MLB Player News

Heaney (shoulder) threw live batting practice Wednesday, Maria Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Heaney had a minor shoulder injury to end the 2017 season but was expected to be healthy entering spring training. It looks like he's good to go and can safely be expected to be a member of the Angels' rotation this season. The 26-year-old lefty struggled to a 7.06 ERA in 21.2 innings after recovering from Tommy John surgery last season, so expectations should be low, but with good health he has a chance of bouncing back to somewhere close to his form from 2015, when he put up a 3.49 ERA (with a 4.41 xFIP) over 105.2 innings.

Whitley has been suspended 50 games without pay for violating the minor-league drug program, Buster Olney of ESPN reports.

This is the standard penalty for minor leaguers who test positive for drugs of abuse. Whitley is the game's top pitching prospect, and was poised to reach the majors at some point this season, so this puts a bit of a damper on his prospects for 2018. He was likely in line to throw 130-to-140 innings this season after throwing 92.1 innings in 2017, and he may struggle to reach that mark now. However, he could still join the big-league rotation at some point this summer, as it seems unlikely he'll meet much resistance in the upper levels of the minors. This will have little impact on Whitley's long-term prospects. Recall that Cardinals right-hander Alex Reyes, one of the other top pitching prospects in the game, received the same suspension in 2015, and it's no longer part of the conversation with him. Whitley will be able to pitch in spring training and could return to game action at Double-A or Triple-A in late May.

Ramirez threw live batting practice Tuesday, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

This marked the first time that Ramirez has faced batters since undergoing surgery to repair his UCL at the latter end of last season. He threw the equivalent of about two innings during Tuesday's workout. Afterwards, he reported that his arm felt good and that he's been pleased with his pitch location over spring training thus far. Ramirez is scheduled to pitch in the Angels' first game of the Cactus League on March 1.

Heaney (shoulder) is a front-runner for a rotation spot heading into the 2018 season, Maria Guardado of MLB.com reports.

With the Angels opting to enter the season with a six-man rotation, it seems like the embattled southpaw has an inside track to a rotation spot. Shohei Ohtani (elbow, ankle), Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs and Matt Shoemaker are the other hurlers seemingly entrenched into the rotation already. Heaney has good strikeout numbers over his career, but his health and issues with keeping the ball in the park make him a risky bet for fantasy purposes even if he does maintain his rotation role throughout the spring.

Snell is expected to be a part of the Rays' four-man Opening Day rotation, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

Early off-days will allow the team to go with four starters to open the season, with Matt Andriese ticketed for the bullpen and top prospect Brent Honeywell likely headed back to Triple-A Durham. Snell came on strong down the stretch last season and manager Kevin Cash has raved about how Snell has looked early in camp, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, so the lefty could be as high as No. 2 in the rotation to start the campaign. There is a lot to dream on with Snell, and perhaps best of all, his price in drafts and auctions is still reasonable.

Clevinger will start the team's spring opener Friday, according to Zack Meisel of The Athletic.

It's believed that Clevinger, Danny Salazar, Josh Tomlin and Ryan Merritt (who will pitch after Clevinger in Friday's game) are competing for the two open rotation spots in Cleveland this spring. With Salazar behind the Tribe's other starters due to shoulder inflammation that surfaced in January, Clevinger appears to have a clearer path to begin the year as one of the team's starters. If he can improve his command, Clevinger has the arsenal necessary to have a breakout in 2018, and his performance throughout the spring will be worth monitoring closely as he attempts to secure a valuable starting spot.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said that the team will deploy a four-man rotation into May that includes Chris Archer, Blake Snell, Jake Faria and Eovaldi, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Though Eovaldi didn't even make a single appearance for the Rays or any of their minor-league affiliates in 2017 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Cash apparently has no qualms about handing the right-hander a rotation spot after watching Eovaldi throw in the early stages of spring training. Since Eovaldi underwent the elbow procedure in August of 2016, he's had more time to recover and regain velocity than most pitchers returning from the operation, making the Rays optimistic that he'll be able to provide quality innings right away in his return to the mound. If Eovaldi should falter in his initial outings or struggle to stay healthy, Matt Andriese and top prospect Brent Honeywell would likely rank as the top candidates to replace him in the rotation.

Cole relied heavily on his fastball in 2017 with Pittsburgh, but the Astros feel he can benefit from throwing more offspeed stuff, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Manager A.J. Hinch stressed there won't be an overhaul, but rather a "tweak" in pitch usage for Cole, who surrendered a career-high 31 home runs in 2017 -- 18 off his fastball. Hinch feels the key is to get a good game plan in front of Cole, which could mean fewer fastballs in favor of his slider and changeup.

Odorizzi has been traded to Minnesota from Tampa Bay for shortstop Jermaine Palacios, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Odorizzi will move into the Minnesota rotation and help stabilize the top of the rotation that's set to miss Ervin Santana for at least a month with a finger injury. It's a curious return for the Rays, who gain a prospect not seen in the top 20 in the Minnesota organization.

Blackburn (wrist) is fully healthy heading into 2018 and will be looking to secure a spot in the rotation, Martin Gallegos of The Mercury News reports.

Blackburn was able to toss his first bullpen session of the spring camp Friday, and felt no ill effects from a right wrist injury that caused him to end last year prematurely. The right-hander was struck by a line drive against the Orioles in August, and was forced to shut down instead of rushing through a recovery since the team was well out of playoff contention. In 10 starts, he posted a 3.22 ERA and 1.26 WHIP and a 22:16 K:BB over 58.2 innings. Moving forward, he will be competing with a bunch of others for one of three spots left in the rotation behind Sean Manaea and Kendall Graveman. Even if he's able to secure a spot in the rotation, Blackburn's inability to strike batters out significantly limits any upside in the fantasy realm.