MLB Player News

Montgomery (head) has been confirmed as the starting pitcher for Sunday's game against the Red Sox, Pete Caldera of The Record reports.

As expected, Montgomery is good to go after being struck in the head by a foul ball during batting practice Saturday. The 24-year-old southpaw, who owns a 4.05 ERA and 111:35 K:BB through 21 starts this season, will face a tough Red Sox team as he fills in for CC Sabathia (knee) in the rotation.

Heaney (elbow) tossed seven innings of one-run ball in Saturday's rehab start with Triple-A Salt Lake and his next start may come in the majors, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

The 26-year-old has posted a 2.60 ERA over 27.2 innings during his six-appearance rehab stint, so he appears ready to rejoin the Angels' rotation after undergoing Tommy John surgery just over a year ago. It is an impressive feat that Heaney is slated to make a return after the Angels announced that he would not pitch in 2017, but they also probably didn't envision their club to be contending for a playoff spot this deep into the season either. The southpaw's largest sample size was when he posted a 3.49 ERA and modest 2.8 K/BB ratio over 105.2 innings in 2015, numbers that would translate to a middle- to back-rotation starter depending on the size of a fantasy league. Anything Heaney shows us this year will likely have more utility as a barometer to value him next season, but there is certainly some potentially helpful output to be had down the stretch if he can continue the success he has experienced during his rehab stint.

Groome allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out seven over five innings for Low-A Greenville on Saturday.

Groome's first full season of professional baseball got off to a rocky start when he strained a latissimus muscle during his first start of the season at Greenville. After a long rehab, he's back with the Drive and, after a three-game losing streak, made his third straight strong start Saturday. The left-hander has a 1.13 ERA, striking out 21 and walking three, over his last 16 innings.

Keuchel said his in-between-starts work heading into Sunday's start is the best he's had since the first couple of months of the season, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports. "This is probably the best three or four days in between (starts) since the first couple months (of the season)," he said on Saturday. "So I have no doubt that tomorrow's going to be a lot different than the first three."

The great mystery in Houston is where is the version of Keuchel that showed up for the first 11 starts, when the left-hander posted a 1.67 ERA over 75.2 innings before going on the disabled list with a neck injury. In the three starts since his return from the DL, Keuchel has allowed as many earned runs (14) as he did over the first 11 starts. Manager A.J. Hinch said Keuchel hasn't been controlling contact on the ground over these last three starts, implying that he's been leaving the sinker up.

Ramirez gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out four over five innings Saturday against the Mariners. He did not factor into the decision.

Ramirez has proven himself to be a capable back-of-the-rotation starter, as he is dependably mediocre. He has struck out fewer than six batters in nine of his last 10 starts. His next start will come next weekend in Baltimore.

Bundy gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out 10 over six frames en route to picking up his 12th win Saturday in Oakland.

Bundy struggled for most of June and July, but he seems to be on a roll now. He has given up five runs while striking out 25 over his last 21 innings (three starts) and has struck out 10 in back-to-back starts. Increased usage of his slider has been linked to his success of late, so perhaps Bundy has figured something out that will allow him to continue to impress down the stretch. He lines up to make his next start next weekend against the Angels.

Bundy's second-half success is due in large part to an increased usage of his slider, Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun reports.

The right-hander started 2017 off with three wins and a sterling 1.65 ERA in five April starts while using his slider on 25.8 percent of his deliveries. He got away from the pitch -- throwing it just 16 percent of the time -- during an awful stretch from May through July. However, Bundy has recently returned to his roots -- hurling his most dominant pitch 24.2 percent of the time since the break -- to notch three quality starts in his last four outings. The 24-year-old is not going to win you a fantasy championship, but Bundy can make a solid contribution down the stretch if deployed judiciously.

Berrios (10-5) allowed six runs on six hits and two walks over 3.1 innings in a no-decision Saturday against the Tigers.

Berrios was rocked for five runs in the first inning, including a grand slam off the bat of James McCann, but he avoided taking the loss because the offense had his deficit erased by the third inning. He's allowed at least four runs in three of his past four outings, and his ERA has jumped from 3.50 to 4.27 in the process. He's clearly a pitcher who's trending downward after pitching extremely well in May and June. He'll make his next start Thursday against the Indians.

Clevinger (6-4) fired seven shutout innings on four hits and one walk while striking out nine across seven innings to earn the win Saturday against the Rays.

Clevinger held the Rays in check while the offense provided him enough run support to help him earn his sixth victory of the campaign. After a brief move to the bullpen, he lowered his ERA from 4.00 to 3.65 with his strong outing. If his solid performance indicates that he's back to pitching as well as he had earlier in the year, he could be a solid fantasy contributor for the stretch run. He'll make his next start Thursday against the Twins.

Meyer felt something in his shoulder and stopped throwing this week, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

He was in a throwing program, attempting to return to the big-league rotation, and while Meyer's shoulder is apparently doing better Saturday, he's still shut down. At this point, it's hard to say with any confidence that Meyer will be able to return to the rotation this season. Consider him out indefinitely.