MLB Player News

Smyly will pitch in the series finale of the season-opening four-game set against the Astros as per manager Scott Servais, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

The southpaw will follow Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton in that series, and he'll tune up for his debut by starting and pitching two innings in Friday's Cactus League tilt against the Rockies. Smyly will look to head into the regular season with some momentum after giving up five earned runs on six hits and four walks over four innings against the Reds last Sunday.

Boyd will serve as the Tigers' No. 5 starter to begin the 2017 season, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Anibal Sanchez was informed Tuesday that he will start the season in the bullpen, meaning that Boyd has secured the No. 5 spot in the rotation. The 26-year-old has impressed in camp, posting a 2.49 ERA and 21:0 K:BB ratio over 21.2 innings. With his stellar spring performance, Boyd is worth a look as a late-round option in fantasy drafts.

Carrasco (elbow) is expected to start the Indians' second game of the season, April 4 against the Rangers in Arlington, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

There was some talk of Carrasco possibly opening the year on the 10-day DL -- he only built up to three innings in his most recent start following the elbow scare. However, manager Terry Francona said Carrasco should be fine if he gets to four innings in his final spring start Wednesday against the Reds, as the bullpen will be ready to back him up. Carrasco will be looking to stay healthy and surpass 150 innings at the major league level for just the second time in his career.

Asher was traded to the Orioles for a player to be named later.

With the Phillies rotation set heading into the season, Asher was destined to start the year with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He pitched well in his short stint with the big-league club last season, posting a 2.28 ERA across 27.2 innings (five starts), though he only struck out 13 batters. The 25-year-old will likely head to Triple-A Norfolk where he'll work for a call-up.

Paxton has been named the Mariners' No. 3 starter, the Seattle Times' Ryan Divish reports.

He will start at Houston on April 5 against Charlie Morton. Paxton will slot in behind Hisashi Iwakuma in the Mariners' rotation, but he is more appealing than Iwakuma for fantasy purposes, given the big steps forward he took last season. The only question is how many innings he will be able to log, as injuries have been a big part of the first four years of his MLB career.

Bassitt (elbow) threw two sets of 15 pitches off a mound Tuesday, MLB.com's Jane Lee reports.

This represents the first time Bassitt has gotten up and down in the same session since his Tommy John surgery, marking another positive step in his rehab. He is unlikely to return to game action until late-May or early-June, and may be sent for a prolonged stint at Triple-A when fully healthy, given Oakland's rotation depth.

Rodon's second opinion revealed no structural damage, and he was diagnosed with biceps bursitis, the Chicago Tribune's Colleen Kane reports. He will be in a throwing program for two weeks and will then be re-evaluated.

Similar to tendinosis, bursitis is a condition that results from inflammation of a bursa, a fluid-filled sac that cushions the shoulder joint. This is good news for Rodon, as he should theoretically be able to avoid surgery on his throwing arm. He should be discounted in drafts, as it is unclear when he will rejoin the rotation, but should still come off the board in most formats given this diagnosis and his high-strikeout upside. Dylan Covey is the favorite to start the season in the rotation until Rodon is healthy enough to return.

Morton will start the Astros' third game of the season against the Mariners, the Houston Chronicle's Jake Kaplan reports.

He will take the ball April 5, after Lance McCullers and before Joe Musgrove in the competitive Astros rotation. Morton has really impressed this spring, sporting a 1.04 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 17.1 innings.

McCullers will start the Astros' second game of the season against the Mariners, the Houston Chronicle's Jake Kaplan reports.

McCullers, who has the most electric stuff in the rotation, will slot in behind Dallas Keuchel and in front of Charlie Morton to start the season. His career high in innings pitched is 157.2 in 2015, so he has yet to prove he can handle a full season's workload, but his career 27 percent strikeout rate and 3.22 ERA has many dreaming on SP2 production, at least on a per-start basis.

Gausman has worked to separate his slider and curveball so that he can throw both this season, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun reports.

The right-hander used a curveball as his primary offspeed pitch in 2015, but it unintentionally morphed into more of a slider last year. When Gausman takes the mound on Opening Day, he'll have both pitches in his repertoire after spending the winter refining the delivery of each weapon. "This offseason, I started messing with throwing a slider and getting back to the way I threw it in college and being really aggressive with it," Gausman said. "So I've been working on that, and I think the curveball is going to be a good pitch." Coming off a career campaign in which he posted a 3.61 ERA while managing an 8.7 K/9, the 26-year-old has widely been considered a breakout candidate during the 2017 draft season. With an expanded arsenal at his disposal, Gausman appears ready to fulfill the high expectations.