MLB Player News

Gray (lat strain) will be shut down for three weeks, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Gray was all over the place in Tuesday's Cactus League game, issuing four walks and uncorking three wild pitches, and he reported some discomfort following the outing. Manager Bob Melvin was hoping the issue was minor but an MRI revealed the strain to Gray's lat muscle, and with three weeks of rest prescribed to treat the issue, Gray is looking at a late-April return in a best-case scenario. Kendall Graveman now appears in line to start for the A's on Opening Day.

Carrasco tossed three near-perfect innings, holding the Mariners hitless while walking one and striking out two in Wednesday's Cactus League matchup.

Carrasco finally put things together Wednesday after two forgettable outings to start the spring. Following the game, Carrasco felt he was finally on the right track, "Yes, yes," he said. "Today I feel exactly where I want to be." The righty was buzzing along last season with an 11-8 record, 3.32 ERA and 150 strikeouts through 146.1 innings on Sept. 17 when a line drive fractured his right hand and ended his campaign. Carrasco hadn't thrown for five months entering spring training, and he's obviously shaking the rust off while calming the nerves of owners heading into drafts.

Morton tossed three scoreless innings Wednesday, striking out four and walking one without allowing a hit to the Mets, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Morton is off to an impressive start this spring, tossing five scoreless innings through two starts. His fastball once again flashed elevated velocity, sitting between 94 and 97 mph. He's averaged between 91 and 93 mph the last few years, but experienced an uptick in 2016 before his season ended early due to a hamstring injury. He acknowledged the effectiveness that added velocity can have, but Morton was more pleased with the location of his curveball and movement of his sinker.

Bridwell was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday, MASN's Roch Kubatko reports.

This does not come as a surprise, as Bridwell was a long shot to make the 25-man roster out of camp. He made his MLB debut and logged 3.1 innings of relief with the Orioles last season, but should spend 2017 serving mostly as a depth option at Norfolk.

Miley -- making his first start since being hit with a line drive that forced him out of Friday's game -- pitched three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out three Blue Jays in Wednesday's Grapefruit League contest.

Miley's third start of the spring was far-and-away his best. He was crushed by the Pirates in his last outing, but bounced back nicely with a near-flawless performance Wednesday. In fairness, it's worth noting that the Jays' lineup didn't have one starting big leaguer penciled in it, but at least Miley did what should be expected under such circumstances. He'll begin the 2017 campaign at the end of the O's rotation, and the veteran will need a strong spring to feel a sense of job security heading into Opening Day.

Gausman dominated the Dominican Republic team Tuesday, tossing three scoreless innings and not allowing a hit while walking one and striking out one.

Gausman was near perfect against the WBC-bound Dominican Republic team that boasts 25 MLB All-Star appearances among its players. The top of the visiting team's lineup read like a who's who of the game's brightest stars. Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, Gausman's own teammate Manny Machado, and Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano occupied the first three spots. The next three featured sluggers Jose Bautista, Carlos Santana, and Nelson Cruz -- who he struck out with a 96 mph fastball. Gausman is ascending into a top-flight pitcher and is expected to start for the O's on Opening Day (pending the health of Chris Tillman). Although Tuesday's game doesn't count toward Grapefruit League stats, Gausman has now pitched a total of five innings while allowing just one hit over two spring games.

Rodon threw 40 pitches in his third bullpen session of the spring Wednesday, Bruce Levin of 670 The Score reports.

Rodon has been brought along slowly this spring in an effort to put less stress on his arm and has two more bullpen sessions to go -- with his next one coming Saturday -- before he sees any live action. Additionally, manager Rick Renteria confirmed the left-hander will not make his season debut until the fifth or sixth game of the season as he lags behind the other starters. Rodon is expected to take on an increased workload even after compiling a 4.04 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 165 innings last season, so it may be prudent to trust the light pitching work this spring.

Gray surrendered seven earned runs on five hits, four walks and three wild pitches over two innings in Tuesday's 21-13 Cactus League victory over the Diamondbacks. He struck out three.

A few batters in, Gray may have well been wishing he was getting ready to pitch for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, as he'd originally been scheduled to before an insurance issue prevented from participating. He was touched up for five runs in the first inning, although his actual performance during the frame wasn't as poor as the numbers might indicate. Gray's trouble started after throwing a wild pitch on strike three to David Peralta, which allowed the outfielder to reach, and Gregor Blanco, who'd laced a game-opening triple, to score. First baseman Yonder Alonso then let a would-be double-play ball to skirt past him two batters later, which brought home another run, and then Ketel Marte took Gray deep for a three-run home run. Gray's poor command was responsible for an additional run in the second, as he uncorked another errant offering, allowing Chris Iannetta to score. Gray attributed his his attempts to throw his slider as the principal reason for his wildness, and neither he nor manager Bob Melvin were overly concerned with Tuesday's outcome. "The first inning wasn't as bad as the number looked," Melvin said. "It got a little out of hand, but his stuff was still good."

Keuchel (shoulder) is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Sunday against the Nationals, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

While checking in with team trainers Wednesday morning, Keuchel reported no complications following his 39-pitch simulated game a day earlier, allowing the Astros to clear him for an appearance over the weekend. It's unlikely that Keuchel will be asked to cover more than a couple of innings, but he shouldn't face any pitch limits by the time Opening Day arrives. Keuchel is coming off a rough season in which he posted a 4.55 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 168 innings, but with some expected correction in his 68.4 percent strand rate and 16.4 percent HR/FB rate, the lefty looks like a decent bet to deliver a sub-4.00 ERA in 2017.

Odorizzi recorded four strikeouts and gave up one earned run on five hits over two innings in Tuesday's 7-6 extra-inning Grapefruit League loss to the Yankees.

Facing a Yankees lineup laden with several regulars that included catcher Gary Sanchez and first baseman Chris Carter, Odorizzi pitched to some contact but avoided the big hit. He surrendered a first-inning RBI single to Carter for his only run, and although he threw a total of 48 pitches, a lot of that was due to Odorizzi focusing on throwing his off-speed pitches. He remained around the strike zone for the duration of his outing, which also was partly responsible for the frequent contact, but he emerged pleased with the way he got other pitches besides his fastball to work to his advantage. "I got a lot of strikeouts on the change-up," Odorizzi said. "My slider is my big emphasis right now. I threw it quite a bit today. I got some takes, some swings and misses, so some encouraging results."