MLB Player News

Cole will pitch the fourth game of the season, April 1, against Texas, Glenn Sattell of MLB.com reports.

Manager A.J. Hinch set his rotation for the first turn of the regular season and placed Cole between Lance McCullers and Charlie Morton. Cole turned in a subpar performance Sunday, his fifth Grapefruit League start, but overall has been pleased with his body of work this spring. "The pitch count is up, I feel strong," Cole said. "It's probably my best spring performance as a whole in my career. I feel really confident."

Clevinger (illness) will start Sunday's Cactus League game against the Mariners, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Now feeling better after the illness resulted in him being scratched from his start initially scheduled for Thursday, Clevinger will likely gear up for 40-to-50 pitches after topping out at 29 in his most recent outing. The right-hander has held opponents to a .212 average and has posted a 9:1 K:BB over nine frames this spring.

Ragans (elbow) was diagnosed Sunday with a torn UCL in his left elbow and will need Tommy John surgery, Levi Weaver of The Athletic Dallas reports.

Ragans, a 2016 first-round pick, will thus miss the entire 2018 season and, quite likely, a large portion of the 2019 campaign while recovering from the major elbow procedure. The injury likely represents a significant hit to Ragans' outlook in dynasty formats, as the 20-year-old will not only face an arduous rehab but also miss out on critical development time. The 6-foot-4 left-hander spent the entire 2017 season in the short-season Northwest League, posting a 3.61 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 57.1 innings for Low-A Spokane.

The Athletics optioned Bassitt to Triple-A Nashville on Sunday, Julian McWilliams of The Athletic Bay Area reports.

After having large chunks of his 2016 and 2017 seasons wiped out while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Bassitt is still trying to regain the velocity he lost and hadn't performed well enough in the spring for the Athletics to justify keeping him with the big club. According to McWilliams, Bassitt said he was unsure of his role in the organization going forward, but expect the Athletics to provide clarity in the near future regarding whether the right-hander will be deployed as a starter or reliever as he reports to Nashville.

The Royals optioned Oaks to Triple-A Omaha on Sunday, Maria Torres of The Kansas City Star reports.

The 24-year-old will occupy a spot in the Omaha rotation after ceding six runs in six innings across four appearances in the Cactus League. Oaks tallied a 3.64 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 84 innings with Triple-A Oklahoma City in the Dodgers organization last season before coming over to the Royals in January in the three-team trade that sent Joakim Soria to the White Sox. The right-hander is expected to get a look with the big club later this season and projects as a No. 4 or 5 starter for the Royals over the long haul.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons confirmed Sunday that Stroman (shoulder) is tentatively in line to start the Blue Jays' fourth game of the season April 1 against the Yankees, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

With the inflammation in his throwing shoulder having since subsided, Stroman took the mound for the first time this spring Saturday, tossing two scoreless innings in an exhibition against the Canadian Junior National team. According to Chisholm, Stroman said after the outing that he was pleased with his changeup and sinker, and he expects his slider to improve in his subsequent spring starts. Because he remains further behind his rotation mates in terms of his innings progression, Stroman isn't under consideration for the Opening Day nod, but his availability for the team's first series means the Blue Jays won't require a temporary starter in his stead.

The Twins reassigned Jaye to minor-league camp Sunday, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Jaye reached the majors with the Tigers last season and made five appearances (two starts), yielding 17 runs and posting a 4:10 K:BB in 12.2 innings. Since his minor-league track record wasn't overly impressive, Jaye was waived during the offseason and latched on with the Twins as a non-roster invitee. He'll presumably slot in as starting depth at Triple-A Rochester, but Jaye's lack of a 40-man roster spot could make it difficult for him to earn a promotion to the big club in 2018.

Morton worked on his changeup in Saturday's game against the Marlins, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports. He allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits, three walks and two hit batsmen while striking out four over 4.2 innings.

Morton's dedicating some of spring training to developing a changeup, which would be a fourth pitch to complement his fastball-cutter-curveball mix. The changeup isn't nearly as effective as his other offerings, but that pitch isn't what did him in Saturday. He had early problems commanding all of his pitches and didn't start using the changeup until the third and fourth innings. He got a better feel for his entire repertoire as the game went on and managed to throw 69 pitches, putting him on schedule to be where he needs to be for the regular season.

Ragans (elbow) could require Tommy John surgery, Robert Murray of FanRagSports.com reports.

Ragans was removed from his previous start with elbow discomfort, and a subsequent MRI revealed the 20-year-old is dealing with an injury to his UCL. While the exact nature of the injury remains unclear, Murray noted a source familiar with the situation said that surgery seems likely at this point. That said, nothing is finalized, and the Rangers and Ragans will likely weigh all of their options before deciding what's best for the prospect.

Stroman (shoulder) said he expects to pitch in the season-opening four-game series against the Yankees, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Stroman, who has been slowed in camp by a bout of shoulder inflammation, said he felt physically strong after tossing a pair of scoreless innings in his spring debut against the Canadian National Junior team Saturday. While he's already been ruled out for Opening Day, the 26-year-old righty is expecting to make his season debut April 1, the team's fourth game of the season.