MLB Player News

Gausman (0-4) lost again Wednesday, giving up six runs on seven hits and two walks in only three innings against the Red Sox.

After showing promise over his first four starts of the year, Gausman's returned to being his typical infuriatingly inefficient self, mixing solid outings with duds. The K:BB remains strong at 57:17, so don't be too quick to cut bait on him.

Kluber (6-7) was tagged for eight runs on nine hits over five innings Wednesday in a loss against the Royals. He struck out seven and walked just one.

That K:BB offers some bright side, but Kluber continues to be less than the sum of his peripherals. The 30-year-old is a long way from his Cy Young form of two years ago, as his once-spectacular strikeout rate's fallen in consecutive seasons while he's struggled to strand baserunners. The bright side is that some strand-rate correction should bring his ERA down into acceptable territory, but it's clear that despite his still-strong whiff rate and flashes of brilliance, Kluber can't be considered an upper-crust fantasy starter right now.

Kopech (hand) will start for Short Season Lowell on Friday, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. The 20-year-old is coming back from a fractured hand he sustained while fighting with a teammate in spring training.

Kopech's hand injury came on the heels of a 50-game suspension at the end of last season for testing positive for a banned substance, so he's missed nearly a year of development time because of his off-the-field behavior. Through it all, the organization has supported the right-hander, who is saying all the right things about being more mature and expressing gratitude to the Red Sox for sticking by him. The Texas native, who possesses a mid-90s fastball, a swing-and-miss slider, and an improving changeup, shouldn't stay too long in Lowell.

Rodriguez threw a bullpen session in which he and pitching coach Carl Willis discussed the pitcher's focus on every pitch, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports. "If he focuses on repeating his delivery, he's going to have better command and he's going to throw the baseball where he wants to and he should be more efficient," Willis said.

Rodriguez's lack of focus has undermined the tempo of his delivery, leading to inconsistent command and missed location. In the past two starts, Rodriguez has walked seven and permitted five homers in 10.1 innings. He heads into a start Thursday with a 6.06 ERA.

Hill (groin) is still at least a week away from throwing off a mound, the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser reports.

He was shut down last weekend in an attempt to give him some time to get right before ramping up baseball activities. This situation seems fairly fluid, but it's worth noting that the A's will do everything in their power to get Hill healthy before returning him to the rotation, as they need to showcase him and convince potential buyers that they are not trading for damaged goods at the deadline. Considering he won't be throwing off a mound for at least a week, it's safe to say Hill won't return until at least early July.

Alvarez (shoulder) will pitch five or six innings in his rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Nashville and he could potentially join the A's rotation next week, MLB.com's Jane Lee reports.

It has been a long road back from a shoulder injury for Alvarez, who gave up three runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings for High-A Stockton on Monday. Alvarez has not been a quality big league starter since 2014, and even then he was only missing bats at a 14.4 percent clip. If everything goes well Saturday he would be in line to jump into the A's rotation next Friday in Anaheim, replacing Zach Neal.

Walker (foot) will make his scheduled start Sunday against the Red Sox, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports.

The club initially feared the injury was related to the Achilles tendon, but it appears Walker was able to avoid anything overly serious. The ailment was ultimately found to be related to a tendon in the arch of his foot so it's always possible something acts up in the remainder of the week, but for now it appears he'll be good to go Sunday.

Eovaldi (6-3) took the loss Tuesday, allowing six runs over four innings against the Rockies.

The struggles continue for Eovaldi, as he's now given up at least five fives and eight hits in three straight outings. The long ball has been an issue during this recent stretch, with the 26-year-old yielding five home runs in his last three starts. He'll look to right the ship once again in his next start Sunday against the Twins.

Perez (6-4) allowed four runs on nine hits while striking out two over seven innings to earn the win Tuesday at the Athletics.

Perez was staked to a six-run lead in the third inning, and held the Athletics to one run before allowing three runs in the sixth inning, but the run support he received was more than enough to earn him a victory. Despite picking up the win, he broke a string of four straight quality starts, though he still boasts a 3.38 ERA. He'll make his next start Sunday in St. Louis.

Worley (groin) should be ready to rejoin the Orioles as soon as his 15 days on the DL are up, MASN Sports reports.

Worley has shown he can be reliable as the long reliever for the Orioles. He last appeared Saturday, allowing two runs in 4.1 innings with five strikeouts. The timetable should see Worley activated by the end of June.