MLB Player News

Bieber tossed seven scoreless innings Tuesday in his start with Double-A Akron. He gave up four hits and no walks and struck out six.

Bieber has opened the 2018 campaign with 20 scoreless innings, during which he has posted a remarkable 23:0 K:BB. With BB/9 rates below 1.0 at each of his four stops across three professional seasons, Bieber's control is matched by few pitchers at any level of the minors, but his low-90s fastball could make strikeouts more difficult to come by once he reaches the big leagues.

The Rays haven't listed a probable starter for Sunday's game against the Twins, suggesting that Chirinos isn't a lock to receive the nod when his turn in the rotation would come up, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Manager Kevin Cash has never officially named Chirinos the Rays' No. 4 starter, though that seemed to be a foregone conclusion after the right-hander dazzled with 9.1 shutout innings in starts April 5 and 11 that were classified as bullpen games. The 24-year-old likely would have sewn up a rotation spot with another strong outing Wednesday against the Rangers, but that didn't come to fruition, as he was blasted for six runs on seven hits and three walks over 5.2 innings. One poor outing doesn't completely overshadow what has been an impressive body of work thus far for Chirinos, but the Rays could nonetheless give the youngster a temporary break from starting. Even if he's bypassed for the Sunday nod, there's a good chance that Chirinos would still pitch multiple innings in relief that day with another bullpen game on tap for Tampa Bay.

Berrios' start Wednesday against the Twins in San Juan, Puerto Rico will happen as planned despite the general power outage on the island, Marly Rivera of ESPN reports.

Hiram Bithorn Stadium is less affected by the power outage than the rest of the island, as it's equipped with generators which can run for 48 hours. Puerto Rico Series Director of Operations John Blakeman is confident that the game will be unaffected, saying, "We are fully prepared," so expect Berrios to be able to make his scheduled start unless further reports come out that indicate otherwise. The young righty is off to an excellent start to the season, with a 2.18 ERA, a 32.0 percent strikeout rate and a 1.3 percent walk rate through 20.2 innings.

Carrasco's start Wednesday against the Twins in San Juan, Puerto Rico will happen as planned despite the general power outage on the island, Marly Rivera of ESPN reports.

Puerto Rico is suffering from an island-wide power outage, but Hiram Bithorn Stadium is equipped with generators which can run for 48 hours. "We are fully prepared," said Puerto Rico Series Director of Operations John Blakeman, so expect Carrasco to be unaffected by the issue.

McCullers (2-1) allowed one run on one hit and one walk while striking out 11 in Tuesday's 4-1 win over the Mariners.

McCullers, who was coming off the worst start of his career, had apparently heard enough about the problems he was having when opposing batters got a third look at him. Prior to Tuesday, the 14 batters seeing him a third time slashed .769/.786/1.308. On Tuesday, he retired all five Mariners that got a third look at him. He incorporated more changeups and two-seamers along with his signature curveball and produced his best game of the season. The lone blemish was Robinson Cano's first-inning home run -- McCullers went on to retire 19 of the final 20 batters faced. This altered approach is something he's been working on since spring training, but like changing any habit, it's not always comfortable. McCullers should take Tuesday's results to fuel his next start Sunday in Chicago against the White Sox.

Odorizzi (1-1) went five innings in a loss to Cleveland on Tuesday, allowing four runs on six hits while delivering six strikeouts and one walk.

All six hits allowed went for extra bases. He gave up three doubles and three homers, including back-to-back solo shots from Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley to open the sixth, which subsequently ended his night. He hadn't allowed a hit through the first two innings, and didn't give up a run through four, but that ended with a two-run blast from Francisco Lindor in the fifth. Odorizzi is now 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 21.1 innings for his new club. With the off day Thursday, Odorizzi may be in line to face his former team in Tampa in his next outing.

Kluber (2-1) got the win over the Twins on Tuesday, striking out six and walking two while giving up one run on five hits in 6.2 innings.

This was Kluber's shortest outing in four starts this year, yet it was still a solid performance. The lone run he allowed was on an RBI double in the seventh by Brian Dozier, who was the last batter Kluber saw for the night as Andrew Miller then entered in relief. In four starts, Kluber has put up typical Kluber numbers, allowing just 16 hits in 29.2 innings while posting a 33:6 K:BB ratio. The ace right-hander will next take on the Orioles in Baltimore.

Chirinos (0-1) took the loss Tuesday against the Rangers, yielding six runs on seven hits and three walks over 5.2 innings while striking out three.

Though Chirinos' previous starts had been labelled "bullpen games," he was given a longer leash in this one, throwing 89 pitches and only coming out after yielding a home run with two outs in the sixth. The 24-year-old hadn't given up a run in his first three appearances, so he was due to hit a bit of a road bump eventually. Despite the poor outing, Chirinos figures to get another turn through the rotation. He's lined up to face the Twins on Sunday.

Nicasio was credited with his seventh hold in a 2-1 win over the Astros on Monday, firing a scoreless eighth inning.

He got eight of 12 pitches into the strike zone while serving as an effective bridge to the dominant Edwin Diaz in the ninth. Nicasio has been a workhorse for manager Scott Servais despite some hiccups, as he's already logged 8.2 innings across eight appearances. Some issues keeping the ball in the park have helped lead to a bloated 5.19 ERA, a number out of whack with the sub-3.00 figures he generated in his two 2017 stops with the Pirates and Cardinals.

Paxton (1-1) held the Astros to just one run on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts through six innings to earn the win Monday night.

Paxton has been on fire since allowing six runs to Cleveland in his first start. Over his three subsequent starts, Paxton now has 24 strikeouts against just five walks and a 2.65 ERA. He induced a brilliant 14 swinging strikes on 106 pitches Monday night, an exemplary performance against a stacked Houston lineup.