MLB Player News

McCullers was diagnosed with a muscle strain in his right forearm Monday, Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports.

McCullers was pulled from Saturday night's start in the fifth inning after appearing to suffer an elbow injury. Although he'll be held out until September, the diagnosis is relatively good news for the Astros, as surgery isn't believed to be a necessary step in his recovery process. Houston will need to add a fifth pitcher to the starting rotation by Aug. 21. Brad Peacock or Collin McHugh would be prime options to slot in if Houston wants to pick from someone on the active roster. Otherwise there are a handful of deserving starters at Triple-A, although none of the top candidates are currently on the 40-man roster.

McGuire was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic Los Angeles reports.

McGuire will head back to the minors after allowing three runs while recording just one out during his start against the Indians on Sunday. The 29-year-old now owns a brutal 7.41 ERA across 17 innings with the Angels this season. Jose Miguel Fernandez will take his place on the active roster as the Angels look to add an additional bench bat with Mike Trout still nursing a wrist contusion.

Lewicki is one of the top candidates to replace Mike Fiers (shin), who was traded to the A's on Monday, in the Tigers' starting rotation, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Given Lewicki pitched for Triple-A Toledo on Friday, he may not be summoned to make Tuesday's start, though he appears to be the leading candidate to replace Fiers beyond that. The 26-year-old has already started a pair of games for the big club this season and owns a 4.67 ERA and 55:16 K:BB across 12 starts (61.2 innings) for the Mud Hens. Ryan Carpenter is also an option to enter the rotation should the Tigers choose to go with someone other than Lewicki.

Jaye was placed on the minor-league disabled list Monday with a right finger blister.

Jaye made just three appearances with Triple-A Columbus -- allowing 10 runs while compiling a 3:5 K:BB through six innings -- before landing back on the minor-league DL for the second time this season. The 26-year-old has thrown just 60.2 innings between Triple-A Rochester and Columbus this season due to injuries, posting a lackluster 6.38 ERA and 28:21 K:BB over that stretch.

Sale (shoulder) played catch prior to Sunday's game and is expected to throw again during Monday's off day, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

The Red Sox will have a better idea where Sale's at following Monday's session. If all goes well, Sale will likely slot back into the rotation during the upcoming weekend, starting one of the Red Sox's three games against the Orioles between Aug. 11 and 12. Manager Alex Cora said that while nothing is physically wrong with Sale, the left-hander would be better served returning later in the week so as to avoid having to bat Tuesday or Wednesday, when the Red Sox visit Philadelphia for an interleague series.

Cole (10-4) took the loss against the Dodgers on Sunday, giving up three earned runs on six hits over five innings, striking out eight and walking one in the Astros' 3-2 defeat.

It was the second straight defeat for the right-hander, who failed to post one of the dominant stat lines his owners have become accustomed to this season in a difficult matchup against the Dodgers. The first-year Astro has cooled off a bit from his torrid early-season pace, but he's still having a dominant inaugural campaign in Houston, with a 2.64 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over 146.1 innings. He also passed the 200-strikeout threshold in this contest, as the eight punchouts give him 202 on the season -- good for fourth in the league, trailing only Max Scherzer, Chris Sale and teammate Justin Verlander.

Kopech allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out nine with no walks over seven innings for Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday.

Kopech has commanded his fastball much better of late, walking just four batters over his last 31 innings, which has allowed him to work deeper into games. White Sox player development director Chris Getz told Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune that Kopech has grown confident in his changeup while adding there's a chance his callup "happens very soon."

Cease threw six scoreless innings for Double-A Birmingham on Saturday, striking out nine while allowing one hit and no walks.

Cease has been rolling for the Barons. He hasn't allowed a run in 23 consecutive frames and is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA over his last six starts.

Bieber (6-2) allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk while fanning seven across 5.2 innings Sunday as he secured the win against the Angels.

Bieber pitched well in the series finale, surrendering just two runs in the fifth inning before exiting with a one-run lead. He's struck out seven batters in each of his previous two outings, giving up five runs through 12 innings over that span. Bieber owns a 4.58 ERA and 1.42 WHIP with a 58:11 K:BB through 57 frames (10 starts) in 2018.

McGuire (0-2) allowed three runs on three hits and one walk while striking out one as he recorded one out and picked up the loss Sunday against Cleveland.

McGuire was removed from the game after retiring just one batter on 25 pitches. He surrendered a three-run homer to Jose Ramirez prior to exiting his outing. McGuire's spot start certainly didn't go as planned, as the Angels were hopeful he'd eat up innings with Tyler Skaggs (hip) on the shelf. Following McGuire's brief start, he figures to head to the bullpen or the minor leagues with Skaggs expected to return next time through the rotation.