MLB Player News

Wainwright (elbow) will embark on a rehab assignment for Double-A Springfield on Monday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Though Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak previously stated that he didn't envision a rehab assignment for Wainwright, the right-hander will partake in at least one minor-league outing as he continues to recover from right elbow inflammation. Wainwright recently tossed a bullpen session earlier this week and didn't experience any sort of problem, so a return to St. Louis appears to be in the near future, assuming all goes well with Springfield on Monday. There will be an update on his timetable following next week's start.

Lugo fired three scoreless innings of relief in Friday's 8-7 loss to the Rockies, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out three.

He very nearly got rewarded for his efforts with a win, as the Mets scored five times in the final two innings to turn what looked like a rout into a nailbiter for Colorado. The right-hander continues to provide quality length out of the bullpen, posting a 2.79 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 18:8 K:BB through 19.1 innings, but given the current struggles of Zack Wheeler and Jason Vargas, Lugo could get another look in the rotation fairly soon.

Wheeler (2-2) took the loss against the Rockies on Friday, coughing up eight runs on 10 hits and three walks over six innings while striking out three.

The back end of the Mets' rotation is a disaster right now, and Wheeler is one of the main culprits, After posting quality starts in his first two outings of the season, the right-hander has allowed 14 runs in 15 innings over his last three to rocket his ERA up to 5.79. He'll look to turn things around Wednesday on the road against the Reds.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon said there are no plans to reunite Darvish with catcher Chris Gimenez, who is currently with Triple-A Iowa, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports.

Darvish and Gimenez worked together in Texas, and many thought the latter would make the Opening Day roster as a veteran backup to Willson Contreras. However, the Cubs went with Victor Caratini behind Contreras, keeping the Darvish-Gimenez reunion from happening. Maddon was adamant that Darvish's struggles (6.00 ERA, 1.57 WHIP through six starts) have nothing to do with who's been behind the plate. "Two games ago (against the Brewers), everybody thought it was a nice combo, then Yu had a tough time and now it's the catcher's fault," Maddon said. "It has nothing to do with the catcher." Maddon said instead he wants Darvish, who is known for his large repertoire of pitches, to focus on simplifying his approach.

Marquez (2-3) picked up the win over the Mets on Friday, allowing two runs on six hits over six innings while striking out eight.

The right-hander was sharp in the road outing, throwing 69 of 105 pitches for strikes en route to his third quality start in his last four trips to the mound. Marquez's 4.76 ERA is a product of calling Coors Field home, but his 35:16 K:BB in 34 innings is solid. He'll try to keep his momentum going Thursday at home against the Brewers.

Lucchesi (3-2) got hit with the loss against the Dodgers on Friday, giving up three earned runs on five hits over five innings, striking out five and walking three in San Diego's 4-0 defeat.

Lucchesi pitched fairly well in this one but he was afforded no run support as San Diego's offense was no-hit by a combination of Dodgers starter Walker Buehler and three relievers. The 24-year-old has been throwing it well all season and he's now sporting a 3.13 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP through 37.1 innings. He'll look to continue that strong form in his next start against the Nationals on Wednesday.

Buehler (2-0) combined with his bullpen to no-hit the Padres on Friday, striking out eight and walking three before departing after six innings as the Dodgers topped San Diego, 4-0.

It was a historic night for Buehler and his relievers as the 23-year-old right-hander spearheaded the team to its first combined no-hitter in franchise history. He was only starting the game after he was called up from the minors due to Hyun-Jin Ryu going on the disabled list, but his overall body of work in his time in the big leagues has been extremely impressive so far this season, as the no-hit outing lowered his ERA to 1.13 and his WHIP to 1.06 through 16 innings to go along with 19 strikeouts. It's obviously still a small sample size but he's certainly making quite the case that he deserves to be thought of as more an than injury stopgap and that he belongs at the big-league level.

Quintana (3-2) took the loss against the Cardinals on Friday, giving up three runs (all unearned) on five hits, striking out four and walking four over four innings as the Cubs eventually fell 3-2.

Quintana was coming off a seven-inning, two-hit shutout against the Brewers but he was dealt the defeat against the Cardinals in this one, as he had to exit the contest after just four innings after St. Louis got three unearned runs. It's been a bit of a boom-or-bust start to the season for the left-hander who has yielded no earned runs in three of his first six outings but given up 17 in his other three. That volatility has resulted in a 4.99 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP, so he'll look to establish some consistency going forward starting with his next outing against the Marlins at home on Wednesday.

Mikolas (4-0) got the win against the Cubs on Friday, scattering seven hits over seven strong innings, allowing no runs and striking out four with no walks.

It was another strong start for the 29-year-old, who has now thrown seven innings in four straight outings, allowing just four earned runs to go along with 21 strikeouts over that time. He boasts a great 2.70 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP through his 40 innings of work so far this year and also has demonstrated nearly impeccable control with a ridiculous 31:2 K:BB. None of this is in line with the numbers he posted in his previous stints at the big-league level from 2012-2014, but he's coming off a three-season run in Japan where he went 33-13 with a 2.18 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP and 378 strikeouts.

Urias (shoulder) said Thursday he hopes to throw off the mound "in the near future," Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Urias had his throwing program interrupted to undergo tonsil surgery in early April, but he now appears back on track in his recovery from last June's shoulder surgery. The Dodgers still seem to be targeting July for the 21-year-old's return.