Guardians' Ben Lively: Strengthens rotation bid

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.