MLB Player News

Lyles was scratched from his start Saturday against the Giants due to forearm tightness.

Lyles felt the issue while warming up in the bullpen, so Matt Strahm was called upon to start the game. Forearm tightness is sometimes the initial diagnosis which precedes a much more serious injury, which would be a worry for Lyles and the Padres, though the severity of this particular case is not yet clear.

Lyles was a late scratch from Saturday's start against the Giants for unknown reasons, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic Bay Area reports.

Lyles was assumed to be Saturday's starting pitcher until Matt Strahm came in to warm up in the first inning. It's not yet clear why Lyles was removed, but Strahm was given extra time to warm up, which means he was sent into the game as an injury or illness replacement rather than a strategic change.

Kershaw (back) is listed as the Dodgers' starting pitcher and will be activated prior to Saturday's outing against the Mets, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

As expected, Kershaw will toe the rubber in New York on Saturday after missing the past three weeks with a back injury. The left-hander will be monitored on a pitch count for his first game back from the disabled list.

Eickhoff (lat/wrist) felt no pain after a bullpen session Saturday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic Philadelphia reports.

Eickhoff incorporated curveballs without any issues, a significant step in his recovery after the pitch had been causing him some numbness in late May. He's yet to pitch in a game this season after suffering a setback while recovering from a lat strain, but he appears to be finally nearing a return. He'll likely need at least a few rehab starts before rejoining the Phillies and it's not clear if he'll head straight back to the starting rotation when he returns.

Ray (oblique) will make his third rehab start at Triple-A Reno on Monday, the Associated Press reports.

There had been some sentiment that Ray might make his next turn in the Arizona rotation following his second outing June 19 with Reno, but since the lefty covered only 4.1 innings and threw 66 pitches in that outing, the team brass likely wants to see him build up his arm a little more. Assuming Ray performs up to snuff while tossing around 80-90 pitches in Monday's start, he could be activated from the 10-day disabled list and slot back into the big-league rotation as early as June 30 against the Giants. Manager Torey Lovullo has expressed a reluctance to deploy a six-man rotation, so Shelby Miller (elbow) or Clay Buchholz would seemingly be most at risk of surrendering a starting spot to Ray.

Farrell will take the mound in Cincinnati on Saturday, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports.

This will mark his first big-league start this season and just the second of his career. Farrell has appeared in 12 games out of the bullpen for the Cubs this season, posting a 3.63 ERA and 1.38 WHIP with a healthy 26:6 K:BB across 17.1 innings. The 27-year-old has made a handful of starts for Triple-A Iowa and hasn't been used since June 17, so he should be fully capable to pitch at least five frames if he's able to have a good day on the rubber.

Flaherty struck out 13 and walked two in a no-decision Friday against the Brewers, giving up one run on one hit in seven innings.

Flaherty had a no-hitter going through 6.1 innings before giving up a solo home run to Jesus Aguilar to tie the game at 1-1. This was the second time this season that Flaherty has recorded 13 strikeouts in a start, and he now has an excellent 68:16 K:BB in 57.2 innings. The 22-year-old has four quality starts (out of 10 starts) this season and is holding opponents to a .201 batting average. He will next take on the Indians in a start at home.

Gray (7-7) got the win against the Marlins on Friday, scattering eights hits and one earned run over seven innings, striking out 12 without walking a batter in an 11-3 victory for the Rockies.

It was a dominant effort from the 26-year-old right-hander, who has been absolutely stacking up the strikeouts lately, with this 12-punchout performance giving him an obscene 31:5 K:BB over his last three starts. He gave up nine earned runs over his last two outings, however, and he would need more starts like this one to hack away at his 5.52 ERA and 1.45 WHIP -- numbers that have hampered his ability to make a sustained fantasy impact despite his lofty strikeout totals. He'll look to build off this strong effort in his next start, which will come next Thursday against the Giants.

Wheeler (2-6) took the loss Friday, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks over seven innings while striking out seven as the Mets fell 5-2 to the Dodgers.

The right-hander threw 71 of 114 pitches for strikes and generated a solid 15 swinging strikes, but one mistake to Cody Bellinger in the sixth inning resulted in a grand slam that the Mets' anemic offense couldn't match. Wheeler will take a 4.85 ERA into his next outing Wednesday at home against the Pirates.

Corbin threw seven scoreless innings Friday, striking out 12 and allowing just three hits, but he wasn't involved in the decision during the Diamondbacks' extra-innings win over the Pirates.

This was a much-needed rebound after back-to-back outings of five runs allowed each. Corbin's gem, however, failed to lock him into a win as Ivan Nova matched his scoreless effort through eight innings. There have been concerns about Corbin's velocity of late, and his recent slump might've added more fuel to that issue. Still, on the whole, the left-hander has shined. Friday's outing cleans up his ERA to 3.24, and he's dazzled with a 11.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 93 innings. He'll hold similar upside to this affair in his next scheduled start, which'll come Wednesday at the Marlins.