MLB Player News

The Astros optioned Gordon to Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Gordon should get the opportunity to make his MLB debut at some point in 2025, but he'll begin the season in the minors after losing out in the spring competition for the Astros' No. 5 starter role. Hayden Wesneski now profiles as the leading candidate for the final spot in the Opening Day rotation, though Gordon made a decent push for the gig after giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven over seven innings across his three Grapefruit League starts.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that Crawford (knee) is feeling better but has not progressed with his baseball activities, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

Crawford will not be ready for Opening Day as he battles patellar tendon soreness and things look to be trending toward longer than a minimum stay on the 15-day injured list. Brayan Bello (shoulder) is also expected to begin the year on the IL but appears likely to rejoin Boston's rotation before Crawford.

Manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that Giolito (elbow) will make 2025 debut in Baltimore during Boston's second series of the regular season, which runs from March 31 to April 3, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Boston is opening its season with a four-game set in Texas, so Giolito will presumably take the hill when a fifth starter is first needed March 31. Giolito missed the entire 2024 season after requiring an internal brace procedure last March to address a torn UCL, but he was fully cleared in advance of spring training. After completing a series of live sessions without issue, Giolito will make his Grapefruit League debut Tuesday versus the Phillies and will likely make another two starts after that during spring training to get stretched out in advance of the season.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that Bello (shoulder) will not be ready for Opening Day but is expected back sometime in April, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Cora confirmed that Bello will require a stint on the injured list due to right shoulder soreness, which cropped up at the start of camp. Bello has been throwing off a mound since the beginning of March and is trending in a good direction, but he simply needs more time to build up. Quinn Priester or Richard Fitts is expected to fill Bello's rotation spot to begin the season.

Rocker pitched in an intrasquad game on the backfields Saturday and tossed three hitless innings, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.

Rocker did issue one walk and hit a batter, but the right-hander was pleased with the progress made after allowing eight runs in his first two Cactus League innings. "That was better," Rocker said. "A lot better. That's what we needed. I was able to take a step back and work on the process and try to find the results." Texas general manager Chris Young said the 25-year-old Rocker is medically fine after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in 2023, and that the issues early this spring were fixable mechanical things, something he did in the team's pitching lab. It's not yet clear when Rocker will throw next in a live game.

Lively scattered three hits and one walk while striking out three over four scoreless innings in Monday's Cactus League start against the Royals.

Lively strengthened his case for a spot in the rotation during his third Cactus League start against a lineup with several Kansas City regulars. He's allowed just one run over nine spring innings. The right-hander won't blow away many hitters, but he doesn't hurt himself with walks. The key will be locating and preventing the long ball. He's penciled in as one of the five members of the rotation in the latest roster projection offered by Mandy Bell and Tim Stebbins of MLB.com.

McKenzie allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out three over 3.2 innings in Monday's Cactus League start against the Cubs.

There was a lot of traffic during McKenzie's third Cactus League start, but Monday's mixed-result effort was much better than his previous outing. The right-hander walked five and retired just two of seven batters during his second spring start 12 days ago. The seven hits suggest command was inconsistent, but McKenzie amassed 13 whiffs among his 60 offerings, indicating he can be effective when locating. The improvement from his second spring outing keeps him alive in the battle for a spot in the rotation. He was among the five starters in the projected Opening Day roster compiled by Mandy Bell and Tim Stebbins of MLB.com.

Detmers entered in the sixth inning of Monday's Cactus League contest against Colorado and tossed four scoreless frames, allowing four hits and striking out four batters.

Detmers has been battling Jack Kochanowicz for the Angels' fifth-starter role this spring, but it's unclear if Detmers' appearance in relief Monday -- the first time he has come out of the bullpen this spring -- in an indication that Kochanowicz has won the job. Regardless, Detmers made a strong case to be on the Opening Day pitching staff in some capacity with his performance against the Rockies, during which he limited Colorado to four harmless hits -- all singles -- across four innings. The left-hander lowered his spring ERA to 2.31 with the outing, and he now has an 8:2 K:BB over 11.2 frames, though Kochanowicz has arguably been better with a 1.00 ERA and 6:1 K:BB over nine innings.

Severino surrendered two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four over three innings during Monday's Cactus League loss to the White Sox.

Severino had a tough time settling in and allowed both runs in the top of the first inning, but he looked sharp in his final two frames of work. This is simply part of the spring training process for the 31-year-old, who inked a three-year, $67 million contract with the Athletics in December to lead the club's starting rotation.

Ginn gave up four runs with two strikeouts over 2.2 innings in Monday's spring training loss to the White Sox. He has a 10.00 ERA and a 9:7 K:BB in nine innings this spring.

Ginn looks set to begin the season at Triple-A despite finishing last year in the big-league rotation. He'll likely be among the first pitchers called up if there's an opening, however.