MLB Player News

Whitlock (elbow) will likely join Boston's bullpen once he comes off the 15-day injured list, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

The expectation is that Whitlock will go on a rehab assignment next week and return as a multi-inning reliever, similar to his role for the club in 2021. Whitlock has never topped 78.1 innings in a big-league season, and may fall shy of that mark again this year as he sits on 51.2 innings. Meanwhile, Tanner Houck (face) is expected to get stretched out and return as a starting pitcher.

Bello will start Monday at home against the Royals, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

He could have started Sunday on normal rest, but the Red Sox will use a pair of openers and primary pitchers, likely Nick Pivetta and Chris Murphy, for the final two games of the series against the Blue Jays. Bello has a 3.73 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 48 strikeouts in 62.2 innings over his last 10 starts.

Syndergaard (leg) will start Saturday's home game against the White Sox, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

He exited his Guardians debut Monday in the bottom of the sixth inning after being struck in the lower right leg by a comebacker, but he apparently suffered little more than a minor bruise. Syndergaard, who struck out zero batters in 5.1 innings Monday, has struck out just 21 batters over his last 44.2 frames. On a positive note, the right-hander did showcase a bump in velocity Monday. Per Bell, his four-seamer averaged 93.5 miles per hour (up 0.9 mph from his season average), his three cutters averaged 91.3 mph (up 2.0 mph) and his sinker averaged 93.9 mph (up 1.6 mph).

Paddack (elbow) is on track to begin facing live hitters in mid-August, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Paddack is about 14 months removed from his second career Tommy John surgery and has been throwing bullpen sessions without issue since the beginning of June. The 27-year-old right-hander could potentially be an option for the Twins' pitching staff sometime in September if all continues to go smoothly with his throwing program.

Cleveland activated Battenfield (shoulder) from the 60-day injured list Friday and optioned him to Triple-A Columbus.

Battenfield is recovered from right shoulder inflammation that sent him to the IL back in mid-May, but the Guardians will stash him at Columbus for now. The 25-year-old allowed seven earned runs and tallied only one strikeout over 7.1 innings in his latest rehab start this past Sunday at Triple-A.

Singer (7-8) earned the win Thursday, allowing three hits and zero walks over eight scoreless innings in a 9-2 victory over the Mets. He struck out four.

The right-hander retired the last 11 batters he faced in the contest and has now allowed two earned runs or fewer in three consecutive outings, lowering his ERA on the season to 5.10. The three hits were also the fewest Singer has allowed since his first start of the year back on April 3.

Toussaint (1-4) took the loss Thursday, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks over 5.1 innings against Texas. He struck out nine.

Toussaint allowed runs in the second, third and fourth innings, with the latter two coming off home runs from Mitch Garver and Marcus Semien. The right-hander was then relieved by Aaron Bummer after surrendering a leadoff walk in the sixth, but not before recording a season-high nine strikeouts on the afternoon. Toussaint had allowed just two home runs all season coming in, while Thursday's outing marked the third time in his last four starts he's issued four walks.

Sears (2-8) took the loss against the Dodgers on Thursday, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out five batters over five innings.

Of the six hits Sears allowed, five went for extra bases, but the Dodgers managed to score just twice while he was in the game. Despite keeping Oakland in the contest, the left-hander got little run support and took his eighth loss of the season. Sears has been better than his record indicates-- his 4.07 ERA is far from disastrous, and he's posted seven quality starts across 22 outings -- but such is the fate of a starting pitcher on one of the league's worst offensive teams. Wins aren't likely to start coming in abundance for Sears, but he's not entirely off the fantasy radar, as he's provided some positive stats this season. For instance, his 1.08 WHIP ranks 10th among qualified MLB pitchers, ahead of more heralded hurlers such as Logan Webb, Zac Gallen and Spencer Strider.

Gray (5-4) earned the win Thursday, allowing two runs on five hits over seven innings against the Cardinals. He struck out eight.

Gray was excellent Thursday, tallying his highest strikeout total since May 12 to earn his first win in 15 starts. The veteran right-hander has now delivered three consecutive quality starts after allowing 11 earned runs in his previous two outings (11.2 innings). Overall, Gray has a 3.18 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP and 123:44 K:BB across 22 starts (124.1 innings) in an up-and-down campaign. He'll look to keep rolling in his next start, currently scheduled for next week in Detroit.

Woo pitched six innings against the Angels on Thursday, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six batters in a no-decision.

Woo got through five scoreless frames before the Angels tagged him for two runs in the sixth. The right-hander departed in line for a tough loss but was let off the hook when Seattle rallied for four runs in the ninth. Woo got back on track in the strikeout department, fanning six batters after failing to record a punchout over five frames in his previous outing. His quality start Thursday was the third of his rookie campaign so far.