MLB Player News

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Thursday the report he received on starting pitcher Charlie Morton (elbow) was encouraging, per MLB.com. Morton threw 28 pitches during a two-inning simulated game Wednesday on top of 40 warmup pitches.

"Everything went very smooth," Hurdle said. "He's working on repeating his delivery, but everything else is in good shape. It was a good outing for him."

Cardinals starter Lance Lynn did not have his finest showing in his season debut Wednesday night against the Diamondbacks. He allowed four runs on six hits over four-plus innings of work.

Lynn surrendered a solo homer to the first batter he faced -- Gerardo Parra -- but it would be his only damage over the first four frames.

In the fifth, the right-hander gave up three straight hits to begin the inning and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch before being pulled for Randy Choate, who allowed two inherited runners to score.

Lynn, who threw 94 pitches, did not factor into the decision.

He also struck out three and walked three.

Rockies pitcher Juan Nicasio made his first start in the majors since June 2, 2012 on Wednesday night against the Brewers. He allowed two runs on seven hits over six innings of work in the 7-3 win. The right-hander gave up all of his damage in the third, which included surrendering a solo homer to Rickie Weeks.

Nicasio, who threw 97 pitches, also struck out two and walked two in the victory.

It was his first win since last April. 

Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton, on the 15-day disabled list, threw 35 pitches in a simulated game on Wednesday and he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery.

For the record, I don't make anything of Ian Desmond's implication that Stephen Strasburg will pitch to contact more this season. One, it's coming from the shortstop and not the pitcher himself, the manager or even the catcher. Two, even if that is the plan, Strasburg will get more than enough strikeouts by happenstance. His stuff is too good for him not to.

Now, a shortage of innings may be a concern for Strasburg owners, but I've covered that topic enough already.

Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu didn't knock anybody's socks off in his major-league debut Tuesday against the Giants, but he didn't get knocked around either. The 10 hits he allowed in 6 1/3 innings might lead you to believe otherwise, but none of the hits were for extra bases.

What I like most is that he didn't issue a single walk. Control problems are almost expected for pitchers transitioning from Japan, where the balls are a different size and hitters typically have a different approach, so with no other basis of comparison, I expected the same for a pitcher from Korea. Just like in spring training, though, Ryu threw strikes. He also demonstrated a varied enough arsenal, complete with a looping, 65-mph curveball to convince me the strikeouts will continue.

I'm not saying he won't have his bumps in the road, but I'm more optimistic about him now than I was before this start, and I'm making sure he doesn't go unowned in any of my leagues.

Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw's agent, Casey Close, was at Dodger Stadium Tuesday, but a contract extension between Kershaw and the Dodgers doesn't appear imminent, a person familiar with the situation told The Los Angeles Times.

Kershaw's representatives were known to be discussing a contract extension with the Dodgers leading up to opening day. 

Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright suffered a bruise on his upper arm from where a line drive struck him during Monday's season opener against the Diamondbacks, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Wainwright said he felt tightening in his upper arm, but he refused to blame the "battle scar" bruise for Arizona rallying for the win.

"I started coming out of my delivery a little bit and everything did change from there, but that would be easy to blame (the liner), and I won’t,” said Wainwright, who allowed four runs on 11 hits in six innings. "That’s all a cop-out. The reason is the execution wasn’t there when it needed to be."

Dodgers rookie starter Hyun-Jin Ryu made his major league debut Tuesday night against National League West rival San Francisco. It was a solid debut, but it wasn't enough to avoid the loss.

The Giants' Madison Bumgarner was nearly untouchable and the three runs -- one earned -- Ryu allowed were more than enough for San Francisco to earn a win.

Ryu took the loss despite giving up just one earned run on 10 hits and no walks over 6 1/3 innings. He was knocked around, but his mixture of timely outs and pristine control kept him in the game.

Ryu, who struck out five in the performance, threw 80 pitches and 55 went for strikes. The 26-year-old, ranked the No. 42 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America, is scheduled to make his next start next Tuesday at San Diego.

Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg never pitched more than seven innings in a game last season and was plagued at times by high pitch counts. Although, on opening day 2013 he needed just 80 pitches to breeze through seven innings against the Marlins.

Shortstop Ian Desmond offered up his opinion on why Strasburg was so effective Monday.

"I think he fights himself because he’s got so many quality pitches he can throw, and he can get hitters out in so many ways," Desmond said, per The Washington Post. "He’s just got to trust early contact and let them put the ball in play and moving through the game -- not necessarily trying to strike everybody out."

Strasburg managed just thee strikeouts Monday. However, he coaxed 10 groundouts as opposed to five flyouts.