MLB Player News

Darvish (shoulder) will throw a bullpen session Sunday, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Sunday's bullpen will be Darvish's first since he landed back on the DL earlier this month. It's a step in the right direction, but he's not expected to be ready for a simulated game for another week or so. Darvish may have his work cut out for him to return before the All-Star break.

Alvarez (shoulder) was moved to the 60-day DL on Saturday, Joe Stiglich of CSN California reports.

The move is essentially a formality, as it frees up a spot on the 40-man roster, which the A's will use to add Dillon Overton. As for Alvarez, he continues to experience soreness in his throwing shoulder and met with Dr. James Andrews twice in the last week. The move to the 60-day DL indicates that Oakland is in no hurry to rush him back into throwing after he was shut down during his last rehab start.

If Stroman cannot turn around his season soon, the Blue Jays will considering sending him to Triple-A Buffalo to sort things out, the Toronto Sun reports.

In his past seven starts, Stroman has an ERA of 7.59 and opponents are hitting .353 with an on-base percentage of .400. He has a big start coming up Sunday against the White Sox, and if he delivers more of the same, the Jays will no doubt have to consider giving Stroman some time at Buffalo to work on his game. They have a viable option at Triple-A Buffalo in Drew Hutchison, who has compiled a solid 2.87 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 13 starts, averaging better than a strikeout per inning.

Milone gave up four runs (only one earned) on six hits with two walks and just one strikeout over 3.2 innings in Friday's loss to the Yankees.

It seems to be the same story for Milone, who dominated Triple-A after his demotion (1.66 ERA and 41:4 K:BB in 48.2 innings), but struggles in the majors. He'll likely stick in the rotation since the Twins have few better options at the moment.

Rodon allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out eight over 5.2 innings, but received no decision Friday against the Blue Jays.

Rodon had a 2-1 lead before giving up a run in the sixth inning to keep him from a potential victory. He now has held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in six of his last seven starts to lower his ERA to 4.09. He'll make his next start Thursday against the Twins.

Miley (shoulder) is on track to rejoin the Mariners' rotation next Wednesday, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN reports.

Miley is set to make a rehab start with short-season Everett on Friday and it appears that will be the only minor league appearance he will make barring any setbacks. If everything goes as planned, Miley will face off against the Pirates at Safeco Field in his first start after coming off the disabled list.

Nuno allowed four runs on four hits and three walks in 3.1 innings Thursday in an emergency start after scheduled starter Arian Sampson was injured in pregame warmups. He struck out two.

Sampson injured his elbow on his second warmup pitch so Nuno was tabbed to start in his place. Nuno had pitched more than two innings just twice this season before taking one for the team Thursday. He threw 68 pitches in a decent outing, all things considered.

Rodriguez threw just four sliders out of his 102 pitches thrown in Wednesday's game against the White Sox, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports.

Rodriguez relied heavily on his fastball (77 pitches) and changeup (21) Wednesday, a mix that came back to haunt him later in the game when Todd Frazier teed off on a fastball for a game-tying homer in the sixth inning. In many ways, the game was a breakthrough for the left-hander, who pitched without a knee brace for the first time and consistently hit 95-96 mph on his fastball after scrapping a month-long experiment with a new windup, but until he can get comfortable with a breaking ball, batters will ignore the few that he does throw and wait on his heater. "I need to work in the breaking ball more," said Rodriguez. "If I can throw it for strikes, strike one, show them I've got something [that breaks], it changes the eye levels."

Kopech was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday due to a leg-muscle cramp, Andy Bitter of the Roanoke Times reports.

Boston's No. 5 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, had been scheduled to make his High-A debut after missing the first few months of the season due to a fractured pitching hand. The injury is not considered serious and the decision to scratch Kopech is being called a precaution.

Alvarez (shoulder) visited Dr. James Andrews on Thursday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The visit to the esteemed doctor was Alvarez's second in as many days, as the player and team are still trying to determine what is wrong with his shoulder. Alvarez experienced soreness following his outing with Triple-A Nashville last weekend in what was just the latest in a series setbacks. His timetable to return to the major leagues has been pushed back indefinitely.