MLB Player News

The Royals promoted Kudrna from Single-A Columbia to High-A Quad Cities on Wednesday.

Though Kudrna's numbers at Columbia this season (3.50 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 66:26 K:BB in 64.1 innings) don't vary wildly from his ratios in 2022 with the same affiliate (3.61 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 61:32 K:BB in 72.1 innings), the Royals evidently saw enough growth from the 20-year-old right-hander to bump him up a level. He's the second major Royals pitching prospect to move from Single-A to High-A within the past two weeks, as Frank Mozzicato got the call to Quad Cities on July 2.

Urquidy (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land on Friday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

Urquidy threw live batting practice Sunday without any issues in what was his final hurdle to clear before pitching in a rehab game. The right-hander has been sidelined since early May with shoulder inflammation, so he would figure to require at least a couple rehab outings before rejoining the Astros' rotation.

Javier is slated to start Sunday's game against the Angels in Anaheim.

After Javier surrendered 18 earned runs on 21 hits and six walks over 10.2 innings across his last three starts, the Astros elected to skip his final turn through the rotation prior to the All-Star break. The Astros are hoping that the extended rest allowed Javier to potentially address any mechanical flaws that may have affected his performance, as the team isn't ready to pull the plug on him as a starter in light of his strong track record for the majority of the last two seasons. Even with the recent rough patch, Javier still owns decent ratios (4.34 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 15.0 K-BB%) over his 17 starts in 2023.

Olson is scheduled to start Sunday's game in Seattle.

Prior to the All-Star break, Olson had made his last two appearances in relief, piggybacking starter Tarik Skubal for five innings and two innings on July 4 and July 9, respectively. With the Tigers optioning Alex Faedo to Triple-A Toledo last weekend, the team now has spots available in the rotation for both Skubal and Olson. The latter will take the hill for the series finale in Seattle, while Skubal will presumably start either Monday or Tuesday in Kansas City.

Prielipp has been transferred from the 7-day IL to the Full Season IL at High-A Cedar Rapids and will have season-ending surgery, TwinsDaily reports.

Prielipp was working his way back from Tommy John surgery in 2021, but he landed on the 7-day injured list April 14 with general left elbow soreness. He then made a rehab start in the Florida Complex League on June 9 and didn't make a second start. It sounds like he's had a significant setback, but there are not full details on the surgery.

Kopech (shoulder) will return from the 15-day injured list to start the White Sox's first game of the second half Friday in Atlanta, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Kopech was placed on the IL in early July with what was categorized as right shoulder inflammation, though the move may have been made mostly in order to give him extra rest. The right-hander is on pace for a career high in innings this season and had been struggling in his recent outings before landing on the IL. Kopech isn't an advisable start in fantasy against Atlanta.

Gonzalez was promoted from High-A Greenville to Double-A Portland this week, Chris Hatfield of SoxProspects.com reports.

The electric righty had a 2.01 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 55 strikeouts in 31.1 innings over his last six starts for the Drive, so the fact he has a 5.14 ERA on the season should be largely overlooked. Gonzalez generally logs elevated walk rates, and he will need to limit the free passes to have regular success against Double-A hitters.

Ryu (elbow) struck out one over four scoreless innings in his most recent rehab start Sunday with Single-A Dunedin, scattering three hits and issuing no walks.

Making his second rehab start as he builds back up following his Tommy John surgery last June, Ryu spotted 27 of his 37 pitches for strikes and generated four swings and misses on the day. According to Mitch Bannon of SI.com, Ryu's fastball topped out at 88.4 miles per hour, about a tick below his average from the 2022 season. The 36-year-old lefty doesn't need premium velocity to find success, so as long as he continues to show strong command and control in his subsequent rehab outings, the Blue Jays will likely be comfortable finding a spot for him in their rotation. Since he'll likely need at least two more rehab starts to get fully stretched out, Ryu shouldn't be expected to return from the 60-day injured list any earlier than the final week of July.

Cole will start for the American League in Tuesday's All-Star Game versus the National League, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Cole had seemed to be the most likely candidate to get the nod from AL manager Dusty Baker, especially after other options pulled out of the festivities. The big right-hander has collected nine wins, a 2.85 ERA and 123:34 K:BB over 117 innings covering 19 starts for the Yankees in the first half. It will be the first-ever start in the Midsummer Classic for Cole.

Gilbert (7-5) got the win against the Astros on Sunday, allowing an earned run on three hits over seven innings. He struck out six and hit a batter.

Coming off his complete-game gem against the Giants on Tuesday, Gilbert managed an impressive encore performance versus a dangerous lineup. The right-hander got 63 of his 94 pitches in for strikes during his efficient performance -- with Jeremy Rakes of MLB.com noting his fastball consistently sat between 95 and 97 mph -- giving Gilbert wins in consecutive decisions for the first time since late May. The 26-year-old appears to be hitting his stride after a couple of hiccups, as he heads into the All-Star break having surrendered two earned runs or less in four of his last five starts and now sits second among all qualified pitchers with an 0.98 WHIP.