MLB Player News

Lyles allowed three runs on three hits and one walk while striking out three over three innings in Tuesday's spring game against the Giants.

Lyles was the fourth member to Texas' projected starting rotation to make his spring debut. He shrugged off the three-run home run allowed on a curve, as the right-hander was more focused on his changeup, a pitch he all but abandoned in his 11 starts with the Brewers in 2019. "I don't like the three runs, but overall, I wanted to get the changeup working and we were successful with that," Lyles told T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. "A great day working on the changeup. There's good and bad that goes with that. But that's what I wanted to work on today. And we did a good job working with it." Lyles is lining up to be the Rangers' No. 5 starter.

Urquidy allowed two hits and struck out four over three scoreless innings in Tuesday's spring game against St. Louis.

Urquidy came out of the bullpen for innings five through seven, so he wasn't seeing the Cardinals' best. Houston pitching coach Brent Strom all but anointed Urquidy as the team's fourth starter earlier in camp, based on a strong September and postseason in 2019. The 24-year-old right-hander has allowed two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out five over 4.1 spring innings.

Verlander allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and one walk while striking out three over 2.2 innings in Tuesday's spring game against the Cardinals.

The results aren't pretty, but Verlander's spring debut wasn't about that. A groin injury slowed him this spring, but the AL's reigning Cy Young Award winner said his leg was not an issue Tuesday. He threw 53 pitches and hit 97 mph on the radar. "Today, first and foremost, was to come out of it feeling good," Verlander told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. "Having no issues with the groin. Check. Hoping that the velo's decent, which I think it was for this time of year. Better than normal. I'd have to reference years. I was pretty surprised seeing some of the numbers I saw." The right-hander added that his location and pitch quality are a bit behind, but that's natural after he's been focusing his efforts on getting healthy.

Montas started Monday's Cactus League win over the Cubs and fired two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and one walk while also hitting a batter. He struck out two.

On the heels of firing a perfect frame in his spring debut last Wednesday, Montas put together another mostly dominant outing over 32 pitches versus a Cubs lineup that was notably missing both Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. The right-hander got some good work in, however, and Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports the control issues that led to the free pass and hit batsman could have been due to some of the experimentation Montas was doing with his pitch selection. "He was working on his splitter and slider," manager Bob Melvin said. "Got a little out of whack for a minute. He's usually quite the strike-thrower. But he ended up finding it again."

Clevinger (knee) extended his flat-ground throwing program out to 150 feet Tuesday, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

The 29-year-old moved over to the mound to begin simulating his delivery after playing catch and was very pleased to feel no discomfort. "We started rolling today," Clevinger told reporters Tuesday. "It was a really, really, really promising day." The next step for the right-hander will be to pitch off the rubber. Barring any further setbacks, Clevinger could potentially join the Indians' starting rotation around mid-April.

Giolito (chest) will make his spring debut Friday against the Cubs, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Giolito has been dealing with a strained chest muscle since early in camp. He's been brought along gradually, but his readiness for Opening Day never appeared to be seriously threatened. Assuming Friday's outing goes smoothly, he'll still have time to make a few more starts before the regular season begins.

Bieber is hoping to feature his changeup more this season, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

Bieber is hardly the first pitcher to talk up his changeup during spring training, and it wouldn't be smart to adjust his projections purely based on his words, but the young righty has certainly identified one of the few areas of weakness in his game. Bieber threw his changeup just 7.4 percent of the time in 2019, and it was the only one of his four pitches to receive a negative grade per FanGraphs' Pitch Values metric. Bieber's 30.2 percent strikeout rate and 4.7 percent walk rate last season were each outstanding, but hitters managed a strong 90.4 mph average exit velocity against him when they made contact. An improved changeup could theoretically help keep the ball off the barrel of the bat, though it remains to be seen whether or not the pitch has indeed improved.

Carrasco (hip) has been cleared to start Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Angels, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

The right hip flexor injury Carrasco picked up during a Feb. 20 workout proved to be only a short-term concern, as the right-hander was cleared to face hitters in a live batting practice session just over a week later. With Carrasco coming out of that workout no worse for the wear, he'll now take the hill for his first start of the spring. Carrasco should have enough time to build up his arm for a starter's workload when his first turn through the Tribe's regular-season rotation comes up in late March.

Verlander (groin) has been confirmed as the Astros' starting pitcher for Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Manager Dusty Baker suggested a few days earlier that Verlander was on track to make his spring debut Tuesday, and the veteran right-hander's inclusion on the Astros' lineup card now makes it official. While contending with the minor groin concern, Verlander was still able to throw approximately 30 pitches in a live batting practice session last week, so he's right where he needs to be at this stage of the spring as he prepares for a likely Opening Day starting assignment.

Snell (elbow) said he's on track to throw a bullpen session Friday, Steve Carney of Sports Radio 620 WDAE reports.

The cortisone shot Snell received last week for his left elbow appears to have had the desired effect, as the 27-year-old was able to play catch from 60 feet Tuesday without discomfort. He plans to increase his flat-ground distance to 90 feet Wednesday before getting back on the mound Friday. Assuming he gets through the bullpen session without incident, Snell could be cleared to face live hitters early next week.