MLB Player News

Verlander (forearm) continues to throw but has yet to throw off a mound, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Verlander is making progress in his efforts to return from a forearm strain before the end of the season, though time is getting tight given that he's still yet to advance to mound work. Even if he's ready to return before the end of the regular season, it's quite likely he'll be on a limited workload.

Perez's scheduled start is expected to be bumped back to Thursday against the Blue Jays while he contends with a blister, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

The Red Sox have gone back and forth on whether or not Perez will see his next start delayed after he pitched through a blister on his left index finger Friday against the Nationals. The latest reports indicate that the southpaw will throw Thursday, though the starter for Wednesday's game against the Braves has not yet been announced.

Morton (shoulder) will return from the injured list to start Wednesday against the Yankees, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Morton has been out since early August with shoulder inflammation. He owns a poor 5.40 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP through four starts this season, though nearly all the damage was done in his poor season debut against the Blue Jays, who scored six runs off him in just four innings. It's not clear what sort of workload he'll be able to handle immediately upon his return, though he'll likely be on some sort of pitch count.

Stripling was sent from the Dodgers to the Blue Jays in exchange for a pair of players to be named later Monday.

After several seasons stuck as a swingman in Los Angeles, Stripling should have a good shot to start on a full-time basis for his new team. He'll be the third starter acquired by Toronto at the deadline, joining Taijuan Walker and Robbie Ray. Stripling's 5.61 ERA through seven starts this season is rather unimpressive, but he'd recorded an ERA below 4.00 in each of his first four seasons in the league. If he can recapture his previous form, he'll be a very useful piece for the Blue Jays, who currently hold onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the American League.

Teheran will return to the rotation to start Wednesday's game against the Padres, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Teheran was demoted to the bullpen after starting the year with four poor starts, and he didn't look a whole lot better in his lone relief appearance, giving up three runs in 4.2 innings against the Astros. With a 9.17 ERA and a 7.66 FIP on the season, expectations should probably be low for the righty against a strong Padres lineup.

Luzardo won't make his next start until Thursday at the earliest, as the Athletics' next two games were postponed due to a COVID-19 case within the Oakland organization.

Luzardo had originally been scheduled to start Sunday against Houston, but that game became the first in a series of cancellations as the league tries to get a handle on how widespread the team's COVID-19 outbreak is. It remains to be seen how many more games will be scrapped, and it's not clear whether or not Luzardo will make the team's first start once Oakland is cleared to resume play.

Perez (finger) is slated to start Wednesday's game against the Braves, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Manager Ron Roenicke hinted Sunday that Perez could be pushed back a day in the pitching schedule after developing a blister on his pitching hand during his last start, but the veteran southpaw looks like he'll remain on his normal four days' rest after all. Perez has been unremarkable this season with a 4.58 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a 6.1 K-BB% over seven outings, but those numbers are good enough to make him the clear No. 2 starter in a beleaguered Boston rotation.

The Diamondbacks dealt Ray to the Blue Jays on Monday in exchange for reliever Travis Bergen, Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reports.

The Blue Jays currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the American League but felt the need to bolster their ailing rotation in order to remain in the race. In his current form, Ray isn't exactly a playoff-caliber arm, as he owns a 7.84 ERA and a 7.23 FIP through seven starts. His strikeout rate has slipped slightly to 27.9 percent, but it's his walk rate, which has ballooned to 20.1 percent, that's been the primary issue, along with his groundball rate, which has fallen dramatically to 19.2 percent. The southpaw posted a 3.72 ERA over the three previous seasons, however, and if Ray can get anywhere close to recapturing that form, he'll certainly be a useful addition for Toronto.

Cantillo is one of six players sent from San Diego to Cleveland on Monday in the Mike Clevinger deal, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Cantillo is at least a moderately interesting pickup for Cleveland, though he won't be making a big-league impact any time soon, as he's only made three starts at the High-A level. He's a classic left-handed back-end starter prospect, at least judging by his stuff, as his fastball sits in the high 80s but is complemented by a potentially plus changeup. That doesn't necessarily make him sound like a strikeout arm, though he did strike out 34.7 percent of batters in 19 starts for Low-A Fort Wayne last season, en route to a 1.93 ERA. He may have a tougher time fooling higher-level hitters, though he could also grow into more velocity, as he's just 20 years old.

Quantrill was traded from San Diego to Cleveland on Monday as part of the package for Mike Clevinger, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Quantrill was at least a fairly interesting prospect, but he didn't have a spot in the Padres' rotation and certainly wouldn't after the acquisition of Clevinger. In 120.1 career innings at the big-league level, which includes 19 starts and 14 relief appearances, he owns a 4.79 ERA and a 4.23 FIP, striking out a modest 20.7 percent of opposing batters while walking 6.6 percent. Whether or not he'll immediately enter the rotation for his new team is unclear.