MLB Player News

Snell couldn't make it out of the first inning in an exhibition against the University of South Florida on Tuesday, throwing just 15 of 29 pitches for strikes, Eduardo A. Encina and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times report. "Blake couldn't quite find consistency with his delivery for whatever reason,'' manager Kevin Cash said. "Looked like he was trying to adjust on the fly and it just wasn't working. But no concern whatsoever.''

The Cy Young award winner came up surprisingly small against inferior competition, allowing two runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman. The rough outing naturally left the young left-hander, who's made improved control a priority this spring, considerably frustrated. Snell conceded to not having approached the start with the same intensity he would have against a major-league squad, and his inability to locate his fastball was especially disconcerting. The young southpaw did come away pleased with the performance of his breaking pitches, however, and will look to bounce back in his next spring outing, which should come towards the end of the week or over the weekend.

Luzardo struck out six of the 10 batters he faced in a 2.2-inning, 51-pitch Cactus League outing against the Rangers on Tuesday, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports. "You look for the nerves or whatever, first big-league camp, and we haven't seen a sign of it," manager Bob Melvin said. "Comes in the dugout between innings, very cognizant of what's going on, has conversations with the catchers, the pitching coaches."

Luzardo is technically in the mix for one open rotation spot, but chances are he will stay down for a least a couple weeks for service-time reasons. The southpaw was making his first start after opening the spring with a pair of relief appearances, and Tuesday's outing extended his spring scoreless streak to 5.2 innings. Luzardo has given up only two hits and already fanned 10 hitters, with his elite changeup proving especially effective when interspersed with an impressive fastball that the 21-year-old is still actively working on locating more consistently. "I think when you have three pitches like that and you don't feel great about one, you have two you can go to, and there's a nice little gap between the two and they both look alike," Melvin said. "His fastball and his changeup look exactly alike."

Hammel made his debut for the Rangers, throwing two scoreless innings in Tuesday's game against Oakland.

Hammel signed late in the offseason and is behind others at this stage, though manager Chris Woodward told T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com that he has time to compete for a job. Hammel has made 298 career starts and is being stretched out in camp, but Woodward said he's competing for a spot in the Rangers' bullpen.

Smyly struck out three and walked one over two scoreless innings Tuesday against the Athletics.

Smyly was consistently behind hitters in the first inning, reaching full counts to three of the four batters faced, but righted himself with a more efficient second inning. This was the second spring outing for the left-hander, who is coming off a two-year hiatus due to Tommy John elbow surgery.

Giolito allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out three over 2.2 innings Tuesday against San Diego.

Giolito made his second spring start, running his pitch count up to 64. Only 36 of those pitches went for strikes, and he built up a number of 3-2 counts. After the game, Giolito talked about pulling too many pitches to his front side, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports. Coming off a season in which he walked 90 batters in 173.1 innings, the right-hander needs to command better in 2019.

Cease allowed two hits over one scoreless inning Tuesday against the Indians.

The White Sox delayed Cease's debut with an eye toward having him help the major-league club in the second half of the regular season. Part of that plan was to have him throw just the one inning, although he tossed another 15 pitches in the bullpen. The White Sox will have Cease make another start in five days when he expects to pitch two or three innings, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Manager Brad Ausmus said Heaney's (elbow) bullpen session Monday went well, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Heaney, who was scratched from his previous start due to left elbow inflammation, is on track to rejoin the rotation Friday against the White Sox after getting through Monday's 30-pitch bullpen with no issues. The Angels will likely still wait and see how the southpaw feels in the coming days before confirming his return, but he's certainly trending in the right direction. Assuming Heaney is cleared to take the mound Friday, he should still have plenty of time to get up to speed before Opening Day.

Manager Aaron Boone said German is a candidate to fill in for the injured Luis Severino (shoulder), Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

With Severino expected to miss the start of the season due to shoulder inflammation, German and Jonathan Loaisiga are the leading candidates to temporarily take his spot in the rotation. The right-hander started 14 games for New York in 2018, compiling a 6.19 ERA and 79:26 K:BB across 68.1 innings. He fared much better in a relief role last season (3.12 ERA and 11.9 K/9 in 17.1 innings) and could return to the bullpen if he doesn't secure the team's vacant rotation spot in camp.

Severino will be shut down for two weeks with rotator cuff inflammation, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

The diagnosis means Severino will almost certainly miss Opening Day. In the best-case scenario, he'll be back on a mound about a week before the first game of the season, but it will likely take longer than that for him to get up to speed. Barring setbacks, he'll have a chance to only miss a turn or two in the rotation, as manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Severino's MRI "looked pretty good" other than the inflammation.

Heaney (elbow) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session Tuesday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Heaney has been dealing with elbow inflammation since his spring start against the A's on Feb. 26. After throwing from flat ground for three consecutive days with no issues, the left-hander was able to resume mound work Tuesday. If Heaney checks out OK in the coming days, he could be cleared to rejoin the rotation as soon as Friday against the White Sox.