MLB Player News

The Nationals reinstated Williams (personal) from the bereavement list Sunday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Williams ended up having his turn in the rotation skipped this week after he spent six days on the bereavement list upon being deactivated Monday. Though Joan Adon submitted an excellent spot start in his stead Saturday, Williams will regain his spot in the rotation and take the hill for Monday's series opener in Philadelphia, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post.

Woodruff (shoulder) was reinstated from the 60-day injured list ahead of his start against the Pirates on Sunday.

The 30-year-old has been sidelined by a Grade 2 subscapular strain since early April but will rejoin Milwaukee's rotation for Sunday's series finale versus Pittsburgh. Woodruff threw 72 pitches during his final rehab outing with Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday, so he'll likely face some workload limitations in his first start or two back in the big leagues.

Wacha (shoulder) made a minor-league rehab start with Triple-A El Paso on Saturday, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out two batters over two scoreless innings.

Wacha made his first game appearance since tossing five innings for the Padres against Cincinnati on July 1. The right-hander was a bit wild in the rehab start, throwing just half of his 46 pitches for a strike, but he didn't allow any runs and appeared to come out of the outing physically fine. Per MLB.com, Wacha could return to the Padres as soon as next weekend against Arizona, though another rehab appearance is also a possibility.

The Marlins are expected to recall Perez from Double-A Pensacola to have him start Monday in Cincinnati, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.

Perez was optioned to Double-A shortly before the All-Star break in an effort for the Marlins to manage his workload, but after returning to action July 26 and making two abbreviated starts for Pensacola, he looks ready to rejoin the big-league rotation. Even though he's set to return to Miami, the 20-year-old right-hander will likely have some starts skipped and could transition to a relief role at some point. As long as he's a member of the rotation, however, he'll still worthy of a speculative pickup in any leagues where he may have been dropped. Perez turned in a 2.36 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 61:17 K:BB in 53.1 innings through his first 11 big-league starts prior to being sent out to Double-A.

The Reds recalled Richardson from Triple-A Louisville ahead of his scheduled start Sunday versus the Nationals in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati optioned right-handed reliever Daniel Duarte to Triple-A to open up a spot on the 26-man active roster for Richardson, who will be making his MLB debut Sunday. Though he'll be joining the rotation as a replacement for the injured Ben Lively (pectoral), Richardson may not be trusted with working deep enough into the contest to qualify for the win. Richardson turned in a tidy 1.86 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over 19 outings this season across Louisville, Double-A Chattanooga and High-A Dayton, but he never covered more than four innings in any start.

Elder (8-3) took the loss Saturday, allowing seven runs (five earned) on seven hits and three walks over 4.1 innings against the Cubs. He struck out three.

Elder struggled with his command from the jump, issuing walks to Mike Tauchman and Nico Hoerner to lead off the game before then surrendering home runs off the bats of Dansby Swanson and Jeimer Candelario. The right-hander would be charged with only three of the five runs that scored in the frame due to a fielding error by Matt Olson, though he allowed another run in both the fourth and fifth innings. Elder has now allowed five or more runs in three of his last five starts, registering a 12:10 K:BB over that stretch.

Abbott (6-3) took the loss Saturday, coughing up six runs on nine hits and five walks over 5.2 innings as the Reds fell 7-3 to the Nationals. He struck out three.

While the rookie southpaw was able to keep the ball in Great American Ball Park, five of the nine hits off Abbott were doubles, while the five free passes he issued were a season high. The league could be figuring out the 24-year-old, as he's been tagged for 10 runs in nine innings over his last two starts, but he had compiled a 16-inning scoreless streak immediately prior to that. It should be noted that Abbot's thrown a career-high 124.1 innings combined between the minors and majors, so usage could be a factor in his recent struggles. Abbott will try to get back on track in his next outing, likely to come next weekend in Pittsburgh.

Nelson (6-6) took the loss against Minnesota on Saturday, allowing six runs on eight hits and no walks while striking out five batters over three innings.

After posting a scoreless first frame, Nelson struggled to keep the Twins off the basepaths. He gave up three runs on three hits -- including a triple and a homer -- in the second inning, then surrendered three more runs on four hits in the third, which proved to be his final frame. Nelson matched his shortest outing of the campaign after what had been a relatively effective four-game stretch following the All-Star break during which he had recorded two quality starts and posted a 3.55 ERA. While Nelson has been good enough this season to hold down a spot in Arizona's rotation, his 5.16 ERA and 5.9 K/9 aren't of much use in most fantasy formats.

Falter allowed one run on six hits and one walk while striking out two batters over four-plus innings in a no-decision Saturday in the Pirates' 3-2 extra-inning loss to the Brewers.

Falter was recalled from the minors ahead of Saturday's contest to make his first appearance in a Pittsburgh uniform after being acquired in a trade with the Phillies at the deadline. The southpaw made a decent impression, giving up six hits -- only one for extra bases -- and holding the Brewers to one run over four frames. Falter was ahead 2-0 heading into the fifth and could have had a shot at a win, but he was pulled in that inning after giving up a single to each of the first two batters he faced. It appears the 26-year-old will get a shot to remain in the Pirates' rotation with the team likely out of contention and looking to the future.

Burnes completed six innings Saturday, allowing two runs on two hits and four walks while striking out five batters in a no-decision against Pittsburgh.

Despite tying a season high with four walks, Burnes was effective in the outing, allowing just a pair of hits. Both of those knocks came in the fifth inning, with the second of the two -- a Jason Delay double -- producing both of the runs charged to his ledger. The veteran hurler stuck around to complete six frames, giving him his seventh consecutive quality start and his 16th overall on the season, tied for third in the majors. Burnes' stats haven't been quite as good as they were the past few seasons, but he's still been impressive with a 3.42 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 141:50 K:BB over 139.1 innings.