MLB Player News

Farrell left Saturday's game against the Giants after getting hit in the jaw by a line drive, Kerry Crowley of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

The severity of the injury is not yet clear. Farrell remained down, being treated by trainers for some time, but he was able to walk off the field under his own power.

Kaprielian (shoulder) was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports.

Kaprielian won't open the season on the big-league roster, though that was true before this transaction. He's unlikely to open the year anywhere but the injured list, as he's yet to resume throwing after being shut down with a lat strain in mid-February. The Athletics will probably be happy for him to throw any innings at any level this season, something he hasn't done since 2016.

Valdez allowed two runs on three hits and two walks over 1.1 innings in Friday's game against the Cardinals.

Valdez, making his second start of the spring, exhibited the control issues that have marked his body of work at the major-league level. Just 25 of his 48 pitches were strikes, continuing a trend from 2018 when he threw just 56 percent of his pitches for strikes. He opened the second inning with seven straight balls and fell behind 3-0 to three of the five hitters he faced in that frame. By then, manager AJ Hinch had seen enough. Valdez's control needs to improve if he wants to beat out Brad Peacock for the final spot in the rotation.

Cease will throw live batting practice Saturday, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports.

The White Sox shut down Cease last August after he reached his innings limit. Therefore, the team is bringing him along slowly this spring in advance of what will be a new career high in innings should he pitch into September. The organization's third-ranked prospect has not yet been scheduled for a start, though he expects to make his Cactus League debut Monday or Tuesday.

Morton fired 1.1 perfect innings in which he recorded a strikeout during the Rays' 10-5 Grapefruit League victory over the Orioles on Friday.

The prize offseason acquisition recorded his four outs on just 17 pitches, and according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com, Morton's four-seam fastball was consistently between 93 and 95 mph. Morton's goal had reportedly been to get into the second inning, as he'd logged multiple frames during his live batting practice sessions in camp thus far. Given how the Rays' spring training schedule lines up, Morton's next trip to the mound is most likely to come either Wednesday versus the Orioles or Thursday against the Blue Jays.

Snell was sharp over 16 pitches in his Grapefruit League debut against the Twins on Thursday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

The 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner was particularly pleased with the performance of his curveball, which was responsible for the pair of strikeouts he recorded over his one inning. The sole blemish on Snell's cameo was a four-pitch walk to Jonathan Schoop, as it was otherwise an encouraging start for the southpaw. The Rays currently plan to deploy Snell every fifth game during the balance of spring training, which would line up next Tuesday's split-squad game versus Minnesota as his next scheduled appearance.

Kaprielian (shoulder) hopes to be cleared to start throwing next week, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The injury bug returned for one of its favorite targets early this spring, as Kaprielian was shut down with a lat strain in mid-February. Though the pitcher framed recent developments as positive, he's already behind schedule, as more than two weeks have passed since he was originally shut down for what was supposed to be a two-week period. Kaprielian hasn't pitched in a game since 2016, so anything other than the worst-case scenario is indeed comparatively good news.

Gibson (illness) is scheduled to take the mound in Monday's spring game against the Orioles, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Gibson was scratched from the first week of spring games as he continued to recover from a bout of E. coli in January. Barring a setback, the 31-year-old's return to action should solidify his status for the start of the regular season, as he is set to play a major role in the Twins' starting rotation.

Smyly pitched a scoreless inning in Thursday's game against the Angels.

A victim of Tommy John elbow surgery, Smyly faced major-league hitters in a game environment for the first time in 23 months. He threw 12 of his 16 pitches for strikes in what was an encouraging short outing. The 29-year-old left-hander should have a place in the middle of the Rangers' rotation to begin the season.

Giolito allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits while striking out two over two innings in Thursday's game against the Mariners.

Giolito, who debuted a shorter arm swing in his delivery, was victimized by a dropped flyball that led to two unearned runs. The right-hander contributed to the messy outing, hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch. He was pleased with the new delivery, but noted he needs to work on pitching out of the stretch. "The windup felt good, like I was in control and relaxed the whole time,'' Giolito told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Out of the stretch I felt like I was leaking a little bit. Need to work on pitching out of the stretch."