MLB Player News

Means (1-2) took the loss after surrendering one run on four hits and a walk while striking out three over five innings Sunday against Boston.

Means fared as well as can be expected against the defending world champions, giving up just one run in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly to center. The 25-year-old lefty owns a 1.98 ERA and 1.24 WHIP with 13 strikeouts over 13.2 frames this season but is likely headed for a relief role moving forward with Alex Cobb (back) expected back from the injured list later this week.

Cobb (back) won't be activated from the 10-day injured list when first eligible Tuesday, but manager Brandon Hyde suggested the right-hander could be ready to rejoin the rotation for next weekend's series with the Twins, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

The Orioles were pleased with how Cobb's back responded to playing catch off flat ground Saturday, but he'll need to complete a bullpen session before receiving the green light to return from the IL. Once Cobb is activated, John Means or Dan Straily would seemingly be most at risk of losing a rotation spot.

The Indians transferred Clevinger (back) to the 60-day injured list Sunday.

The transaction was merely a formality, as the Indians announced shortly after placing Clevinger on the 10-day IL on April 9 that he would be shut down from throwing for 6-to-8 weeks. Even once he begins a throwing program, Clevinger will likely require multiple weeks to build up to a starter's workload, making it unlikely that he'll be ready to return until at least June or July. With that timeline in mind, the Indians elected to move Clevinger to the 60-day IL in order to open up a 40-man roster spot for outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

Valdez will remain in a regimented bullpen role for the next two weeks at Triple-A Round Rock, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Valdez was sent down to Round Rock on Thursday after making the Astros' roster as a reliever. There weren't many opportunities in Houston for Valdez, a minor-league starter who is inexperienced as a reliever. Couple that Houston's starters are getting deep into games and Valdez was wasting away in the 'pen. "Most of that is on me, just not wanting to use him as a left-handed reliever until I'm a little more confident that he's going to bounce back," manager AJ Hinch said. "We've played so many close games, and he's been a long guy for us, because we've played so many long games, I've had to keep him out of games in case we had to get to extra innings. He wasn't pitching enough." For now, the Astros have moved Brad Peacock into the long-relief role in the bullpen and called up Reymin Guduan to serve as the lefty reliever capable of getting a couple of outs when needed. That gives the organization space to acclimate Valdez to a more traditional lefty-reliever role in the minors.

Verlander (2-0) picked up the win Saturday, allowing one run on two hits over six innings while striking out 11 in a 3-1 victory over the Mariners.

A Mitch Haniger solo shot in the fourth inning was the only blemish on Verlander's line, as he threw 76 of 105 pitches for strikes, including 16 swinging strikes. The right-hander now sports a 3.52 ERA and eye-popping 30:6 K:BB through 23 innings, and he'll look to keep rolling Friday on the road against the Rangers.

Snell threw six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with nine strikeouts in a no-decision against the Blue Jays on Saturday.

He left with a one-run lead, but the Rays bullpen couldn't hold this one. While that was disappointing, Snell was outstanding again, and he's allowed just one run in his last 19 frames. He also has 33 strikeouts during that stretch. Overall, he is 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 25 innings. His next scheduled start is home against the Red Sox on Friday.

German (3-0) struck out four in a 4-0 win over the White Sox on Saturday, giving up no hits and no walks over two innings of work.

German was being skipped in the rotation and was therefore available out of the bullpen Saturday. His ERA sits at 1.38 and his WHIP is 0.77 for the season with a 14:7 K:BB over 13 innings, and the 26-year-old will slot back into the rotation Thursday at home against the Royals.

Perez will make his first start of the year Monday against Toronto, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Perez received a bit of late-round sleeper buzz during draft season due to reports of increased velocity. His velocity has indeed been up two ticks in 8.1 innings of relief work this season, with his fastball averaging 94.7 mph. His strikeout rate has more than doubled (to 26.7 percent), but the same can be said of his walk rate (up to 20.0 percent), leading to an ugly 7.56 ERA. To live up to the modest hype, he'll have to hold onto the velocity gains while showing dramatically better control as a starter.

Miley labored through four innings, allowing three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out two in Friday's 10-6 win over the Mariners.

Miley barely survived the first inning, a 41-pitch odyssey that ended with him ceding one run while stranding the bases loaded. He left the game down 3-0, but Houston's offense took the left-hander off the hook with three home runs, including two grand slams. Miley's next slated to pitch Wednesday on the road in Oakland.

Keller (2-1) picked up the win in Friday's 8-1 victory over Cleveland, giving up one run on three hits and five walks over 6.2 innings while striking out 10.

The right-hander danced in and out of trouble in the third and fifth innings, but both times got Hanley Ramirez to ground into fielder's choices with the bases loaded and two outs after intentionally walking Carlos Santana. Keller is now 4-for-4 in delivering quality starts to begin 2019, and he'll take a 2.45 ERA and 23:13 K:BB through 25.2 innings into his next outing, on the road Wednesday against the White Sox.