MLB Player News

McCullers (shoulder) threw another bullpen session Saturday, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McCullers was shut down a little over two weeks ago with shoulder soreness and is slated to begin the season on the DL, but his activity on the mound suggests that he's at least making progress. Saturday marked the second bullpen session he's performed since the shutdown period, and he was able to throw six more pitches than he did the previous time. The Astros will see how he's feeling in a couple of days before determining if he'll throw another bullpen session or start facing hitters again.

Coleman was reassigned to the Mariners' minor league camp Sunday, Shannon Drayer of ESPN 710 AM Seattle reports.

The Mariners brought Coleman into camp as a non-roster invitee, but he was unable to claim a bullpen job with the big club. It sounds as though he's amenable to sticking around with the organization, however, with Triple-A Tacoma his most likely destination to begin the season.

Rodriguez (knee) is expected to face hitters as soon as Saturday, freelance reporter Maureen Mullen reports.

Rodriguez tossed a 40-pitch bullpen session Saturday, and will throw two more such sessions later this week before testing himself in batting practice. The left-hander appears on track to open the season on the 15-day DL, but he could make his season debut by the end of April.

Gibson threw six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and no walks in a win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, lowering his spring ERA to 1.53 in the process.

Gibson's strong spring continues as he has 19 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. He had just a 6.7 K/9 last season, which was a career high in the majors. His spring strikeouts could point to continued improvement in his strikeout rate this season.

Boyd appears set to begin the season in Triple-A with Shane Greene moving into the rotation while Daniel Norris is out with a back injury, the Detroit News reports.

Boyd has a 4.24 ERA this spring and an impressive 16:5 K:BB ratio in 17 innings. However, he gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits over 3.1 innings in his last start Thursday. The Tigers will decide between Boyd and Greene in the next few days for the fifth starter role.

Alvarez (shoulder) will throw a 40-pitch bullpen session Saturday, John Hickey of the San Jose Mercury News reports.

For the first time this spring, Alvarez will mix breaking pitches into his arsenal when he's on the bump for a bullpen session. He's still a ways away from being ready for game action, but he has increased his pitch count during his bullpens and is gradually working on mixing in all of his pitches. If Alvarez's bullpen Saturday goes without a hitch, he should remain on track for a return some time in May.

Quintana held the Mariners to two runs (one earned) on two hits in six innings Friday, striking out seven.

Quintana has only made three Cactus League starts, but Friday's was the longest and best of the three. He now has a 13:2 K:BB over those three starts, and he looks primed to open the season as Chris Sale's sidekick.

Hill threw five innings in a minor league game Friday, but continued his spring struggles, allowing five runs and walking five.

Since the A's were playing a division rival in Cactus League play, they chose to have Hill throw in a minor league game instead. The walks continue to be a huge issue for Hill, and he has not yet had anything close to solid outing this spring, with a ridiculous 12 walks in 7.2 innings. Hill did indicate that he felt better the final three innings Friday and called the day a "big step in the right direction." He will have one more spring start, likely Wednesday, before his first regular-season start, tentatively scheduled for the A's second game of the season.

Darvish (elbow) threw 35 pitches in another pain-free bullpen session Friday according to MLB.com's TR Sullivan.

Darvish feels that he may be slightly ahead of schedule that currently has him returning in mid-May, but it's still too early to tell at this point if he'll return earlier than expected.

Smyly (2-1) surrendered five hits, five earned runs and a walk over six innings in Friday's 6-1 spring loss to the Twins. He struck out four.

The 26-year-old was touched up for three homers, two of them coming off the bat of Trevor Plouffe. The Twins slugger blasted a shot over the left-field wall in the second, and came back with a two-run homer that also left the park by way of left field in the sixth inning. Smyly, who's surrendered double-digit homers in three of his past four seasons, has now given up four over 16 spring training innings.