MLB Player News

Gasper was injured in a collision at second base Sunday and needed six stitches to treat his laceration. He’ll serve as a pinch-hitter, third catcher and maybe the second baseman against lefties while Brooks Lee is out.

McCullers struck out three and allowed two runs over two innings on Sunday in his first minor league rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land. The 31-year-old hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since Game 3 of the 2022 Fall Classic due to elbow issues, but he’s on track to rejoin Houston’s starting rotation in late April or early May.

Mike Vasil lost the no-hitter in the seventh, but he and Brandon Eisert finished the shutout. The nine strikeouts matched Pérez’s career high; he did it once in 2019 and twice in his stunning 2022 campaign. Pérez also had a nice spring, finishing with a 2.25 ERA in 16 innings. We doubt he’ll recreate that 2022 magic this year — aside from that season, when he came in at 2.89, he’s had an ERA over 4.30 every year since 2014 — but then, we never saw 2022 coming, either.

By the White Sox? BY THE WHITE SOX?? No one is ever going to want to try streaming again after taking the plunge on Paddack today. Paddack actually generated enough weak contact to finish with a 79.9 mph average exit velocity against, but the three homers were all hit at least 104 mph and three of the four walks he issued led to runs (the fourth might have, too, if he wasn’t pulled afterwards). Paddack deserves to be on shaky ground with his rotation status, as Zebby Matthews seems like an upgrade for the Twins.

It was hit low enough that it only would have been a homer in 10 ballparks, but it left Vaughn’s bat at 108.5 mph. Vaughn is just 2-for-15 so far, but eight of his 13 balls in play have been hard hit, and he’s struck out only twice. It’s actually an encouraging start for the much-maligned first baseman.

He also stole a base. Taylor was making his second start in four games and first of the year against a right-hander today. He should be limited to starts versus lefties once Mike Tauchman gets back.

There didn’t appear to be any injuries here, just the Twins getting two of their best players a half-day off in what turned out to be a 9-0 loss. Both Buxton and Correa were 0-for-1 before exiting.

Harris has been jettisoned to the minors to make room for recently-added lefty Angel Perdomo, who was claimed off waivers over the weekend from the Angels. The 28-year-old lefty has made 36 appearances (15 starts) for the Athletics over the last three seasons.

Pérez isn’t expected to be an option for Miami’s starting rotation until roughly midseason as he continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. However, the fact that he’s already progressed to facing hitters is an extremely encouraging development. The 21-year-old phenom should be ready for minor league rehab outings by the end of April, barring something unexpected.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters Varsho hasn’t progressed to throwing in game action yet, but is trending in the right direction. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith notes that the furthest Varsho would need to throw in game action is roughly 175-200 feet, which means he’s almost there from a ramp-up standpoint. The 28-year-old center fielder opened the regular season on the injured list recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. There should be some clarity on his return timeline once he starts getting into minor league rehab games for Triple-A Buffalo.

It’ll be rookie Kyren Paris making his second straight start in center field while Adell remains sidelined due to a left hip issue. The 25-year-old outfielder left Saturday’s game against the White Sox with left hip tightness and remains day-to-day for now. It’s possible he’ll require a trip to the injured list if he’s unable to get back in the lineup by the middle of the week.