MLB Player News

Sale is scheduled to pitch in a minor-league game March 11, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

The outing is expected to mark the final step for Sale before the Red Sox incorporate him into their Grapefruit League pitching schedule, likely later that same week. Sale notably experienced a decline in velocity after returning from a shoulder injury in time for the Red Sox's run to the World Series last season, so the radar readings for the southpaw could bear watching this spring.

German could be needed in the Yankees' rotation if Luis Severino's shoulder injury turns out to be a significant one.

German was expected to be competing for a bullpen job, but he started 14 games for the Yankees last season and could be called on again. Of the Yankees' in-house options, Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa appear to be German's primary competition, though Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez remain options on the free agent market.

Heaney (elbow) will throw a bullpen session Tuesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Heaney skipped his previous start due to elbow inflammation, but the issue is apparently a minor one. He threw from flat ground Monday and will throw again just one day later. If all goes well during the bullpen session, he should be ready to rejoin the Angels' pitching schedule in Friday's Cactus League matchup with the White Sox.

Severino was scratched from his start Tuesday against the Braves due to shoulder discomfort.

Severino will undergo an MRI later Tuesday to determine the extent of the issue. A minor setback wouldn't seriously threaten his start to the season, but if he's shut down from throwing for any significant period of time, a trip to the injured list would be likely, with just over three weeks remaining before Opening Day.

Severino was scratched from his scheduled spring start Tuesday against the Braves for undisclosed reasons, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.

Stephen Tarpley will start in his place. No specific reason for the scratch was announced.

The Tigers assigned Mize to their minor-league camp Tuesday, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Mize, the top overall pick in the 2018 first-year player draft, made two appearances in Grapefruit League play, giving up one run and striking out a pair of hitters over two innings. He'll likely open the 2019 campaign at Double-A Erie or High-A Lakeland.

Gibson (illness) threw two scoreless innings in his spring training debut Monday with three strikeouts and two walks. He lost around 15 pounds after battling E. coli in January, but has gained some of the weight back, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Gibson weighed 215 pounds before the illness and is back to 205 pounds. It sounds like he's on track to be ready for the start of the regular season, but watch his progress this spring.

Rodriguez allowed three hits and struck out two over two scoreless innings Monday against the Mets.

Rodriguez's line looked good, but manager Alex Cora had a different perspective. "For him to go deeper into games, he needs to attack guys -- his stuff was good, he got some swings and misses but those are things we need to get better and he knows it," Cora told Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. "We need that next step -- 5 1/3 (innings), it's tough -- we want him to go deeper into games, and his stuff, he can do that whenever he feels like it. It's part of the learning process. He's holding up, he's been in the league a long, long time -- it's time for him to step up." This was Rodriguez's second spring outing, a game when most starters throwing three-plus innings, so Cora has a point. The left-hander has yet to throw more than 137 innings in a season and averages 5.3 innings per start.

Berrios will start for the Twins on Opening Day.

As expected, Berrios will get the ball first for the Twins in 2019 after posting a 3.84 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 202:61 K:BB through 32 starts (192.1 innings) last season. The young right-hander will face the Indians at home.

Luzardo (illness) struck out three batters across two clean innings against the Dodgers last Wednesday.

Luzardo dealt with a minor illness in between his first two Cactus League appearances, though the young left-hander didn't seem affected by the issue. He's allowed just one unearned run on two hits with a 4:1 K:BB through two outings (three innings) this spring. Luzardo, who is competing for a rotation spot in camp, is slated to start Tuesday against the Rangers.