MLB Player News

Bradley (1-0) earned the win Wednesday against the Red Sox, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk over five innings. He struck out eight.

Bradley proved himself in his MLB debut, retiring 10 of the 12 batters he faced after handing out a free pass to begin his outing. The 22-year-old rookie was highly efficient, throwing 52 of 78 pitches for strikes and striking out eight batters over five solid innings. As Zach Eflin continues to recover from a back injury, Bradley is expected to be given at least one more start, tentatively scheduled for this weekend against Cincinnati.

Rodriguez allowed one run on seven hits across six innings and did not factor into the decision in Wednesday's 10-inning loss to the Blue Jays. He walked one and struck out three.

Rodriguez held his own against a tough Toronto lineup, but the 2-9 Tigers weren't able to give him much support. The lefty had allowed seven earned runs across 10 innings in his first two starts, so this was a step in the right direction, though fantasy managers would like to see more strikeouts moving forward. Rodriguez lines up to face the Guardians early next week.

Blackburn (finger) covered three shutout innings in his rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Las Vegas, scattering two hits and issuing no walks in the 34-pitch outing.

Blackburn didn't strike out any batters in the rehab start, but making bats miss typically isn't part of his game plan for success even when he's not building back up from an injury. Since opening the season on the 15-day injured list with a right middle fingernail avulsion, Blackburn has made two rehab starts, but he'll likely need to increase his pitch count to the 75-to-90 range over the course of one or two more minor-league outings before he's cleared to join the Oakland rotation.

Giolito (0-1) took the loss Wednesday against Minnesota, allowing one run off five hits over six innings while walking two batters and striking out seven.

Aside from hitting Kyle Farmer in the face with a pitch, it was a solid outing for Giolito, though not a very efficient one -- it took him 108 pitches to get through six frames. His lone blemish came on a Michael Taylor bases-loaded groundout that ended up driving in a run. Giolito still might not have the prettiest statline to look at on the year, but Wednesday was certainly a nice bounce-back performance from his last start in Pittsburgh, when he gave up seven runs.

Gray (2-0) earned the win Wednesday against the White Sox, allowing zero runs off three hits over five innings while walking two batters and striking out five.

Chalk up another impressive start for the 33-year-old veteran, who has now allowed just one earned run through his first 17 innings on the mound and boasts a 19:7 K:BB ratio. While Wednesday's start certainly wasn't as impressive as his 13-strikeout performance Friday against Houston, Gray has yet to show signs of slowing down through three starts.

Battenfield allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over 4.2 innings in Wednesday's loss to the Yankees while surrendering zero walks and striking out three batters. He did not factor into the decision.

The 25-year-old rookie was given an early wake-up call after giving up an immediate double to Anthony Volpe, but he was able to get through the first four innings unscathed. An RBI single from Kyle Higashioka paired with a throwing error from Andres Gimenez allowed the Yankees to cut Cleveland's lead to one run, at which point Battenfield was relieved and New York went on to complete the comeback. With Aaron Civale (oblique) set to miss at least two weeks, Battenfield could stay put in the Guardians' rotation for now.

Schmidt allowed three earned runs on six hits over four innings in Wednesday's win over the Guardians while walking one batter and striking out three. He did not factor into the decision.

Wednesday marks Schmidt's best start of the season so far, although that isn't necessarily saying much. The 27-year-old righty has now allowed 10 earned runs over 10.2 innings across three starts. He's still been able to strike batters out at a rate of 9.3 K/9, but so far he has provided little fantasy value as a member of the Yankees' rotation.

Urquidy (1-0) threw six scoreless innings Wednesday against Pittsburgh, surrendering two hits and three walks while striking out two batters en route to collecting his first win of the season.

The 27-year-old righty got hit around a bit in his first start of the season but has since calmed down, allowing just one earned run in his last two starts (11.1 IP). Both of the hits against him were singles courtesy of Carlos Santana and Jack Suwinski, so while he didn't have his best strikeout stuff going Wednesday, he still did an excellent job limiting extra-base hits.

Lorenzen (groin) is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list and return to Detroit's rotation at some point during this weekend's series against the Giants, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Friday's series opener appears to be the tentative target, and Lorenzen's impending activation comes with good timing after Matt Manning landed on the injured list Wednesday due to a fractured right foot. Lorenzen has missed the first three weeks of the 2023 campaign while recovering from a left groin strain. He gave up four earned runs over just 2.1 innings in his lone rehab start last Saturday with Triple-A Toledo, so fantasy expectations should be tempered if he pitches this weekend.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora was noncommittal when asked Wednesday whether Bello's (forearm) next start would come in the majors, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Bello was excellent in his first rehab start with Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday, tossing six innings of one-run ball while striking out four and hitting 97 miles per hour on the radar gun. Cora noted that seeing how Bello bounces back from Tuesday's outing will be critical in determining his next step. To that end, the right-hander should have a good chance of making his next start with the big club so long as he feels fine coming out of a bullpen session Thursday or Friday. If the Red Sox opt to activate him from the 15-day injured list, Bello could start for the big club as soon as Sunday or Monday versus the Angels.