MLB Player News

The Athletics recalled Morales from Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday.

Morales began the season in the Athletics' rotation, but he was demoted after two poor starts and lately has been pitching in a relief role with Las Vegas. He will provide the bullpen with some length after the A's relievers were overworked this past weekend.

Melton has been scratched from Monday's start versus the Astros due to lower-back tightness, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.

The Tigers will start Drew Anderson instead in what will be a bullpen game. It's unclear at this point when Melton might be ready to make his next start, so he should be considered day-to-day until further notice.

The Angels placed Rodriguez on the 15-day injured list Monday with low-back inflammation.

Rodriguez was forced to depart Sunday start against the Rays in the third inning due to the injury. While the injury does not appear to be overly serious, Rodriguez will be forced to miss at least a couple turns in the Angels' rotation. He's posted an 8.06 ERA in six starts this season.

The Royals promoted Chourio from Single-A Columbia to High-A Quad Cities on Monday.

Chourio was one of the top performing pitchers in the Carolina League through the first two-plus months of the season, despite being much younger than most of his peers at just 18 years old. He rode a mid-90s fastball and a pair of strong secondary offerings to a 1.88 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 44:9 K:BB in 48 innings, with his dominance earning him a bump up to High-A. With a strong finish to the season at Quad Cities, Chourio could be in position to open the 2027 campaign at Double-A Northwest Arkansas and put himself on the radar for a big-league debut later next summer.

Double-A Erie reinstated Sears (elbow) from its 7-day injured list Sunday and assigned him to High-A West Michigan.

While working his way back from a left elbow osteophyte fracture, Sears had resided on Erie's IL all season before being cleared to begin a rehab assignment in mid-May. Over five starts between the rookie-level Florida Complex League and West Michigan, Sears compiled a 2.63 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 18:5 K:BB in 13.2 innings. He'll get some more time to knock off rust and build up his pitch count in the Midwest League before likely joining the Erie rotation at some point later this summer.

Astros manager Joe Espada said Saturday that McCullers (shoulder) has resumed throwing off a mound, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

McCullers is being eased along slowly in his throwing program after landing on the shelf May 19 due to right shoulder inflammation. He still looks to be multiple weeks away from a return, as he'll need to complete multiple bullpen sessions and face live hitters before being cleared to head out on what will most likely be a multi-start minor-league rehab assignment. With both Hunter Brown (shoulder) and Cristian Javier (shoulder) poised to beat him back from the injured list, McCullers may not have a rotation spot waiting for him upon his activation. The 32-year-old righty struggled to a 6.86 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over 39.1 innings in his eight starts before hitting the IL.

Javier (shoulder) didn't make a rehab start Sunday as planned after Triple-A Sugar Land had its game against Sacramento get postponed due to rain, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

The Astros haven't revealed whether Javier will merely have his next rehab start pushed back a couple of days, or if he'll instead throw a simulated game to stay on schedule with his throwing. After retiring just two of the six batters he faced in his first rehab appearance with Double-A Corpus Christi on June 3, Javier was much more effective while shifting his assignment to Sugar Land for his second start last Tuesday. In that start, Javier struck out three over three perfect innings while tossing 44 pitches (29 strikes). He'll likely need to build up his pitch count to the 70-to-80 range before the Astros bring him back from the 60-day injured list.

Smith yielded eight runs (seven earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out five batters across 4.1 innings for Triple-A Charlotte in Saturday's 11-7 loss to Oklahoma City.

Back on Thursday, White Sox manager Will Venable told Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com that Smith was a candidate to be called up to start for the big club Saturday, but Chicago ultimately decided to wait until the following week to break in a new fifth starter. While Smith could still remain in the mix for a call-up, the rough showing against Oklahoma City might have tempered the White Sox's enthusiasm about promoting him. The 22-year-old lefty has generated an eye-popping 84 punchouts over 57 innings at Triple-A this season, but he's walked 15.9 percent of the batters he's faced and has surrendered eight home runs.

Fedde (2-5) earned the win Sunday against the Dodgers, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out four over 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Fedde entered in the fourth inning after Bryan Hudson and Sean Newcomb combined for 3.1 innings of one-run ball. The right-hander struck out two batters to finish the fourth before working around traffic in each of the next two frames. He stranded runners on the corners in both the fifth and sixth innings to preserve Chicago's lead and ultimately pick up his second win of the season. Fedde has pitched well of late, posting a 1.62 ERA across his last four appearances and he now owns a 4.50 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 44:26 K:BB across 66 innings this season. The 33-year-old is scheduled to face Detroit on the road in his next outing.

Arrighetti (7-2) took the loss Sunday against the Royals, allowing four runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out seven over six innings.

Sunday's outing was one of Arrighetti's roughest of the season, as the right-hander surrendered a season-high eight hits. The four runs allowed matched his season high. After limiting opponents to two or fewer earned runs in each of his first eight starts, he has now yielded three or more runs in three straight outings. The regression is surprising given his underlying metrics -- Arrighetti entered the start with a 29.5 percent hard-hit rate allowed, ranking in the 94th percentile among MLB pitchers. Despite the recent slide, he still owns an excellent 2.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 60:32 K:BB across 63 innings. Arrighetti is scheduled to face Cleveland in his next start.