MLB Player News

Rodon allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits, walking one and striking out seven over seven innings of a 6-3 loss to the Orioles on Friday night.

Rodon (1-3) has been on a roller coaster this season, from game-to-game, even from inning to inning. He tossed four scoreless innings before the O's hung a three-spot on him in the fifth. Then he allowed a three-run home run in the seventh when Baltimore took control. Rodon is exceptionally talented, but he is young and learning on the job so he will have nights when he struggles, particularly with his command. He'll face off against the Red Sox at home next time out.

Gibson (shoulder) could be out longer than the minimum 15 days on the DL, the Star Tribune's LaVelle Neal reports.

The Twins will be in no rush to get Gibson back, as they have begun a youth movement in the rotation, with Jose Berrios, Tyler Duffey and Alex Meyer all currently scheduled to pitch every fifth day. Gibson could still return in mid-May, and a rotation spot will likely be waiting for him, but the situation has become a lot murkier.

Nolasco will start Sunday against the Tigers.

He jumps up a day in the pecking order as Tommy Milone was bumped from the Twins' rotation in favor of Alex Meyer. Nolasco has pitched well, but he will need to continue to do so in order to keep his spot over the rest of the season, as the Twins could have some tough decisions to make when Ervin Santana and Kyle Gibson return from injury.

Milone will move to the bullpen for the foreseeable future.

Alex Meyer will get his chance to join the big league rotation Tuesday, and Milone will serve as a long reliever going forward. He can be dropped in the vast majority of formats, as the Twins all of a sudden have a lot of options for the rotation (once Kyle Gibson and Ervin Santana are healthy), and Milone had already been pitching poorly.

Meyer will join the Twins' rotation, starting Tuesday against the Astros.

This comes as a bit of a surprise, but it makes a lot of sense, given where the Twins are as a franchise, and with the knowledge that Tommy Milone does not fit into the team's long-term plans. He has been up with the big club as a bullpen arm, but has not made an appearance yet. His last game action was on April 20 when he pitched seven innings for Triple-A Rochester, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven. With this in mind, there should be no major pitch count restrictions Tuesday. Meyer has always had a lot of upside, but control issues have been led many to believe his future is in the bullpen. If he makes the most of this opportunity, he could force the Twins to make a difficult decision once Ervin Santana and Kyle Gibson return from their DL stints in May.

Bassitt was placed on the 15-day DL on Friday with a right elbow strain.

Bassitt struggled his last two starts and had a velocity drop of note in the fourth inning in his last start. Bassitt has a 6.11 ERA on the year through 28 innings with 23 strikeouts, but had started strong with a 2.79 ERA through three starts before his last two blow-ups. Jesse Hahn will replace him in the rotation and there is no indication as of yet how long Bassitt's DL stint will be.

Bassitt's fastball velocity was down three or four miles per hour in his last start, and he is a candidate to be bumped from the rotation with Sean Manaea and Jesse Hahn joining the fray this weekend, the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser reports.

Everyone knows about Manaea joining the mix Friday, but Hahn surprisingly will start Saturday's game, leading to speculation as to how the A's will handle their rotation going forward. Seemingly Manaea would either have to be sent down after Friday's start, or Bassitt or Kendall Graveman would have to be bumped from the rotation. Bassitt, whose FIP sits at an unsightly 5.28, seems like the most likely candidate to be demoted, especially with the drop in velocity.

Nuno has a 1.29 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP after playing seven innings over the course of seven games this season.

After giving up one run in his first inning of the season, Nuno has yet to allow a run and has only given up three hits in the following outings. Teams are struggling to get baserunners against Nuno, as he has a 10.29 K/9 and zero walks thus far. Even though Nuno has historically had an unfavorable ERA, he has progressed in the right direction, bringing it down from 4.56 in 2014 to 3.74 in 2015. If he continues his current streak of dominant relief showings, it's plausible to believe that Nuno could become a more frequent contributor from the Mariners' bullpen.

Smith (back) allowed two earned runs over four innings in a game with Double-A Corpus Christi on Thursday.

Smith was struck on the back by a line drive in a start earlier this month, but he has started twice since, so he seems to be in the clear. Smith owns a 3.00 ERA in four games this season, but that number figures to rise if he continues to allow runners to reach base -- 17 hits and four walks allowed in nine innings -- like he has early this season.

Rodriguez (knee) made his first rehabilitation start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out two in 3.2 innings.

Rodriguez had an 80-pitch limit, but lasted only 75 pitches, 45 of which were strikes. He ceded runs in each of the first two innings and it was his error that led to the one unearned run. Other than seeing him on the mound facing live opponents, there wasn't much optimism to take away from the night. The Red Sox will give him two rehab starts before they evaluate where he's at. A third start is a possibility, and perhaps even likely after Thursday's outing. His next start is scheduled for Tuesday of next week.