MLB Player News

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Sunday that Maeda (illness) will require a rehab assignment prior to returning from the 15-day injured list, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Maeda was placed on the IL on Saturday with a viral illness, and Hinch noted that the right-hander's ailment was significant enough to keep him from playing catch over the last few days since he made his last start Tuesday in Cleveland. Though the 36-year-old is eligible to come off the IL as soon as May 23, the fact that the Tigers are already planning on Maeda needing a rehab assignment suggests that it's not a lock that he'll be ready to go when his 15 days are up. Maeda had gotten off to a rough start to the season prior to landing on the IL, going 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA and 1.40 WHIP across 30.2 innings through seven starts.

Ober (4-1) earned the win after he pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out 10 batters in Sunday's 5-1 victory over Toronto.

Ober was nearly perfect Sunday, allowing just a single to Vladimir Guerrero in the bottom of the fourth inning, while his 10 punchouts were a season high. The right-hander has now recorded four quality starts over eight outings this season. Since allowing eight runs against the Royals in his season debut, Ober has produced a 2.16 ERA with 44 strikeouts over 41.2 innings in his last seven starts. He'll look to keep it going when he returns to the mound for his next projected start Saturday in Cleveland.

Manoah (0-1) was tagged with a loss after he pitched seven innings, allowing three unearned runs on four hits and a walk while striking out six in Sunday's 5-1 defeat to Minnesota.

The 26-year-old right-hander was in full command Sunday, tossing six scoreless frames to open his outing against the Twins. With one out in the top of the seventh inning, Max Kepler reached on a fielding error by Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement and three runs -- all of which were unearned -- came around to score on a Carlos Santana homer. Manoah struggled in his 2024 debut against the Nationals on May 5, giving up seven runs (six earned) over four innings, so Sunday's performance was a positive sign. Manoah will look to make it back-to-back strong outings when he returns to the mound for his next projected start Saturday versus the Rays.

Brubaker (elbow) threw live batting practice against DJ LeMahieu (foot) on Saturday at the Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa, MLB.com reports.

After he had been limited to throwing bullpen sessions over the past couple of months, Brubaker has now moved on to the next phase in his rehab from his April 12, 2023 Tommy John surgery: facing hitters. He'll likely throw multiple live BPs before embarking on an extended minor-league rehab assignment in the coming weeks. Brubaker is targeting a return from the 60-day injured list around the All-Star break and could be an option for the big-league rotation if the Yankees have an opening.

Pepiot (leg) threw a 15-pitch bullpen session Sunday, Steve Carney of StPeteNine.com reports.

Pepiot landed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday after sustaining a lower left leg contusion when he was hit by a line drive in his start against the Mets last Sunday. He noted that he felt good after the throwing session Sunday, and he could return from the IL when first eligible May 21. The right-hander confirmed after the bullpen session that he doesn't expect to need a rehab start in the minors prior to being activated.

Brown covered five innings out of the bullpen in Saturday's 8-2 loss to the Tigers, giving up one earned run on five hits and no walks while striking out seven.

Though he worked in relief after starting in each of his previous seven appearances, Brown delivered arguably his best outing of the campaign, with the seven punchouts matching a season high. Despite Brown's strong showing, the fact that he was bypassed for a start and entered the game in the bottom of the third inning with the Astros trailing 7-0 speaks to the lack of trust he had from the coaching staff heading into Saturday. According to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros won't have Brown rejoin the rotation for any of their first three games of the four-game series with Oakland to open the upcoming week. Cristian Javier was lit up for seven earned runs while recording just four outs before exiting Saturday's contest, and the Astros aren't yet committing to Javier taking the hill for Thursday's series finale versus the Athletics. If the Astros want to give Javier at least one more day off to regroup from his rough outing versus the Tigers, Brown could re-enter the rotation Thursday.

Miller (3-3) was stuck with the loss against Oakland on Saturday, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out nine.

All of the damage against Miller came in the top of the third, when the 25-year-old issued a leadoff walk to Lawrence Butler to open the frame, followed by back-to-back singles. The right-hander allowed only two hits outside of that inning and retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced, but he still got stuck with his third loss of the season due to a lack of run support. Miller has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his eight starts this season and recorded his second-highest strikeout total of the campaign Saturday with nine punchouts.

The Red Sox reinstated Bello (lat) from the 15-day injured list ahead of his start Sunday against the Nationals.

Bello landed on the IL on April 24 due to right lat tightness, which he experienced coming out of his start April 19 versus the Pirates. He was able to get the green light to rejoin the big-league rotation after making one rehab start with Double-A Portland on Tuesday, when he allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out five over 2.2 innings. Bello holds a 3-1 record through five starts for the Red Sox with a 3.04 ERA and 1.05 WHIP over 26.2 innings this season.

Estes (1-0) earned the win in Saturday's 8-1 victory over the Mariners, allowing one run on two hits and no walks over five innings while striking out five.

Estes was efficient throughout his five innings of work, doing much of the damage with his slider and four-seamer. While he threw only eight of his 17 first pitches for strikes, the right-hander was frequently able to work his way back from being down in the count and gave up only two hits on the night, though one of those was a home run. Estes also took a liner off his right bicep in the first but still managed to scoop it up and retire Julio Rodriguez for the out at first base before waving off the trainer and continuing on with the inning. Estes' 2024 MLB debut was an impressive one, but it's unclear if he'll stick around with the big club for another turn through the rotation.

Ragans (2-3) took the loss against the Angels on Saturday, allowing seven runs on eight hits and one walk over 6.1 innings. He struck out three.

Ragans first ran into trouble in the top of the second after surrendering a leadoff triple to Kevin Pillar to open the frame, which would eventually lead to three runs coming home for Los Angeles. The lefty would also surrender runs in the third and seventh innings, with the final two of those runs coming across after he was relieved by Nick Anderson. Ragans had given up two runs or fewer in each of his last three starts coming in, but ended up matching his season high with seven runs allowed in Saturday's loss. On a positive note, he's now managed to go at least six innings in three consecutive outings, posting a 20:6 K:BB over that stretch.