MLB Player News

Rodon was pulled from Monday's start against the Brewers after giving up one run on three hits and zero walks while striking out one in two innings. His fastball velocity was dipping into the 80s in the second inning after sitting in the low-to-mid-90s in his last exhibition game, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

He only threw 26 pitches (22 strikes), so if Rodon were fully healthy, he probably would have remained in the game. His velocity in the final inning suggests he is not 100 percent, but there has not been any report from the team regarding an injury.

Groome will throw in a simulated game at the Red Sox's alternate training site Tuesday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

He has thrown a couple bullpen sessions, but this will be his first time facing live hitters at Pawtucket. The Red Sox will need to add Groome to the 40-man roster this offseason in order to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, so this will give him an opportunity to show the new front office what they have in him. The 21-year-old lefty hasn't pitched against full-season hitters since 2017 and underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2018.

Bradish was added to the Orioles' player pool Monday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Bradish came over from the Angels in the Dylan Bundy trade back in December. The 23-year-old is unlikely to be anything but organizational depth this season, as he only has one year of professional experience under his belt and spent the entirety of last season at the High-A level.

Odorizzi (back) looked good after throwing Monday and is expected to start sometime during the Twins' weekend series in Kansas City, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Odorizzi has been dealing with upper-back stiffness since mid-July, causing him to miss the early part of the season. He won't miss much more time, though it's not yet clear what kind of workload he'll be ready to handle in his first start of the year.

Hill is battling both fatigue and mid-back soreness, which explains why he won't start any of the Twins' next four games, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Hill will get an extended rest following his first start of the season, which should help the frequently-injured veteran stay healthy down the stretch after he spent much of the year recovering from elbow surgery. It's certainly positive news that he isn't dealing with any arm-related issues, and the back and fatigue problems don't appear to be particularly worrisome, as he was able to play catch Monday. It remains unclear when he'll next take the mound, however.

Hill isn't scheduled to start any of the Twins' next four games, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

There haven't been any indications that the oft-injured lefty is dealing with yet another ailment, but he'll now have a minimum of eight days' rest between his first two starts of the year. It's possible that the Twins are simply treating the veteran very cautiously after he spent the first half of the calendar year recovering from October elbow surgery.

Turnbull will not make his scheduled start Thursday against St. Louis as the series has been postponed due to the Cardinals' coronavirus outbreak, Mark Saxon of The Athletic reports.

St. Louis has decided against traveling to Detroit this week with 13 members of the Cardinals organization testing positive for the virus. Turnbull was lined up to pitch in the fourth game of the series Thursday but will likely bump back to sometime during a weekend series in Pittsburgh. The Tigers have yet to formally announce their rotation plans.

Boyd will not make his scheduled start Tuesday against St. Louis as the series has been postponed due to the Cardinals' coronavirus outbreak, Mark Saxon of The Athletic reports.

13 members of the Cardinals organization have tested positive for the virus, including seven players. The Tigers have yet to announce their rotation plans for their weekend series in Pittsburgh, which remains on the schedule, but Boyd presumably will start Friday's game.

Paxton is worried about his drop in velocity this season, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports. "I'm concerned. I'm trying to do everything that I can to figure out what's going on," Paxton stated following Sunday's start.

Paxton averaged 95.4 mph on his four-seam fastball in both 2018 and 2019, but his velocity has dropped drastically to 91.8 mph on the pitch so far this season. His cutter has experienced a similar decline (from 88.1 mph in 2019 to 84.9 mph in 2020), leading to a pair of poor starts in which Paxton has allowed a combined six earned runs on 12 hits over four innings. Whether the slow beginning to the campaign and significant dip in velocity are related to the southpaw's February back surgery is undetermined, but Paxton's spot in the rotation could be in jeopardy if he is unable to turn things around relatively soon.

Turnbull is getting more rotation and swings-and-misses on his slider so far this season versus last year, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Turnbull is generating a higher rpm on his slider this year and has made batters whiff on the pitch 63.2 percent of the time through two starts, which is up from 32.3 percent in 2019. The righty may not be able to sustain such success with the pitch, but it's clear he has confidence on the mound right now, and he'll look to build on his solid 2-0 record, 2.45 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.