MLB Player News

Severino will start for the Yankees on Opening Day in Toronto, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

This comes as no surprise, as Severino is the Yankees' best starter and one of the best pitchers in baseball. He has a 3.60 ERA in 20 career innings at the Rogers Centre. Severino will be followed in the rotation by Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Sonny Gray and Jordan Montgomery.

Hamels, who was named the Rangers' Opening Day starter, will not be subject to manager Jeff Banister's planned six-man rotation, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

Hamels will pitch on four days rest just as he has throughout his career, while others in the rotation may get extra time in between starts. The six-man rotation will limit the number of starts for the non-Hamels starters, but the Texas ace should reach 30-35 starts if he stays healthy.

McCullers was pleased with his location and ability to mix pitches after he pitched 4.1 scoreless innings Friday against the Yankees, Mike Nabors of MLB.com reports. "I'm able to [locate] my pitches the way I intend to going into the game and it's not always like that in the spring," said the right-hander, who allowed one hit and walked one.

Four of McCullers' five strikeouts came via his patented curveball, but the 24-year-old has made expanding his repertoire a top priority this spring. "First couple of innings, I was mixing everything well and then I went to my breaking ball when I needed some punchies. If I'm able to take how I field all of my pitches into the season, I'll be able to mix and match how I feel using my touch," said McCullers, who has submitted a nice body of work this spring. He's allowed just one run while striking out 15 over 12.1 innings in four spring starts. He's on track for the regular season and will slot into the fourth or fifth starter's job.

Nuno was reassigned to minor-league camp Friday, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

Manager Kevin Cash added that Nuno will be stretched out to prep him for potential long-relief outings of up to 60-70 pitches. The Rays' skipper added that the veteran could be "really valuable early on in the season" and emphasized that the move to the minors will enable him to get the necessary work to build up to the endurance levels the team is looking for. The 30-year-old southpaw appeared in five spring games -- including one start -- and generated a 3.68 ERA along with an impressive 12 strikeouts over 7.1 innings.

Blackburn, who struck out six and allowed two hits and one walk over four scoreless innings in a 6-2 Cactus League loss to the Mariners on Thursday, is making an impression in his bid for a rotation spot, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports. "It's not easy to come in and pitch three or four innings like that in the middle of the game, and he's been able to do it a couple of times," manager Bob Melvin said. "Kept the ball down, keeps it on the ground, that's what he does."

Blackburn lowered his spring ERA to 3.86 with the impressive outing, which represented another positive step in his bid for a starting rotation spot. The 24-year-old right-hander has alternated a trio of scoreless efforts with a pair of appearances in which he's given up multiple earned runs this spring, but he's been able to miss plenty of bats on his way to 14 strikeouts over 14 innings. With Jharel Cotton (elbow) potentially facing a long-term absence, Blackburn's chances of securing a starting role appear especially strong at this point.

Eovaldi, who allowed three earned runs on six hits over 4.1 innings while recording three strikeouts in an 8-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Twins on Thursday, had his first start of the season pushed back a day, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

The Rays plan to manage Eovaldi carefully in his return from a second Tommy John surgery, and the decision is apparently a strategic move in that regard. Multiple relievers will instead serve as the de facto third starter in the opening series against Boston, leaving the 29-year-old right-hander to take the ball for the finale on April 1. "The reasoning behind the bullpen day on Game 3, it just allows us with all the off-days, [to manage] specifically Nate's workload coming out of the gate," manager Kevin Cash said.

The White Sox reassigned Dunning to minor-league camp Friday.

Dunning received a non-roster invite to spring training and allowed seven earned runs over nine innings with four strikeouts this spring. The 23-year-old earned the invite with stellar 2017 season between Low-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston Salem, delivering a 2.94 ERA and 168:38 K:BB over 144 innings (26 starts), and is likely to start the 2018 season at Double-A Birmingham.

Clevinger (illness) is expected to make his next start Sunday against the Mariners, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The right-hander was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday due to illness, but it doesn't seem like the issue is lingering. Barring any extraneous circumstances, Clevinger should be fine for Sunday's start and fully healthy as he enters his first full season in Cleveland's rotation.

Ragans will get an MRI on his injured left elbow Friday, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

This is concerning news, as elbow discomfort can sometimes lead to extended absences for pitchers. No word as to the severity of Ragans' injury has come forth yet, but the MRI will likely shed light on the situation while also giving a clearer picture of a potential return timetable.

Ragans was removed from his start Friday with apparent left elbow discomfort, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Ragans was selected 30th overall by the Rangers in the 2016 draft. He recorded a 3.61 ERA in 13 starts for short-season Spokane last season, striking out 34.8 percent of batters while walking 14.0 percent. Any sign of an elbow injury is not good to see for a pitcher, though whether or not this particular issue is serious is not yet clear.