MLB Player News

McKenzie pitched four innings Saturday, allowing one run on six hits and three walks in a 5-2 loss to the Tigers. He also struck out three.

McKenzie threw 79 pitches (48 for strikes) and had a 2-1 lead prior to getting pulled. Concern is rising in the baseball community about the health of the young stud, as he averaged a season-low fastball velocity of 90.6 on Saturday. Additionally, that figure has been declining in each of his six starts. It is a situation worth monitoring.

Luzardo (3-2) earned the win Saturday against the Giants after striking out seven and allowing five hits and zero walks over six scoreless innings.

The young southpaw scattered five singles as he generated 15 swinging strikes on 90 pitches. Luzardo has a 3.86 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 59:14 K:BB through 56 innings and lines up for his final start of the regular season next weekend versus the Mariners.

Keuchel (back) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list ahead of his scheduled start Saturday against the Reds.

Keuchel will return to the mound after spending just over 10 days on the injured list while dealing with back spasms. The southpaw was initially slated to rejoin the rotation Thursday, but the slight delay in his return gave him some extra time to recover while lining him up for the playoffs. Keuchel carries a 2.19 ERA and 1.05 WHIP over 53.1 innings this season.

Verlander (forearm) announced Saturday that he'll require Tommy John surgery, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Verlander was making progress in his recovery, but he said that he "felt something in his elbow" during his simulated game Wednesday. As a result, he'll miss significant time. The 37-year-old should miss the entire 2021 season as he carries a recovery timeline of 12-tl-14 months, but he hopes to continue his career when he's healthy, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

Bassitt (5-2) allowed three hits and three walks over 6.2 scoreless innings in a win over the Giants on Friday. He struck out seven.

This looked like a favorable spot for Bassitt, and he not only made his layup but provided fantasy managers with a slam dunk. With that, Bassitt lowered his ERA to 2.57, a top-10 mark among qualified starters. After rattling off three straight wins, Bassitt will face a tough test next week in a road start against the Dodgers.

Striping didn't factor into the decision in the second game of Friday's doubleheader against the Phillies, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks over 3.1 innings. He struck out four.

It was another erratic performance from the right-hander, who threw 36 of 65 pitches for strikes before exiting. Stripling has a 7.36 ERA, 1.91 WHIP and 10:7 K:BB over 11 innings since coming over from the Dodgers, and if he pitches again this season it could come in long relief rather than as a starter.

Ray (2-5) took the loss in the first game of Friday's doubleheader against the Phillies, coughing up five runs on five hits and four walks over 4.1 innings as the Blue Jays fell 7-0. He struck out six.

The southpaw threw only 56 of 92 pitches for strikes as his control was once again an issue. Ray has walked 10 batters through 16.2 innings with Toronto, which is still a big improvement over the 31 free passes he issued in 31 innings before getting dropped by Arizona. He'll take a 7.17 ERA and 1.91 WHIP on the year into his final outing Wednesday against the Yankees in Buffalo.

Montgomery allowed four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven across 4.2 innings in a no-decision against the Red Sox on Friday.

Montgomery cruised through the first three innings, allowing just two hits while racking up four punchouts. He ran into some trouble in the fourth, however, allowing two singles before Christian Arroyo skied one over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. Montgomery came back out for the fifth but was only able to record two outs before he was replaced by Luis Cessa, who promptly allowed an RBI double to Christian Vazquez that was charged to Montgomery as his fourth earned run. The southpaw owns a 5.12 ERA and 39:9 K:BB across 38.2 innings and will look to pick up his first win since Aug. 11 against the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Perez pitched six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out seven in a no-decision against the Yankees on Friday.

Perez was masterfully painting the corners of the plate Friday evening as all seven of his punchouts were looking. The left-hander was able to keep his walks down too as it was just the third time this season he's given fewer than two free passes during a start. Unfortunately, the Red Sox bullpen was unable to hang onto the lead, robbing Perez of his fourth win in 2020. The 29-year-old will take a 3.88 ERA and 1.26 WHIP into his next start scheduled for Wednesday against the Orioles.

Glasnow (4-1) allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out 10 across five innings to earn his fourth win of the season Friday against the Orioles.

Glasnow came into Friday's contest averaging 14.2 K/9 and raised it to 14.6 by the time his night was over. He struck out the side in the first and the fourth en route to his second double-digit strikeout effort of the season. The hard-throwing righty's only mistake of the night was allowing an Austin Hays solo home run to begin the bottom half of the fourth. Glasnow seems to struggle a bit with keeping the baseball in the park -- he's let up a homer in eight of his 10 starts -- but he still sports a 4.21 ERA and an impressive 83:21 K:BB across 51.1 innings this season.