MLB Player News

Whitley was reassigned to minor-league camp Tuesday, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

Whitley has allowed just two runs in eight innings of work this spring, recording an 11:2 K:BB, though he was never considered likely to break camp with the team. He has just 10 starts at the Double-A level under his belt, but his talent level is high enough that he's expected to debut at some point this season.

Keller will start for the Royals on Opening Day against the White Sox, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

It's quite the rapid rise for Keller, who was a Rule 5 pick prior to last season. His status as the Royals' top starter shouldn't confuse fantasy owners into thinking he's an ace, though. His 3.08 ERA last season outpaced the ERA estimators by a considerable margin, and he struck out just 16.5 percent of opposing hitters.

Manager Alex Cora said that Sale would make his Grapefruit League debut Saturday versus the Braves, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

The Red Sox have deliberately eased Sale into their pitching schedule this spring after the lefty battled shoulder soreness late last season that caused a notable dip in his velocity. Sale's first test of the spring came Monday in a minor-league game, with the lefty's velocity topping out at 93 miles per hour during the three-inning, 45-pitch appearance, according to Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe. That's well down from the 96-to-98 mph Sale's fastball averaged from May though August last season, though the southpaw noted that he purposely held himself back a bit during the throwing session, per Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. Perhaps more importantly, Sale reported no physical issues Monday, leaving reason for optimism that he'll regain a few ticks on his four-seamer and return to ace-like form by Opening Day.

McKenzie will be shut down for six weeks with an upper back strain, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

McKenzie will miss the start of the minor-league season for the second straight year. In 2018, he didn't debut until June 7 due to forearm tightness. After his six-week shutdown, he'll still need a few more weeks to build his arm back up, so he's likely looking at a return to game action in mid-May at the earliest.

Dunn was reassigned to minor-league camp Monday, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

Dunn was invited to big-league camp, although he was never expected to make the Opening Day roster, considering he hasn't played above the Double-A level. He posted a 4.22 ERA and 1.37 WHIP with 105 strikeouts over 89.2 frames last season with Double-A Arkansas. Dunn should spend most of 2019 at Triple-A, but could get a taste of the majors in the second half if he improves his command/control.

Valdez allowed three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out one over three innings Monday against the Mets.

The Mets teed off on Valdez in the second inning when they scored three times and had several hard-hit balls. The outing raised his spring ERA to 5.79, and the left-hander has fallen further behind right-hander Brad Peacock in the race for the final spot in the rotation. Peacock pitched three scoreless innings of relief and has not allowed a run in eight innings.

Kopech (elbow) was placed on the 60-day injured list Monday.

The transaction has no impact on Kopech's return timeline, as he's not expected to return at any point this season while he recovers from Tommy John surgery. The move allows the White Sox to add Josh Osich to the roster after he was claimed off waivers from Baltimore.

Odorizzi gave up five runs on two home runs while retiring just two batters in Sunday's spring training loss to Toronto. Odorizzi said he was focusing on using his curveball and wasn't bothered by the results, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. "I didn't throw many fastballs, but that was by design. I'm not going to go to my good stuff when I want to work on the other stuff that's not as good," he said.

This is an example of when spring training results may not indicate much with a veteran who is assured of a spot in the rotation. Odorizzi looks fully healthy and set to begin the season in the rotation. The Twins may use an opener for Odorizzi's starts, given that he struggles mightily the third time he faces a lineup, but this could actually lead to him qualifying for more wins in 2019.

Luzardo allowed an earned run on four hits and a walk over four innings in a Cactus League split-squad win over the Giants on Sunday. He struck out five.

Luzardo continues to press his rather unlikely candidacy for the Athletics' final rotation spot to open the season. Sunday's outing served as the latest example he may be ready for the rigors of the majors based on ability alone. Jane Lee of MLB.com reports that Luzardo impressively worked around trouble in the first after allowing the first two hitters to reach safely via a walk and a single, escaping the frame with just one earned run allowed. The southpaw then retired the next six hitters and didn't allow another run, finishing the start with 62 pitches. Luzardo has now racked up 15 strikeouts over 9.2 spring innings, and he'll remain in Arizona when the team travels to Japan later this week in order to remain on his regular throwing schedule ahead of a Bay Bridge series start in late March.

Snell had his contract renewed by the Rays on Sunday and will make $573,700 in 2019, a raise of $15,500 from last season, Ralph Long of MLB.com reports.

The numbers are a relative pittance for a pitcher coming off an AL Cy Young Award-winning season during which he racked up 21 victories and a 1.89 ERA. However, such is life for a non-arbitration-eligible player, so Snell will forge ahead with a modest raise for his 2018 efforts. The young southpaw will be eligible for arbitration for the first time next offseason, so he'll have no shortage of incentive to put together a successful encore campaign as the ace of the Rays staff.