MLB Player News

Lyles will start Wednesday's exhibition game against the Rockies, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Lyles, who had a shaky start to summer camp, is coming off his best outing. He pitched in an intrasquad game Friday and allowed two runs on three hits and four walks while striking out six over six innings. The Rangers are expected to skip Lyles' first regular-season turn in the rotation, and it's possible they also forgo him a second time, as they have three off days during the first 11 days of the season.

The White Sox placed Kopech (personal) on the restricted list July 10.

The transaction was just a procedural move after Kopech confirmed earlier that day that he would opt out of the 2020 season. While at home for the next several months, Kopech will complete his rehab from his September 2018 Tommy John surgery before reporting to spring training at full health in 2021 with an eye on claiming a rotation spot.

Glasnow allowed two hits and four walks over three innings while recording five strikeouts during Monday's intrasquad start, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. "The feel for things just wasn't there today. I just couldn't get my curveball over, and it let guys sit on the heater," Glasnow said. "But I'm pleased with where I'm at."

As his line implies, Glasnow was a mixed bag in his intrasquad duel versus Blake Snell, with the big right-hander clearly fooling some of his teammates but also experiencing some trouble with location. One of the misplaced offerings resulted in the hardest-hit ball of the contest, a home run by Ji-Man Choi to right field. Glasnow lines up to start either the third or fourth game of the season against the Blue Jays on Sunday or Monday, and manager Kevin Cash attributed some of Glasnow's control issues Monday to the "workload restraints" of the shutdown and summer camp.

Snell faced 10 batters in Monday's intrasquad game and allowed four walks and two hits while bouncing several pitches in the dirt, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The left-hander threw a total of 47 pitches, but Topkin reports at least five of those failed to make it into the catcher's mitt on the fly. Snell chastised himself after the outing for not trusting his fastball sufficiently and attacking hitters, but manager Kevin Cash gave the 27-year-old somewhat of a pass by highlighting that the workload restrictions of the last few months likely led to the lack of sharpness and location. Snell lines up to start against the Blue Jays either Sunday or Monday for his first turn of the regular season.

Manager Bob Melvin pronounced Luzardo as regular-season ready following his performance in Monday's live batting practice against Ramon Laureano, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Luzardo will open the season as a reliever after a delayed arrival in summer camp due to a positive COVID-19 test. The left-hander could see action as soon as the first or second game of the season-opening series versus the Angels, which begins Friday night at Oakland Coliseum.

Walker threw 60 pitches over 3.1 innings in Sunday's intrasquad game, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

The right-hander had to work around some trouble in two of his innings, but he finished the outing allowing only three hits and three walks but no runs. Walker encouragingly also recorded three strikeouts and commented after the game that he felt strong and "definitely" would be ready for this first start of the season Saturday against the Astros.

Kikuchi, who'll start the Mariners' third game of the regular season against the Astros on Sunday, was impressive over four innings in Monday's intrasquad game, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Kikuchi cruised early, firing three scoreless innings before the opposing squad of teammates got to him for two singles and a walk in the fourth. The southpaw ultimately allowed two of those runners to score with a throwing error, but manager Scott Servais was pleased to see Kikuchi's fastball reaching 96 mph and his offspeed pitches also showing improvement during the 55-pitch outing. "I thought he threw the ball pretty well. His stuff was really good and the velocity was up there," Servais said. "Hopefully he can build on that. All the guys so far -- Marco [Gonzales], Taijuan [Walker] and Yusei should be good to go. If things go well, I hope to get them through five innings their first time out."

Skubal (undisclosed) was cleared to join the Tigers' 60-player pool and was assigned to the alternate training site.

The 23-year-old has been absent from summer training for undisclosed reasons and was on the injured list, but he's now set to begin working out at the alternate site. Skubal figures to require some time before reaching game readiness, but he was never likely to see the majors early in the season since he's never seen action at the Triple-A level. The left-hander started 2019 at High-A Lakeland but earned a promotion to Double-A Erie, where he posted a 2.13 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 82:18 K:BB over 42.1 innings.

Manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday that Sandoval (illness) could be ready for Friday's season opener at Oakland, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Maddon said last week it would be "hard to imagine" the 23-year-old being ready for Opening Day, but he's apparently been progressing well in his buildup. Sandoval missed the start of summer training after testing positive for COVID-19, so he's been behind the other pitchers as he competes for a spot in the six-man rotation. The left-hander's status should receive another update later in the week.

Montgomery was optioned to the team's alternate training site Tuesday.

The 27-year-old was expected to begin the season as the Yankees' No. 5 starter, but instead he won't be included on the 30-man roster to open the season. Montgomery delivered five scoreless frames during Sunday's exhibition contest with the Mets, so he finished summer training with a strong performance. New York has the benefit of an off day Friday after the season opener Thursday, so it appears manager Aaron Boone will take advantage with an extra reliever out of the gate. Montgomery could still join the rotation early in the season, but until he's recalled or the team provides more information, his immediate outlook remains uncertain.