MLB Player News

Urquidy said he dropped 15 pounds over the offseason, Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Coming off a surprising 2019, Urquidy's star was on the rise entering 2020. The right-hander was expected to be a significant piece of the rotation, but a bout with COVID-19 during the summer delayed his season debut until September. Urquidy said his goal of pitching 200-plus innings was the motivation behind the weight loss. "I'm very focused to throw more than 200 innings. I think I can do that," he said. "I feel strong (enough) to do that." He's expected to be part of a rotation that needs to replace the innings that Justin Verlander (elbow) would have given the team.

White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz is working with Rodon to overhaul the pitcher's lower half, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun Times reports.

Katz believes Rodon's quad-oriented delivery led to the left-hander throwing across his body, which the coach believes does not promote good arm health. "He's starting to understand how his lower half is supposed to move more efficiently. And it's just going to take time. When you've done something for a long time, it's hard to get out of that, but over time, we hope we can tap into things that he hasn't been able to do," said Katz. Rodon battled shoulder issues last season, making two starts and two relief appearances. His command was not consistent, and he allowed seven earned runs in 7.2 innings. Still, the White Sox were pleased to see that his four-seamer averaged mid-90s (touched 98 MPH), and he still possesses a nasty slider. If he adjusts to the new mechanics, Rodon could emerge as the team's fifth starter in 2021.

Detmers has a chance to get a a big-league call-up in 2021, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Manager Joe Maddon singled out Detmers and fellow prospect Chris Rodriguez as pitchers he's excited to see during spring training and indicated that both could make an impact at some point in the coming campaign. Detmers was the Angels' first-round pick in the 2020 first-year player draft and spent the season at the team's alternate training camp, but his arsenal is already polished enough for him to possibly be big-league ready as soon as this season if a need arises.

Luzardo worked on improving multiple aspects of his game during the offseason, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Despite putting together a rookie season that included a No. 2 ranking among first-year pitchers in strikeouts (59 over 59 innings) and a 3-2 record, the relentless Luzardo was far from satisfied, especially after also allowing seven earned runs across 7.2 innings in the postseason. The 23-year-old southpaw spent most of the offseason working on an aggressive strength and conditioning program with a focus on durability at a facility in Jupiter, Florida. Luzardo also worked tirelessly on repeating his mechanics and honed in heavily on refining his breaking ball after he neglected it somewhat last season, noting "now it's back to where it was" as spring training begins. Expectations naturally remain extremely elevated for Luzardo, who's in contention for an Opening Day start and who manager Bob Melvin already labels as a "top-of-the-rotation starter."

Kikuchi reported to spring camp having dropped 10 pounds over the offseason, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

The 29-year-old southpaw is undoubtedly looking for any edge after generating ERAs over 5.00 in his first two seasons stateside following a successful career in Japan. Kikuchi did have a better season in 2020 than his 5.17 ERA indicates, as he allowed just 41 hits over 47 innings and surrendered just three home runs while averaging a strikeout per frame. He also pitched six full innings in three of his last four trips to the mound, with two of those quality starts. The double-digit weight loss may further help his overall mechanics, although both player and team will undoubtedly monitor matters carefully to ensure it doesn't also lead to a drop in stamina.

Boyd tossed 41 pitches in a bullpen session Thursday and is reportedly ahead of his normal schedule at this point in the spring, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

This is encouraging news early in camp, as Boyd acknowledged that he pitched through a hamstring injury and plantar fasciitis last season. The ailments might have contributed to his subpar 6.71 ERA and 1.48 WHIP, but if he's healthier in 2021, the lefty could return to his 2019 form, when he registered a 4.56 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 238 strikeouts across 185.1 innings.

Gilbert won't be cracking the Mariners' Opening Day rotation but will join the team in late April, team president Kevin Mather said in a talk with the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club in early February that was posted to the club's official YouTube channel.

Previous reports suggested that Gilbert would be given a legitimate chance to compete for a roster spot, but Mather seemed to indicate that wasn't the case. The Mariners can deny Gilbert a year of free agency if they keep him in the minors for a few weeks, and it seems as though they'll be prioritizing that over ensuring that they have their best players on the roster on Opening Day.

Ray spent the winter working on his mechanics and trying to return to the three-quarter arm slot he used prior to last season, Gregor Chisholm of The Toronto Star reports.

Heading into last spring when he was still with the Diamondbacks, the southpaw adjusted his release point to come over the top with his delivery in an attempt to cut down on his walks. The result was the worst stretch of his career, and a trade to the Jays at a steep discount. Thanks to re-signing with Toronto early in the offseason, Ray had the organization's coaching staff available all winter for advice and guidance as he tried to get back to his old arm slot. "Technology has gotten way better and we have slow-mo cameras. They can break down your delivery in very, very small increments of, like, frames per second," Ray said this week. "So, it is a lot different now, and it's really cool to see that technology and be able to go pitch-to-pitch and see the difference: OK, this ball was here and this is what my delivery looked like, and this ball was here and it looked different." If he can re-discover the form he had from 2017-19, when he posted a 3.72 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 12.1 K/9 over 460 innings, Ray will go a long way toward bolstering a Jays rotation that lacks reliable arms behind Hyun Jin Ryu.

Dunn impressed in his first bullpen session of camp Saturday, getting up to 95 mph with his fastball, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

Dunn's fastball has averaged a modest 91.4 mph through his first 14 big-league starts. His 4.13 ERA in those starts looks deceptively decent, but it's taken a .173 BABIP and an 82.0 percent strand rate to get him there, and his 38:31 K:BB doesn't bode well for sustaining the ERA. A velocity bump is exactly the sort of thing he needs to solidify himself as a reliable big-league starter, though he's not a lock to emerge from camp with a rotation role.

Gonzales was officially named the Mariners' Opening Day starter Sunday, Lauren Smith of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

Gonzales will get the ball when the Mariners host the Giants on April 1. The lefty was a fairly clear choice for the honor, though the team could have handed the ball to former ace James Paxton, who returned to Seattle following a pair of seasons as a Yankee. Gonzales doesn't have the traditional strikeout stuff of an ace and probably wouldn't fill that role on a contender, but he's coming off a year in which he rode a roughly league-average 23.1 percent strikeout rate and a stellar 2.5 percent walk rate to a 3.10 ERA and can certainly help both big-league and fantasy rotations.