MLB Player News

Musgrove allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two over four innings against the Nationals in his fourth spring start Wednesday, Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle reports.

With many of the Astros roster spots settled, the competition for the fifth starter job is still on between Musgrove and the injured Mike Fiers (hamstring). Musgrove referred to the battle as a "stalemate" after Wednesday's outing, telling reporters he was not pleased by falling behind in counts. He was a bit hard on himself. He's pitched well this spring and has the inside edge over Fiers, who last appeared in a game 10 days ago.

Smyly will start Team USA's game against Venezuela on Wednesday to begin its second round of pool play at the WBC.

This will be Smyly's first appearance of the WBC, and he will look to get Team USA off to a strong start in round two against a star-studded Team Venezuela lineup. The 27-year-old will head back to Mariners camp after the game, where he has put together five scoreless innings to start spring.

Kaprielian is expected to make his Grapefruit League debut Thursday against the Blue Jays, Erik Boland of Newsday Sports reports.

There were some rumblings of the top prospect sitting out of spring games entirely after being shut down last season due to a flexor strain in his elbow, but the Yankees seem to be ready to remove the training wheels on Kaprielian. The 23-year-old likely won't log too many innings prior to his return to the lower minor leagues, but it is an encouraging development for a high-intrigue prospect looking at a major league debut in the next couple years.

Jaye was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday.

Jaye was aiming to secure a bullpen gig with the big club in spring training, but after getting lit up in Grapefruit League play for eight runs on nine hits and two walks over three innings, the Tigers determined the 25-year-old was better served opening the season in the minors. He's mostly worked as a starter throughout his time in the minors, so Jaye should be in decent position to claim a rotation spot for Toledo, especially after submitting a 3.69 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over seven starts with the club a season ago.

Ramirez has begun throwing a curveball in an effort to transition to a starter, The Orange County Register reports.

Ramirez was told he would compete for a starting rotation spot this spring, so he added another off-speed pitch to help keep hitters off balance after relying on a power fastball and slider as a reliever. Pitching coach Charlie Nagy has noticed a difference, citing Ramirez's ability to throw the pitch for strikes to lefties. The 28-year-old remains a long shot to make the rotation, but the club could keep him around for Opening Day as a swingman out of the bullpen.

Giolito allowed four runs on four hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning in Tuesday's game against Seattle, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Giolito got off on the wrong foot when an 0-2 fastball to the leadoff hitter caught too much of the plate, resulting in a leadoff single. It all kind of snowballed from there until manager Rick Renteria pulled him after just 30 pitches, well shy of his allotted pitch count -- he finished his work in the bullpen after getting yanked. The right-hander was certainly humbled by the performance and will get at least three more starts to fix a flat fastball and throw curveballs for strikes.

MCcullers allowed two runs on four hits while striking out six over three innings in his second spring start Tuesday, Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle reports.

There was a lot of good in McCullers' outing, evidenced by the six strikeouts, and a little bit of bad. His fastball touched the upper 90s and the curve was in mid-season form. He got himself into a first-and-third jam with one out in the first inning, before he struck out the final two batters on breaking pitches. The one mistake was a hanging changeup to Yoenis Cespedes after the right-handed McCullers had nibbled his way to a 3-and-1 count. He's next scheduled to pitch Sunday.

Boyd took another step toward securing the No. 5 spot in the rotation with a strong spring training performance Tuesday, MLive.com reports.

Boyd scattered three hits across five innings while striking out five. Boyd has seemingly grown his lead for the No. 5 spot over veterans Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey, who have both struggled this spring. "Nothing's guaranteed," Boyd said. "I've just got to keep working hard, and let someone else make that decision." Boyd certainly has a lot more upside than Sanchez or Pelfrey.

Carrasco is dealing with swelling in his throwing elbow and is expected to miss at least one start, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Carrasco received an MRI on Tuesday following his poor performance during the team's Cactus League contest Monday. Manager Terry Francona stated that the MRI showed no structural elbow damage, so it appears that Carrasco has likely avoided a serious injury. The Indians may opt to take a very cautious approach with the 29-year-old, as he is coming off of an injury-plagued 2016 campaign.

Nuno will report to camp either Wednesday or Thursday, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

The uncertainty surrounding the exact day Nuno will arrive at camp is simply because his flight is scheduled to arrive late Tuesday, so he may have Wednesday to rest. Nuno left spring training to pitch for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. He pitched 1.2 innings over two games at the WBC, during which he allowed two runs.