MLB Player News

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Wednesday that Gausman (shoulder) will make his season debut either Sunday in Tampa Bay or Monday in Houston, Scott Mitchell of TSN.ca reports.

Gausman looked terrific in his one and only Grapefruit League outing Monday and will be able to avoid the injured list following a bout with shoulder fatigue. Signs had pointed to him making his season debut Monday, and while that could still happen, Sunday is evidently on the table, as well. Bowden Francis would get the ball on whichever of those days Gausman does not start.

Manager John Schneider confirmed Wednesday that Parsons will be part of the Blue Jays' Opening Day bullpen, Scott Mitchell of TSN.ca reports.

Parsons and Nate Pearson appear to have won the final two spots in Toronto's Opening Day bullpen with the team optioning Zach Pop and Yariel Rodriguez to Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday and with Jordan Romano (elbow) and Erik Swanson (forearm) set to go on the injured list Thursday. Though he made just one appearance for the big club in 2023 -- his first in the majors since 2019 -- Parsons was able to secure his place in the bullpen to begin the upcoming season after striking out eight batters while posting a 4.22 ERA over 10.2 innings in Grapefruit League play. He'll likely be ticketed for a low-leverage role.

Strider and Atlanta won't face the Phillies on Thursday after the game was postponed due to forecasted rain in Philadelphia.

The season opener for both clubs has been rescheduled for Friday at 3:05 p.m. ET. Strider, who had been slated to take the hill Thursday, will presumably be bumped back one day in the schedule to go head-to-head against the Phillies' Opening Day starter, Zack Wheeler.

Peralta and the Brewers won't face the Mets on Thursday after the game was postponed due to rain being in the forecast at Citi Field.

The season opener for both teams will be pushed back to Friday, which had been an off day for the three-game Brewers-Mets series. Peralta will presumably be moved one day back in the schedule to start Friday's game, with the Mets set to counter with Jose Quintana.

Wheeler and the Phillies won't face Atlanta on Thursday after the game was postponed due to forecasted rain in Philadelphia.

The season opener for both clubs has been rescheduled for Friday at 3:05 p.m. ET. Wheeler, who had been slated to take the hill Thursday, will presumably be bumped back one day in the schedule to go head-to-head against Atlanta's Opening Day starter, Spencer Strider.

Quintana and the Mets won't face the Brewers on Thursday after the game was postponed due to rain being in the forecast at Citi Field.

With heavy rain expected to hit the East Coast, the decision was made to go ahead and delay the season opener one day. Quintana will oppose the Brewers' Freddy Peralta on Friday, which had previously been a scheduled off day in the season-opening three-game series.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said Wednesday that Odorizzi has been reassigned to Triple-A Durham to begin the season, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Odorizzi signed a minor-league deal with the Rays on March 15 and didn't have sufficient time to make a case for a spot in the Opening Day rotation, but the organization isn't closing the door on him filling a starting role with the big club once he's fully stretched out. According to Cash, Odorizzi will make his first start with Durham on Tuesday, and the Rays will go "start-to-start" with him in the minors before deciding if or when he'll be called up. The 34-year-old Odorizzi owns a lifetime 3.99 ERA and 1.25 WHIP across 1,253.1 innings in the majors, but his outlook is murky after he missed the entire 2023 season while recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder.

Senga (shoulder) played light catch at Citi Field on Wednesday, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

Senga began what is expected to be a six-week ramp-up process as he works his way back from a moderate posterior capsule strain in his right shoulder. The timeline suggests an early-to-mid-May return for Senga in a best-case scenario. Senga finished seventh in the National League Cy Young Award voting in his rookie season in 2023, posting a 2.98 ERA and 202:77 K:BB over 166.1 innings covering 29 starts.

Susana struck out two in a perfect eighth inning during Tuesday's exhibition game between the Nationals and the organization's top prospects.

Just a few days after his 20th birthday, Susana nearly produced an immaculate inning against big-league hitters, but after Joey Gallo and Riley Adams struck out on six pitches, Jacob Young was able to weakly ground out. Per Bobby Blanco of MASN Sports, Susana topped out at 102.4 mph with his fastball and sat around 101 mph while also working in his potentially plus slider. Part of the package the Nats received for Juan Soto from the Padres, Susana made 16 starts at Single-A Fredericksburg last season and posted a disappointing 5.55 ERA and 56:38 K:BB over 58.1 innings. Washington isn't going to give up on him working out as a starting pitcher quite yet, but if he were to shift to a relief role, the young flamethrower could climb the ladder very quickly.

Canning started five games this spring, posting a 3.78 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 18:7 K:BB over 16.2 innings.

Canning tossed 91 pitches Sunday against the Dodgers in his final outing of the spring, so he appears ready for nearly a full workload as the regular season approaches. The right-hander gave up four runs over 4.2 frames in that start but also struck out eight batters, and he is coming off a 2023 campaign during which he registered a career-best 9.9 K/9. Canning's fantasy outlook is helped by the fact that the Angels will use a five-man rotation this season following the departure of Shohei Ohtani, and there's some strikeout upside in his arsenal, though he gave up plenty of hard contact last season and has been vulnerable to the long ball throughout his big-league career.