MLB Player News

Boyd is scheduled to start the Tigers' fourth game of the regular season on Monday at home against the Royals.

Boyd was solid this spring, posting a 3.42 ERA and 26 strikeouts across 23.2 innings. However, Boyd also holds a career 5.47 ERA, so expectations should be tempered until he carries over the success into the regular season. The 27-year-old has some ability, but he's yet to put it together consistently at the MLB level. The rebuilding Tigers figure to give him plenty of chances to figure it out in 2018.

Rodon (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday.

As expected, Rodon will open the season on the DL as he continues to work his way back from September shoulder surgery. The 25-year-old has been throwing bullpen sessions with no issues and remains on track for a June return.

Gausman will toe the rubber for Sunday's series finale against Minnesota, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Gausman will follow Dylan Bundy and Andrew Cashner in the rotation for the Orioles' opening series. In 34 starts with the team last year, he posted a 4.68 ERA and 1.49 WHIP with a 179:71 K:BB over a career-high 186.2 innings.

Ragans underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Ragans was diagnosed with a torn UCL in mid-March. He'll now be out until the middle of the 2019 season. The surgery adds a lot of risk to Ragans' profile and costs him significant development time, hurting his value in dynasty leagues. The former first-round pick had a promising 2017 season, recording a 34.8 percent strikeout rate and a 3.61 ERA in 57.1 innings for Low-A Spokane.

Eovaldi is slated to undergo arthroscopic surgery to address loose bodies in his right elbow and will be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks, Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reports. Tampa Bay placed him on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday.

After further evaluation by the Rays' doctors, the club determined that Eovaldi could be back on the mound by June since there doesn't appear to be any damage within his ligament structure. There should be a better gauge of his timetable once Eovaldi is able to resume throwing. In his place, the club recalled Austin Pruitt from Triple-A Durham.

Blackburn was placed on the disabled list with a strained right forearm, Julian McWilliams of The Athletic Bay Area reports.

Blackburn has been sidelined since Thursday with forearm tightness, but an MRI revealed no structural damage. He's expected to resume throwing in early April and could be back on the roster soon after that. Daniel Gossett will open the season in the rotation in his place.

Montas was optioned to Triple-A Nashville on Wednesday, The Athletic's Julian McWilliams reports.

Montas will start the 2018 campaign back at the minor-league level after failing to win a spot on the Opening Day roster. Last season, the reliever appeared in 23 games for Oakland, logging a 7.03 ERA and 1.84 WHIP over 32 innings.

Eovaldi will be sidelined for an extended period of time with loose bodies in his right elbow, which will likely require arthroscopic surgery, Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reports.

In another unfortunate break for the right-hander, Eovaldi could miss most of the 2018 season due to this injury if he chooses to go the surgical route. The 28-year-old was currently working his way back from a second Tommy John surgery that he underwent in August of 2016. There will likely be an update on his status in the coming days once a proper plan of action is in place.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Heaney (elbow) looked "terrific" during a bullpen session Tuesday, but the southpaw remains on track to open the season on the 10-day disabled list, Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Heaney seems to be nearly over the elbow inflammation that has plagued him for a little over a week, but since he'll still need to build up his innings, the Angels will skip his first turn in the rotation. If Heaney experiences no renewed pain in his elbow once he progresses to facing hitters in batting practice and simulated games, he could be activated when the Angels first require a sixth starter April 11 at Texas. Until then, an off day April 5 will allow the Angels to deploy a five-man rotation that keeps prized rookie Shohei Ohtani on five days' rest between starts.

Eovaldi, who struck out four and allowed two earned runs on seven hits and a walk over six innings in a 2-2 Grapefruit League tie with the Tigers on Monday, finished spring training with a 3.24 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 16.2 frames across five appearances.

He went a long way towards demonstrating that he's back to full strength after his second Tommy John surgery this spring, capping off a strong exhibition slate by hitting 98 mph on the gun in his final frame Monday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Eovaldi was able to work all the way up to 89 pitches against the Tigers, and his endurance has been such that manager Kevin Cash has stated he may occasionally relax his plans to limit the right-hander's workload in the coming campaign.