MLB Player News

Paxton (2-2) earned the win against the Red Sox on Tuesday by recording 12 strikeouts across eight shutout innings. He allowed only two hits and one walk.

Paxton had by far his best start of the season as he kept the Red Sox off balance all evening. Xander Bogaerts missed a home run by mere inches during the fourth inning to put runners on second and third with nobody out, but the veteran left-hander escaped from the jam completely unscathed. Paxton will carry a 3.91 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 31:7 K:BB into Sunday's start against the Royals.

Cobb (back) is on track to start Friday's game against Minnesota, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Cobb threw a bullpen Tuesday, and the session obviously went well, considering skipper Brandon Hype expects the lefty to be activated from the injured list in time for Friday's matchup. Cobb turned in a decent outing prior to suffering the injury, allowing two runs while striking out four over 5.2 frames against the Yankees.

Snell was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a fractured right toe suffered in a household accident, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Thankfully for the Rays and Snell's fantasy owners, the lefty is expected to miss only a single start. The move was made retroactive to Sunday, so he could be back April 24 against the Royals. Emilio Pagan was recalled from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move.

Bassitt (lower leg) was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday.

Bassitt had already been with Las Vegas while on a rehab assignment. He'll remain there as a normal member of the team for now but will have a shot to be called up when the Athletics next need a starting pitcher.

Sale will throw to his preferred catcher, Sandy Leon, Tuesday against the Yankees, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Leon was designated for assignment prior to the season in favor of Blake Swihart, but the Red Sox elected to bring him back at Swihart's expense Tuesday. Sale's start to the season has been concerning enough that there's no reason to believe Leon's return will cure everything (and it certainly won't increase his velocity), but throwing to his favorite batterymate should be at least a small positive.

Whitley lasted 1.1 innings Monday in his start for Triple-A Round Rock, conceding five runs on four hits and two walks while striking out one in a 10-2 loss to Memphis.

Making his second appearance of the season, Whitley endured one of the roughest outings of his largely immaculate minor-league career. The right-hander wasn't merely the victim of bad luck on balls in play either, as all four of the hits he surrendered were doubles. One poor outing in a hitter-friendly environment won't dim Whitley's long-term outlook or change his standing as baseball's top pitching prospect, though it could give the Astros some pause about accelerating his arrival to the majors.

Mejia was used in the eighth inning to protect a two-run lead, but gave up four runs on four hits including a home run over two innings in Monday's loss to Toronto.

Mejia did strike out out two batters with no walks, but couldn't protect the lead in a disastrous eighth inning before finishing the ninth inning. He's given up eight earned runs in 7.2 innings with two home runs and five walks, as he's struggled so far in moving to a relief role.

Kikuchi (0-1) allowed three runs on three walks and five hits in six innings while taking the loss against Cleveland on Monday. He struck out five batters and gave up a home run.

Kikuchi has struggled so far in his first MLB season but he had just three walks in 21.2 innings before Monday's outing. He allowed three hits and a walk in the first inning alone and eventually gave up a long ball to Jose Ramirez in the third. Still looking for his first win, he'll see the Angels on Saturday.

Perez gave up one run on seven hits with two walks while striking out five through six innings in a no-decision against the Blue Jays on Monday.

Perez allowed nine baserunners but found a way to get out of several jams as he earned a quality start against the Blue Jays. He was in line for the win before the bullpen blew it in the eighth inning. It was the first start of the season for the left-hander, as the Twins had been working with a four-man rotation in the early going. Through four appearances, the 28-year-old has a 5.02 ERA and a 17:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Perez is scheduled to get his next start Saturday on the road against the Orioles.

Cobb (back) is scheduled to throw a live batting practice session Tuesday, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

The activity should offer the Orioles a gauge of Cobb's health heading into the weekend, when he could be activated to start one of the team's three games at home versus Minnesota. Cobb was able to play catch over the weekend without experiencing any issues related to his lumbar strain and shouldn't need a rehab assignment before returning from the 10-day injured list.