MLB Player News

Twins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco appears destined for the disabled list with elbow soreness, a source told Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Friday. The team will promote pitching prospect Trevor May from Triple-A Rochester.

May, 25, was scheduled to make a minor-league start on Saturday for Rochester. Nolasco was slated to pitch Monday before experiencing "a little spike" on a pitch to Tigers catcher Alex Avila in the fourth inning during his season debut Wednesday, manager Paul Molitor said earlier in the week. The Twins have yet to announce a date for May's first start of the season.

As Mariners starting pitcher Taijuan Walker takes the mound for his season debut Friday against the Athletics, the expectations have been raised after the highly touted prospect had a very productive spring campaign.

The right-hander went 4-0 with a 0.67 ERA in seven spring starts, securing a spot in the team's rotation.

“I think that’s a test they were looking for -- how do I react when I get runners on?” Walker said, per The News Tribune. “Do I overthrow, do I panic? So I think that was a big test for me. Also, when I gave up a home run against Anaheim, how would I react giving up a run? And I think those are also all big tests, and I feel like I handled myself pretty well.”

While Walker still has a fastball that reaches the upper-90s, his cutter has transformed into a slider and his changeup has also improved, according to catcher Mike Zunino.

"I think that’s going to be a huge pitch for him,” Zunino said of the changeup. “He throws one that’s a little bit harder, but it’s got great life to it. I think he’s going to be able to use that quite a bit vs. righties and lefties.

"I think he came into spring ready to pitch. Obviously, when you throw that hard, you get into the category of (just) throwing sometimes. But he definitely came in ready to pitch and wanting to learn how to get guys out."

Red Sox pitcher Justin Masterson allowed two earned runs on three hits and two walks in six innings while striking out seven in his team's 6-2 win over the Phillies Thursday.

"When he's right, he puts the ball on the ground, and he was able to do that here again tonight and helped his own cause with a couple of base hits, but it was a solid six innings," manager John Farrell said after the game, per MLB.com.

Masterson received six runs of support from the offense in the top of the third inning, and while he gave two back in the bottom half of the same inning, he was able to retire the final eight batters he faced before calling it a night.

"Just being able to see that slider, being able to mix that slider in for strikes, that's a really good equalizer for me," Masterson said. "That really helped out. Being able to mix in some sinkers and change that speed a little bit on those guys and have a little bit of command, it's just good. It was tough for them."

Masterson's next scheduled to battle the Nationals Tuesday.

Rays pitcher Drew Smyly threw two perfect innings with Class A Advanced Charlotte in his rehab start on Thursday. Not one of his pitches that were connected on left the infield.

"It was exciting to pitch, to compete, to play in a real game with fans out there. It was a great first step," said Smyly, per MLB.com.

Smyly mentioned that he did not experience any shoulder discomfort during the outing. 
 
"It felt great. Better than I expected so I was very encouraged with how today went. I threw a lot of strikes and my arm felt the best that it has felt, so it was a real good day."

Smyly is eligible to come off the disabled list on Saturday, but the team has a plan for him going forward.

"After my next start I should know a lot more but right now, I'm just looking to see how the next five days go."

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson had a terrible outing on Thursday in the team's 7-1 loss to the Tigers.

Gibson gave up six runs on eights hits with five walks in 3 2/3 innings pitched. He also surrendered a three-run homer to J.D. Martinez, finishing the game with an ERA of 14.73.

"With the walks, I didn't give myself a chance," Gibson said. "They started hitting bloops and it just compounded the problem. They'd find a hole and it would lead to a few runs, per the Star Tribune."

Gibson hopes for a better performance in his next outing against the Royals on Wednesday.

Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman said Thursday he has added a curveball back to his repertoire, according to MASNsports.com. He said it's been three years since he threw a curveball in a game.

"I just think it's a different look," said Gausman, who estimated he threw 15 curveballs in 2 1/3 innings Tuesday against the Rays. "I think it is a little bit tighter spin than my slider. It definitely changes eye levels (for the hitter). Watching Tilly (Chris Tillman) what he does every fifth day. He is a big curveball guy with some high elevated fastballs and he's made a living doing that. One thing I can do is elevate my fastball, so it is one of those pitches that kind of feeds off of that."

While some fans would like to see Gausman in the rotation, he understands why he is in the bullpen for the time being.

"Kind of same thing last year when I thought I might have a chance to make the team and we signed Ubaldo (Jimenez)," he said. "We have six guys for five spots and one is going somewhere.

"I'm still very young and early on in my career where you know I can do different things. I've pitched out of the bullpen enough now to know I can do it successfully and it's not that big of a change for me."

Rays starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi had seven strikeouts in his season debut Wednesday against the Orioles. Six of his strikeouts were on swings and misses, as well as changeups.

"I was commanding it with all my pitches," Odorizzi said, per MLB.com. "Throwing curve balls, slow curve balls when I needed to keep them off everything else. For the most part, I think commanding the zone was a big part of how successful we were tonight."

Odorizzi has allowed two hits or fewer four times in his career, including Wednesday. He is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA in those outings.

"I warmed up well and sometimes that doesn't translate to a game," he said. "It doesn't show up. ... I was relaxed, I wasn't nervous, I wasn't anything. It was just another game. I kind of took that mentality into it. I wanted to execute and that's what I did."

Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander (triceps) will long toss Thursday and may do some flat-ground throwing, manager Brad Ausmus told reporters. Verlander, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday, will not start Sunday against the Indians, but he might only miss one start.

"We'll have to do some type of simulated game for him before he goes into a regular-season game," Ausmus said, per MLB.com. "I can't tell you where we're going to slot him in, because really after Sunday, we could slot him in anywhere depending on how he felt. So I can't tell you where he's going to pitch at this point."

Twins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco has left the team and returned to Minneapolis to undergo an MRI on his right elbow, manager Paul Molitor told reporters Thursday.

Molitor said Nolasco felt "a little spike" on a pitch to Tigers catcher Alex Avila in the fourth inning during his season debut Wednesday. He stayed in to pitch to two more batters before exiting the game. Molitor added it's too early to tell if Nolasco won't make his next scheduled start Monday against the Royals. 

Molitor said Nolasco's elbow was fine all spring. He also said it's too early to tell if this injury is related to the flexor strain he suffered last season, which forced him to miss five weeks.

Although Molitor gave no indication on what the team might do if Nolasco is sidelined, two options to potentially replace Nolasco could be prospects Trevor May and Alex Meyer, who are both on the 40-man roster and at Triple-A Rochester.

White Sox ace Chris Sale has been cleared to make his season debut Sunday against the Twins after missing Opening Day due to an avulsion fracture in his foot, MLB.com reports.

"It's behind me," Sale said of his foot injury Wednesday. "I was hurt. I'm not hurt any more. It's time to take the blinders off and run the race."

Sale wasn't able to face big-league hitters at any point during spring training, but he doesn't anticipate that being a problem moving forward.

"Knock on wood, I feel better than I have and it saves some bullets," Sale said. "I don't know how much emphasis I'm going to put on not having all the innings that some of the other guys have, but I'm hoping it means my arm just feels a little better than theirs does. Got to save a few bullets and hopefully they come out in October."

Sale finished third in the AL Cy Young voting last season after going 12-4 with a 2.17 ERA and 208:39 K:BB ratio in 174 innings over 26 starts.