MLB Player News

Gray (3-1) earned the win Saturday, allowing three hits and two walks over eight scoreless innings against Oakland. He struck out five.

Gray picked up his second straight quality start, blanking the lowly Athletics across eight innings after allowing one run over seven innings in his previous start. Though the 31-year-old has strung together a pair of strong performances and has yet to allow more than four runs in a start, Gray sports only a 6.31 K/9 so far, down from his 2022 average of 9.47 K/9 and 2021 average of 9.48 K/9 while giving up 1.39 HR/9, which would match his career high. Gray has had significantly more success against right-handed hitting, allowing a slash line of .212/.278/.364 compared to a .275/.366/.478 to lefties.

McCullers (forearm) threw another bullpen session Saturday, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McCullers has been out all season while working back from a strained forearm. He's thrown multiple bullpen sessions but is not yet at full strength. His velocity sat 89-91 mph in Saturday's session, down significantly from his average of 93.3 mph last year. He's also still only throwing four-seamers, changeups and sinkers, with cutters expected to follow Tuesday and his breaking pitches sometime after that.

Whitlock (elbow) will make at least two rehab starts before the Red Sox decide whether or not to activate him from the injured list, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

Whitlock was hoping to a minimum-length stay when he hit the injured list with ulnar neuritis in late April, but he'll end up missing something close to a month, at least. He's scheduled for starts Tuesday and next Sunday, which means he'd be on schedule to return May 26 against the Diamondbacks.

Rodon (back) has begun physical activities over the last two days and will have his readiness to begin a throwing program assessed Saturday, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.

Injuries have thus far prevented Rodon from getting his Yankees career off the ground, including both a forearm strain and chronic back issues. The back problem is the primary one at this point, but he's at least been able to take one small step toward his return after receiving a cortisone shot in early May. His return timeline should become clearer once it's revealed whether or not he's ready to begin throwing.

Crawford (hamstring) is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list Friday in San Diego, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

He will follow Garrett Whitlock (elbow) in a rehab outing Tuesday with Triple-A Worcester, with his next appearance expected to come out of the big-league bullpen. Crawford has been effective in long relief and logged a 1.25 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 21.1 innings across his six most recent MLB appearances.

Sears' start has been pushed to Sunday vs. the Rangers, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

James Kaprielian, who was just recalled from Triple-A, will slot into Mason Miller's (elbow) spot in the rotation Saturday, pushing everyone else back a day. Sears will matchup against Andrew Heaney on Sunday.

Kaprielian will start Saturday's game against the Rangers, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The team will push its other five starters back a day and stick with a six-man rotation despite Mason Miller (elbow) landing on the shelf. Kaprielian was just recalled from Triple-A, where he made two strong starts after struggling to a 12.94 ERA in 16 MLB innings prior to getting demoted.

Kaprielian was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Kaprielian, who was demoted to Triple-A in late-April, gave up one earned run on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven across 8.1 innings in two starts at Triple-A. He would be an option to work in long relief this weekend, as he last pitched May 7, but it's also possible the A's go to a six-man rotation and slot Kaprielian in sometime in the coming days.

France (1-0) allowed one run on three hits and a walk over 6.2 innings Friday, striking out three and earning a win over the White Sox.

France cruised to a win Friday and didn't face much danger in his second career start. The only blemish on his stat line came from Luis Robert's solo shot in the second inning. France has given up just one run through 11.2 frames in his first two MLB starts. As of now, his third career start is projected to be at home against the Cubs next week.

Kopech (1-4) allowed two runs on one hit and six walks over 4.2 innings Friday, striking out five and taking a loss against Houston.

Kopech worked through three shutout frames before the Astros got on the board in the fourth. The 27-year-old righty failed to complete five innings for the first time since his season debut April 3. His command has been shaky all year, but Friday's outing set a new season high with six walks. For the year, Kopech is sporting a 41:28 K:BB and 5.74 ERA through 42.1 innings. He's currently scheduled to face the Guardians at home next week.