MLB Player News

Flaherty will start Sunday against the Brewers, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

Flaherty will get the nod in the finale as Carlos Martinez gets a head start on his offseason. It will be Flaherty's fifth career start at the big-league level. The 21-year-old has struggled to this point, but he was excellent at Triple-A Memphis before getting the call and looks like a potential mid-rotation starter in his peak years.

Martinez will not start Sunday's game against the Brewers, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

Jack Flaherty will toe the rubber instead, with the Cardinals done playing spoiler after they officially eliminated Milwaukee from postseason contention with a win Saturday. Martinez saw his home-run rate spike this season, but he's not alone in that regard. Otherwise he had a pretty normal season by his standards, averaging better than a strikeout per inning while exceeding 200 frames for the first time in his career.

Stripling is expected to start Sunday's regular-season finale unless he is needed Saturday, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Stripling will likely head up a bullpen game against Colorado in what would be just his second start of the year, barring any major implosions in the Dodgers' penultimate game of the regular season. Stripling has been solid in 72.1 innings this season, but without the ability to go deep enough into the game to qualify for the win, his streaming appeal is limited.

Greinke (17-7) was the pitcher of record in the Diamondbacks' 2-1 loss to the Royals on Friday. He went four innings and was tagged for two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four batters.

Making his fourth career start against the team that drafted him in 2002, Greinke was limited to 75 pitches in his final outing of the regular season, despite not laboring too badly when he was pulled in the fourth inning. The ace's early departure was a pre-planned move by manager Torey Lovullo, who wanted to keep Greinke on his normal pitching schedule while not overextending him in advance of a starting assignment Oct. 4 in the Diamondbacks' matchup against either the Rockies or Brewers. Greinke will finish the 2017 campaign with a 3.20 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 215 strikeouts in 202.1 innings, which should help him earn some down-ballot votes for the National League Cy Young Award.

Lyles (1-5) took the loss to the Giants on Friday, allowing seven runs on 10 hits and one walk while striking out five over 3.2 innings.

This outing provided a fitting end to Lyles' season, as he's endured a disastrous campaign between Colorado and San Diego. The right-hander finishes with a 7.75 ERA, 1.69 WHIP and 55:22 K:BB in 69.2 total innings. He may not get another look in a big-league rotation.

Ryu (5-9) allowed five runs on six hits and a walk with a strikeout over two innings to take the loss Friday against the Rockies.

Ryu has not completed the fifth inning since he returned to action September 17 against the Nationals and hasn't completed the third inning in either of his last two starts. The way Ryu is pitching down the stretch, it's hard to imagine the Dodgers will have much confidence to go to him in big spots in the postseason.

Anderson (12-4) earned the win over the Cardinals on Friday, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out five over seven innings.

A home run off the bat of Paul DeJong in the fourth inning accounted for the extent of the damage against Anderson, who lowered his ERA to 2.74 with this gem. Anderson missed close to two months with an oblique injury this season, but his performance when on the mound was stellar, with an uptick in velocity playing no small part in his success. Perhaps he overachieved a bit, but Anderson probably won't be priced up as much as some other breakout arms next spring.

Strasburg (15-4) tossed 7.2 scoreless innings in Friday's win over the Pirates. He allowed two hits and two walks while striking out eight.

Strasburg took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and faced the minimum in five of his first six frames en route to yet another dominant performance Friday. The 29-year-old has been on an absolute tear since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 19, posting a mind-numbing 0.85 ERA over eight starts (53.2 innings). He'll conclude the regular season with a career-best 2.52 ERA and will look to stay in peak form when the Nationals kick off their five-game NLDS set against the defending World Series champs next week.

Cole (12-12) was saddled with the loss Friday against the Nationals. He allowed three runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out seven over 5.1 innings.

Cole allowed just one run through the first five innings before running out of steam in the sixth. He allowed singles to Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy before being pulled from the contest after just 5.1 innings of work, spoiling his chance at his first quality start since Sept. 6. The 27-year-old faltered during the final month of the regular season, allowing 22 runs over 36 innings in September and will conclude the 2017 campaign with a pedestrian 4.26 ERA; the highest mark of his five-year career. A propensity to serve up the long ball was the main culprit of Cole's struggles in 2017, as his 31 home runs allowed currently rank as the second-worst mark in the National League, trailing only John Lackey.

Lively (4-7) picked up the win Friday against the Mets. He allowed two runs on six hits while striking out one over six innings.

Despite allowing only six Mets to reach base Friday, Lively had to be lifted from the game after running his pitch count up to 97 over six laborious innings of work. Nonetheless, it was a solid bounceback performance for the 25-year-old starter who had served up six runs over five innings in a start against the Braves last week. He'll wrap up his debut big-league campaign with a 4.26 ERA over 15 starts and will enter the 2018 season with a chance to once again battle for a starting rotation spot.