MLB Player News

Stroman (calf) will face live hitters Friday, Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News reports.

The right-hander has been able to stay stretched out while recovering from a calf strain, but he won't be activated from the injured list until he's mobile enough to field his position without aggravating the issue. "Marcus is an explosive athlete. He plays with high energy," Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen said Thursday. "To give him the freedom to be the player, the only way he knows how to play is full throttle. We need to make sure when he does show that burst that we're not risking re-injury and we keep him out for a longer period of time." Once Stroman is deemed ready to return, he may be able to handle a full workload right out of the gate rather than facing a pitch limit his first turn or two through the rotation.

Mahle is scheduled to make his next start Tuesday versus Cleveland, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Mahle initially lined up for a two-start week, but with Anthony DeSclafani (shoulder) due back from the injured list this weekend and with Thursday's game against the Cubs being rained out, the Reds have elected to push Mahle to the back of their pitching schedule. While he'll miss out on a more favorable matchup in Detroit on Sunday and instead draw a tougher assignment at home, Mahle will at least maintain his spot in the rotation after Wade Miley (groin) moved to the IL.

Flaherty won't make his scheduled start Friday in Milwaukee since St. Louis produced multiple positive tests for COVID-19, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

The 25-year-old was scheduled to make his second start of the season against the Brewers, but the Cardinals are instead isolating themselves at the team hotel, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The game is set to be made up via a doubleheader Sunday, and Saturday's game is expected to be played as scheduled, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Flaherty is still set to pitch sometime this weekend, though the Cardinals haven't announced their updated plans for the rotation.

Gausman allowed three runs on six hits and struck out eight batters in 4.1 innings in a no-decision versus the Padres on Thursday.

The eight whiffs are nice, but Gausman got into trouble with a wild pitch in the third inning and a parade of hits to start the fourth. He threw 48 of his 73 pitches for strikes in the appearance. The right-hander has yet to get through five innings in 2020, with a 5.40 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 10:1 K:BB across two outings. Gausman is expected to face the Rockies at Coors Field on Tuesday.

Ray (0-2) was charged with the loss against the Dodgers on Thursday, surrendering five runs on five hits and six walks with four strikeouts across 4.2 innings.

Ray struggled with his command from the start, issuing a leadoff walk to Mookie Betts, who soon scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Turner. The 28-year-old then gave up a two-run homer to A.J. Pollock. The second inning brought more trouble in the form of a leadoff home run by Corey Seager, who eventually became Ray's final batter in the fifth after knocking in an RBI groundout. The six walks were a career high for Ray. He'll look to straighten things out Wednesday against Houston.

Stripling (2-0) picked up the win against the Diamondbacks on Thursday, allowing three runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out two across 5.1 innings.

Stripling held the Diamondbacks scoreless until Ketel Marte broke through with a solo home run in the third inning. Overall, it wasn't the cleanest outing, but Stripling still managed to get the job done while his teammates provided ample run support. He'll look to stay undefeated during his next scheduled start Wednesday at San Diego.

Manager Luis Rojas announced Thursday that there will be discussions regarding Edwin Diaz's usage in high leverage situations moving forward, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. Lugo is one option to step into the closer role.

Lugo surrendered a solo home run in his latest outing against the Red Sox, but that marks the right-hander's lone blemish in 4.1 innings pitched on the campaign. If the Mets do indeed decide to move away from Diaz in the ninth, Lugo and Jeurys Familia will be the top candidates to receive the bulk of save opportunities in the coming weeks.

Matz (0-1) allowed three earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out three across 5.1 innings to take the loss Thursday against the Red Sox.

All of Matz's earned runs came from the bat of Christian Vazquez, who took him yard twice. While he was hardly dominant otherwise, his line was inflated by allowing four infield hits. Matz was unable to follow up his strong opening start of the season, but has shown the ability to work deep into games early on, throwing 11.1 innings across his two outings. He currently lines up to make his third start of the campaign Tuesday at the Nationals.

Fried (1-0) picked up the win Thursday after holding the Rays to one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven across 6.2 innings.

It was a top-notch performance from Fried, who retired his first 14 batters while holding Tampa Bay scoreless until the seventh. After punching out the side in the first inning, Fried remained perfect until a two-out single by Mike Brosseau in the fifth frame. Luckily the threat was immediately erased as Fried picked Brosseau off at first. He then allowed a single to Manuel Margot and walked Yandy Diaz in the sixth, but avoided any damage once again. The end of his outing came two outs into the seventh after he allowed a double to Willy Adames, who soon scored after reliever Luke Jackson gave up an RBI single to Ji-Man Choi, saddling Fried with the run. Overall, Fried was beyond efficient, pitching deeper into the game than any other Braves pitcher this year. He'll take the mound again Tuesday for a matchup against Toronto.

Darvish will start Friday's game against the Pirates after his scheduled start against the Reds was postponed due to rain Thursday, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Darvish was set to face off against Luis Castillo on Thursday evening, but with rain in the forecast in Cincinnati, the right-hander will instead pitch in Chicago against the Pirates on Friday. Darvish will look to bounce back from a less-than-stellar season debut in which he allowed three runs in just four innings of work against Milwaukee.