MLB Player News

Springs (personal) will rejoin the Rays and start Tuesday against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Springs ended up staying home during the team's trip to Toronto to deal with a family medical matter. While Springs allowed three home runs his last time out, he's been fantastic overall this season in his hybrid starter/reliever role, posting a 2.25 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 60 innings. There's little reason to think his workload will be significantly limited in his return.

Sears was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes/Barre on Sunday.

Sears was optioned less than a week ago, but the Yankees are allowed to bring him back since they are placing a player on the injured list (Ron Marinaccio) in the corresponding move. The 26-year-old Sears hasn't pitched at any level since his June 28 outing against Oakland, so he will be available for multiple innings behind Jordan Montgomery on Sunday. Sears has impressed with a spotless ERA and eight strikeouts against four walks in his first four major-league appearances (12.2 innings).

Manning (biceps/shoulder) was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Sunday.

Manning has already spent 77 days on the 10-day IL, so the transaction doesn't have any affect on his timeline to rejoin the big club and merely clears a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Garrett Hill, who is slated to start one half of Monday's doubleheader with the Guardians. Of the five Detroit starting pitchers currently residing on the IL, Manning may be the closest to returning. He threw a bullpen session Saturday and could be cleared to come off the IL shortly after the All-Star break if he hits no further snags in his recovery from shoulder inflammation and biceps tendinitis.

Paxton (elbow) threw a 32-pitch bullpen session Saturday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Paxton has thrown a string of bullpens since early in June, and the left-hander hopes to face live batters at some point around the All-Star break. He added a mid-August return is his goal.

Boston manager Alex Cora confirmed Whitlock (hip) will pitch out of the bullpen when he's activated off the injured list, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Cora said earlier that the club was considering having Whitlock -- who has been in the starting rotation since April 23 -- move to the bullpen and confirmed that decision Saturday. The manager added that Whitlock will be used much as he was in 2021, when the right-hander pitched in a multi-inning relief role in a variety of situations. Whitlock threw a bullpen session Saturday and could face batters this coming week and begin a rehabilitation assignment. The rehab should be shorter now that Whitlock does not need to be built up to a starter's workload. Cora added that Rich Hill's knee injury, which landed him on the injured list, will not change the team's plans for Whitlock. Boston will use a combination of Josh Winckowski, Connor Seabold and Kutter Crawford to plug any rotation holes, plus the Red Sox hope to get Nathan Eovaldi (hip) and Chris Sale (rib) back in the next week or two. The organization still views Whitlock as a starter long term, but the plan is to use him in the bullpen for the remainder of 2022.

Gray did not factor into the decision Saturday against the Orioles, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five and walking three over five innings.

The Orioles got out to an early lead after Gray allowed three runners to cross the plate, but his offense would save him later as Baltimore came back to win the game. Gray threw 53 of 87 pitches for strikes across five frames. The Twins seem to be cautious with the righty as he has yet to surpass 100 pitches in a game and has thrown more than five innings four times in 11 appearances this season. Gray will take a 2.47 ERA into his next appearance.

Lyles did not factor into the decision against the Twins on Saturday, allowing a run on four hits while striking out seven and walking one over 6.1 innings.

Lyles gave the O's a chance to win, lasting at least six innings for the third straight game, but the bullpen was unable to hold onto the lead. He threw 64 of 100 pitches for strikes and limited the damage to just one run. Though Lyles did not win, he pitched well after limping through June with a 6.28 ERA for the month. The righty will take a 4.70 ERA into his next start.

Perez (7-2) earned the win over the Mets on Saturday, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four over 6.2 innings.

Perez was tagged for two homers in the contest, but those were the only hits that produced any runs for the Mets. He continues to go deep into games regularly -- this was the 13th time in 16 starts this season that he has completed at least six innings. Perez has tallied 12 quality starts among those outings, tied for fourth in the majors. The veteran southpaw has been one of the game's most pleasant surprises on the mound this season, posting a 2.34 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 7-2 record over 100 innings.

Sandoval (3-3) took the loss against Houston on Saturday, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out nine batters.

Sandoval had his swing-and-miss stuff working in the contest, as he racked up 18 whiffs and tied a season high with nine strikeouts. However, Houston got to him for five runs in the first two innings, creating a deficit that the Los Angeles offense couldn't overcome. To Sandoval's credit, he hung around for five frames and allowed only two hits over his final three innings, but the early damage resulted in his third loss of the campaign. This was the second time that the left-hander has allowed five earned runs in a game this season, but he's been good overall with a 3.09 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 74 strikeouts over 70 innings. His biggest issue has been walks -- his 4.1 BB/9 ranks in the bottom 10 percent among pitchers who have tossed at least 50 innings.

Urquidy (7-3) earned the win over the Angels on Saturday, pitching six innings and allowing one run on two hits and three walks while striking out eight batters.

Aside from a Taylor Ward solo home run in the third inning, Los Angeles was unable to put any runs on the board against the Houston hurler. Urquidy walked three but also racked up 17 swinging strikes and posted eight punchouts -- his most since May 22. The fourth-year pitcher has given up exactly one run in each of his past three contests, lowering his ERA to 4.15 on the campaign.