MLB Player News

Despaigne will be recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday to start against the Rangers, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Despaigne, who was acquired from the Marlins in a trade earlier in the week, will join the Angels' rotation over the weekend with Tyler Skaggs (groin) and Nick Tropeano (shoulder) both on the shelf. The 31-year-old owns a 5.31 ERA through 20.1 big-league innings this season (all with the Marlins).

Nuno (hamstring) is close to beginning a minor-league rehab assignment, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Nuno has been shut down since July 3 with a right hamstring strain, with his rehab process taking far longer than the Rays initially anticipated. After his progress plateaued in late July, Nuno was cleared to resume a throwing program a little over a week ago and looks like he's ready to face live hitters again. Once Nuno heads to the minors, he'll likely require multiple appearances before the Rays feel comfortable inserting him back into their bullpen.

Manager Alex Cora emphatically said Rodriguez (ankle) will return to Boston as a starter, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

There was a school of thought that Rodriguez may return as a reliever, particularly if he wasn't going to have the proper time to get stretched out before the end of the year, but the left-hander's speedy recovery put an end to that conjecture. Rodriguez will throw a rehab game Monday, putting him in line to return to the rotation the following weekend. The most likely casualty will be Brian Johnson, the left-hander who has pitched well as a starter but has also been useful in multiple roles out of the bullpen.

Bundy (7-11) took the loss Wednesday against the Mets, allowing seven runs on 11 hits and no walks over five innings. He struck out five.

Bundy never settled into this one, allowing at least one run in four of his six innings. The 25-year-old has now given up seven runs in each of his last two starts, lasting no more than 5.1 innings in either outing, raising his ERA from 4.38 to 4.99. He'll look to get back on track in his next start, which will come on the road against the Blue Jays.

Cole (11-5) cruised to an easy win in Wednesday's 12-1 victory over the Rockies, allowing one run on five hits over six innings while striking out 12.

It was his 16th quality start of the season and seventh outing with double-digit strikeouts, although most of that production came in the first two months of the year. Cole will take a 2.71 ERA into his next start Monday in Seattle.

Bieber didn't factor into the decision in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Reds, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks over 4.1 innings while striking out five.

The rookie was far from efficient, throwing 90 pitches (52 strikes) before exiting the game with two on and one out while already on the hook for the loss, but the Cleveland bullpen and offense were able to bail Bieber out. He'll carry a 4.37 ERA into his next start Tuesday in Boston.

Eovaldi didn't factor into the decision in Wednesday's 7-4 loss to the Phillies, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits over five innings while striking out five.

A Rafael Devers error helped cushion the blow to his ERA, but Eovaldi still failed to give the Red Sox much length, needing 86 pitches (61 strikes) to complete five innings. After firing 15 scoreless innings in his first two starts with Boston, the right-hander has come crashing back down to earth, and Eovaldi's 1.99 ERA with his new club is deceptive given the six unearned runs he's been tagged with. He'll look for a better result in his next outing Tuesday at home against Cleveland.

Snell will be on a pitch count in his Thursday start against the Yankees, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports. "Obviously, we're trying to get him stretched out, but we're going to be very responsible doing that," manager Kevin Cash said. "[Pitching coach] Kyle [Snyder] talked about when [Snell] took his two weeks off on the DL, that's the first time -- other than the offseason -- that he's ever done something like that. He's a big, big part of our future, and we want to keep him healthy."

The young southpaw was pulled after five perfect innings versus the Blue Jays last Friday night in his second start back from the disabled list. Snell threw just 47 pitches in that outing, and he figures to have a notably higher limit than that Thursday. However, it appears by Cash's comments that the Rays are committed to taking a cautious route with Snell, given his emergence this season and long-term importance.

Berrios didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against the Pirates after allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks across 3.2 innings. He struck out four.

Berrios didn't have it in this one, turning in his shortest outing since April 29 while failing to make it out of the fourth inning for just the second time all year. While the 24-year-old owns a solid 3.75 ERA and 157:44 K:BB through 25 starts this season (153.2 innings), he's starting to show signs of fatigue lately, lasting fewer than five innings in three of his last four starts while posting a 5.59 ERA and 21:14 K:BB over that stretch. It should be noted that Berrios has already surpassed his major-league innings total from 2017, though he's still 30 innings away from his combined (majors and minors) innings total from last year. He'll look to get back on track in his next start, which will come at home against the White Sox.

Rodon (4-3) allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out six over eight innings, winning for the first time in four starts in Wednesday's 6-5 win over the Tigers.

Rodon went eight innings for a second consecutive start and has pitched into the eighth inning in five of his last six starts. The left-hander has been getting deeper into games, averaging 6.7 innings per start in 2018, up from 5.7 last season. He told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times that getting deeper is the result of more first-pitch strikes, which is borne out by the numbers: entering Wednesday's contest, 59.3 percent of his first pitches have been located in the zone, up from 56.2 percent in 2017. He's been one of the better pitchers in the league over the last six weeks, going 3-0 while posting a 1.60 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in seven starts. Rodon takes that line into his next start Tuesday at home against Minnesota.