MLB Player News

Smyly (elbow) was placed on the 10-day DL on Friday, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports.

After being scratched from his scheduled start Friday, Smyly was examined and diagnosed with a left elbow strain. He is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks. Ariel Miranda will get the first crack at replacing Smyly in the rotation, with his first start coming April 6 at Houston.

Odorizzi gave up two earned runs on three hits and two walks over 3.1 innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League tie with the Twins.

Odorizzi cruised through the first three innings before giving up a Byron Buxton double to lead off the fourth, which was promptly followed by a Joe Mauer opposite-field home run. The right-hander finished spring with a 4.91 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 11:4 K:BB over 11 innings across four starts and as per Bill Chastain of MLB.com, feels ready to face the Yankees on Tuesday at Tropicana Field. "Today's the best my arm has felt, most lively it's felt all spring," Odorizzi said. "So that's a good thing going into the season. I thought my fastball command was the best that it's been. So it's kind of a good cap to Spring Training."

Cobb says he felt great after his final outing of the spring Friday and should be good to go for next week's start, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The righty has been dealing with lower-back tightness over the past few weeks and decided to skip his previous start as a precaution. However, after a productive 55-pitch outing Friday, it appears Cobb won't be hindered as he heads into the 2017 season. After returning from Tommy John surgery last August, he'll look to start the 2017 season on a high note, beginning next Wednesday against the Yankees.

Smyly (arm) will open the season on the disabled list with an elbow strain and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, Bob Dutton of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

Although it isn't anticipated that he will need surgery, Smyly will seek a second opinion, as elbow injuries are certainly nothing to take lightly for pitchers. The southpaw was scratched from his last scheduled start of the spring with arm soreness that turned out to be a flexor bundle strain in his throwing elbow. GM Jerry Dipoto hinted that the World Baseball Classic may have been to blame for the injury, where Smyly threw 4.2 innings in a win over Venezuela. Barring any further setbacks, it would appear the earliest he could return to the rotation would be mid-May, as left-hander Ariel Miranda takes his spot in the rotation.

McCullers allowed five runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six over four innings in Thursday's exhibition game against the Cubs, Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McCullers needed 72 pitches to get 12 outs as he sandwiched two strong innings around a couple of grinders in the second and third. He told manager A.J. Hinch he could have thrown deeper into the game, but that wasn't the objective. Having the right-hander come out of the start healthy -- McCullers made just 14 starts last season and was delayed this spring due to an elbow injury -- and ready to start the second game of the season, April 4, against the Mariners is all the team was looking to accomplish.

Nolasco has been tabbed as the Angels' Opening Day starter.

Nolasco will take the ball Monday against the A's as the Angels open up a four-game set against their division rival. The veteran Nolasco put together a solid spring with a 3.52 ERA over 15.1 innings. As the Opening Day starter, Nolasco should be in line for two starts in the first week of the season.

Gray (back) remains without a timetable to get back to throwing off a mound, Joe Stiglich of NBC California reports.

The A's ace remains in a holding pattern in his return from a lat strain. Stiglich reports that Gray will play catch on flat ground from 120 feet in the near future, at which point the A's will likely reassess his timetable. In any case, Gray is still expected to miss the first couple weeks of the season before rejoining the rotation.

Unsworth fired five scoreless innings in Wednesday's Cactus League tie with the Dodgers, giving up three hits and recording three strikeouts.

The 24-year-old right-hander has been excellent this spring, now having put together 12 scoreless innings in which he's only given up five hits along with a 14:2 K:BB and stellar 0.58 WHIP. That's an extension of a strong 2016 at Double-A Jackson during which Unsworth generated a 1.16 ERA over 46.2 innings across nine appearances. As per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, the prospect appears headed to Double-A Arkansas to start 2017 following his impressive spring. "He threw the ball well, said manager Scott Servias. "He's had a great spring. He really has no fear and believes in his stuff. It's not overpowering, but he knows how to pitch. He's got a great changeup."

Asher was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, Eduardo Encina of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Asher was shipped to the Orioles earlier in the week after failing to make the Phillies' Opening Day squad. The 25-year-old struggled this spring, though he posted a 2.28 ERA across 27.2 innings (five starts) last year with the big-league club. He'll start out in the minors, but Asher could earn himself a shot with the Orioles at some point in 2017.

Per manager Buck Showalter, Nuno will be in the major-league bullpen come Opening Day, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun reports.

The left-hander seemed to be in line for a spot in the big leagues ever since he was dealt to Baltimore from the Dodgers over the offseason, and his 3.37 spring ERA sealed the deal. Nuno has a lot of starting experience at the major-league level, so he also could be in line for some spot starts if any of the Orioles starters falter or get injured. That being said, it'll be tough to carve out much fantasy value while he's relegated to long relief.