a Cy Young-winning campaign, Bieber is looking to turn his slider into more of a weapon this season, so expect him to experiment liberally with the off-speed pitch during his spring outings. Bieber should be ready to handle close to a 100-pitch workload when he likely gets the ball in Cleveland's April 1 regular-season opener in Detroit.

Eovaldi allowed two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out two over 1.1 innings in Sunday's spring game against the Twins.

Eovaldi told Christopher Smith of MassLive.com that it felt like he was rushing his delivery and his offspeed stuff wasn't very good. However, he was pleased with the fastball that averaged 97.9 mph and topped out at 99.5.

Manning will make his Grapefruit League debut Wednesday, pitching after Daniel Norris, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Manning is one of the team's best prospects and is closing in on his MLB debut, though it's likely to happen sometime in the summer rather than right out of spring training. The 23-year-old will still be looking to make a good impression during his Grapefruit League action, and he could be an impact arm whenever he does reach the majors. He posted a 2.56 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 148 strikeouts across 133.2 innings in 2019 with Double-A Erie, then spent last season at the Tigers' alternate training site.

Rodriguez is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Friday against Tampa Bay, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

That means Rodriguez will toe the rubber in Boston's sixth spring game; however, he did throw a two-inning simulated game Saturday and appears on track as the team's No. 1 starter. "He looked good," manager Alex Cora told Ian Browne of MLB.com. "Actually, we were talking about the fact that he was able to repeat his delivery for two innings. It's a positive. Good stuff. A few pitches over the middle of the plate. As far as mechanics and how he felt, it was a good step towards the right direction." The Red Sox will go with a six-man rotation during the first week of spring games but have not committed to it for the regular season. Whatever happens -- five-man or six-man -- Rodriguez will be part of it and likely be the ace.

Perez is scheduled to start Tuesday's spring game against Tampa Bay, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Perez was Boston's most consistent starter from start to finish in 2020 and is expected to be part of the 2021 rotation. He follows Nathan Eovaldi (Sunday) and Garrett Richards (Monday). The Red Sox will trot out a six-man rotation early in camp but have not yet committed to that number for the regular season. "We're going to go with a six-man rotation early because I think it fits the pitcher progression better that way," said pitching coach Dave Bush. "I like keeping guys on six [days] just for a little while to spread out their increases and number of pitches." Following Perez on Tuesday is Nick Pivetta (Wednesday vs. Minnesota), Matt Andriese (Thursday vs. Baltimore) and Eduardo Rodriguez (Friday vs. Tampa Bay).

Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush said Houck still needs to develop his splitter, which he introduced as a third pitch last season, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. "If he's going to be a consistent big-league starter over time, he's going to need a quality third pitch. He knows that and that's probably been on the top of the list," said Bush.

Houck dazzled in a three-start stint late last season, but Bush's comments suggest the right-hander will open the season at Triple-A Worcester. He threw a handful of splitters during his starts in 2020, relying heavily on the fastball-slider mix, so it makes sense for Boston to have him work on the third pitch in the minors.