MLB Player News

Civale is in extended spring training rehabbing a lat injury, MLB.com reports.

He originally suffered the injury in late August of last year and is still dealing with the issue. Once healthy, he could return to Double-A or get his first taste of Triple-A

Hankins is opening the year in extended spring training before being assigned to a short-season affiliate in June, MLB.com reports.

The good news is that Hankins is healthy, but we will have to wait a couple months to see him in game action this year. He will need to work on repeating his delivery and controlling his electric arsenal, but he has top-of-the-rotation upside if it all comes together. Look for him to begin the year in either the AZL or the New York-Penn League.

Lara is rehabbing an undisclosed injury in extended spring training, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports.

Also of note is the fact that the Royals have decided to officially develop Lara as a reliever moving forward. He can touch triple digits with his fastball and has a power breaking ball, so he has some long-term fantasy upside in that role. Lara had a 1.98 ERA, .174 batting average against and an 11.9 K/9 in 15 relief innings last year at Low-A. He should head to High-A once he is healthy.

Whitley is opening the year with Triple-A Round Rock, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports.

He will be pitching in games right away this season, which is noteworthy, as the Astros could have opted to hold him back in extended spring training in an effort to make sure he still had plenty in the tank for a postseason run. They can still manage his innings and make that happen going this route, of course, and he should quickly show that he has little left to prove against minor-league hitters. He could be promoted to the majors at any moment this season.

Ragans (elbow) will open the year in extended spring training, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports.

He underwent Tommy John surgery in late March of 2018 and began a throwing program last fall. Ragans may need a couple months to build up to the point that he can be sent out to an affiliate.

Cobb (groin) was activated from the 10-day injured list ahead of his scheduled start Thursday against the Yankees.

He'll toe the rubber for Baltimore's home opener after missing the Orioles' first six games of the season while recovering from a mild groin strain suffered in spring training. Due to multiple off days in the schedule thus far, the Orioles have been able to get by with a three traditional starters while using Nate Karns as an opener on two occasions, so Cobb's addition won't result in any pitchers moving out of the rotation.

Eovaldi gave up three runs on four hits with four walks while striking out three though five innings in a no-decision against the Athletics on Wednesday.

Eovaldi wasn't efficient as he walked four batters and threw 96 pitches in only five innings. Through two starts, the 29-year-old has given up four home runs and has an ERA of 8.10. Eovaldi will get his next start Thursday against the Blue Jays.

Cole (0-2) gave up three runs on four hits while striking out nine through six innings in a loss against the Rangers on Wednesday.

Cole took a tough loss while posting another quality start. After striking out 10 in his first start, Cole was dominant with nine more strikeouts and 20 swinging strikes, including 12 on his fastball. Through 12 innings, the right-hander has a 3.00 ERA. Cole will take the mound for his next start Tuesday against the Yankees.

Boyd struck out a career-high 13 batters Wednesday, allowing one run on five hits and three walks over 6.1 innings, but he didn't factor into the decision in a 2-1 win over the Yankees.

All of a sudden, the southpaw is putting up numbers like he's Randy Johnson in his prime, fanning 23 batters through his first 11.1 innings on the season. Boyd managed an 8.4 K/9 over 170.1 frames in 2018, so to say this pace is unsustainable would be a massive understatement, but it's hard to ignore the way he's come out of the gate. With a couple of off days looming for the Tigers, he won't take the mound again until next Wednesday, at home against Cleveland.

Gibson didn't factor into the decision in Wednesday's 7-6 win over the Royals, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks over 4.2 innings while striking out two.

The right-hander looked solid enough through four innings, but a five-run fifth capped by Alex Gordon's three-run homer sent Gibson to the showers. Coming off a career-best 3.62 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 2018, this wasn't the way the 31-year-old wanted to start his campaign, but a long layoff -- his last spring outing came March 22 -- may have played a part. Gibson will look for a better result Sunday at home against the Tigers.