MLB Player News

Yarbrough (0-2) allowed five earned runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out five across five innings to take the loss Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Yarbrough had a scoreless outing through 3.2 innings, but surrendered a two-run home run to Alex Verdugo to open the scoring. He completely fell apart in the sixth inning, as he allowed all five batters he faced to reach base, with the big blow being a two-run home run off the bat of Michael Chavis. Despite the poor outing, Yarbrough has maintained a 3.78 ERA across 16.2 innings to begin the season. His next start is currently projected for Monday in a rematch against the Red Sox.

Loaisiga will start Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Phillies.

The 25-year-old was considered the likely starter for the nightcap, but it wasn't confirmed until the Yankees released their lineup at the completion of Game 1. Loaisiga likely won't pitch deep enough to be eligible for a win, but he did cover three frames in each of his first two outings of the season.

Puk (shoulder) is throwing from 75 feet, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Puk, who has been sidelined all season with a shoulder strain, is reportedly close to resuming mound work. While this is encouraging news, the left-hander still has a ways to go in his recovery. If Puk is able to return this season, it will likely be in a relief role.

Montero (elbow) threw a simulated inning at the Rangers' satellite camp Wednesday, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Montero has been sidelined all season with right elbow tendinitis, but it sounds like he could be cleared to join the Rangers as soon as this weekend. Once healthy, the right-hander figures to assume a high-leverage relief role.

Chapman (illness) threw a bullpen session Wednesday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Chapman is still building up his arm strength after missing all of summer camp due to COVID-19. He'll require a couple more bullpen sessions before being cleared for even live batting practice, so his season debut doesn't appear to be imminent. Zack Britton has been closing in his absence.

Loaisiga could start the evening portion of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Yankees, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

The Yankees will likely continue to use Loaisiga in a flexible role this season as they did in both 2018 and 2019. He's started nine games in his career while appearing out of the bullpen 17 times. If he does start Wednesday, he may not pitch deep enough into the game to be eligible for a win, as he threw exactly three innings in both of his appearances so far this year.

Kahnle (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery in New York on Tuesday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Tommy John surgery was believed to be on the table for Kahnle after he was diagnosed with a UCL injury Friday and was moved to the injured list, and the right-hander didn't wait long before electing to go under the knife. He'll now be sidelined for the rest of the season and the majority of the 2021 campaign while recovering from surgery. Since joining the Yankees midway through the 2017 season, Kahnle has appeared in 129 games and posted a 4.01 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 23.3 K-BB% while notching 38 holds and one save.

Colome gave up two hits and struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday to notch his third save of the season in a 3-2 win over the Brewers.

The veteran closer made things interesting by allowing consecutive two-out singles, but Colome then got Ben Gamel to ground out to first base to end the game. Colome has converted all three of his save chances to begin the season, posting a 0.00 ERA and 3:1 K:BB through five innings, but given that he's now worked on back-to-back nights, he may be unavailable if another lead needs to be protected Wednesday.

Karinchak recorded the final out of the eighth inning Tuesday against the Reds via strikeout before giving way to Brad Hand for the save chance.

After Karinchak earned his first career save last week, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com speculated that Karinchak was "not going to be giving up that spot anytime soon." It now appears that manager Terry Francona still has faith in Hand, at least more than some believed, but Hand was shaky early on and Karinchak has some of the nastiest stuff in baseball. It's clear that the lefty Hand is on notice in the closer role.

Hand struck out one batter in a perfect ninth inning against the Reds on Tuesday en route to his third save of the season.

There was some uncertainty regarding Hand's role after he took the loss July 29 and then gave way to James Karinchak in a save situation a day later. It's easy to see that Karinchak is the closer of the future for Cleveland, but apparently that future is not here quite yet. Hand can ill afford another stumble in the short term if he's to keep Karinchak at bay.