MLB Player News

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Wednesday that Crawford (knee/wrist) will revert to playing catch after not "feeling great" during his last bullpen session, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.

Crawford has been rehabbing a right knee injury since the start of spring training, but it's a wrist issue that's given him trouble recently and the latter seems to be a bigger concern at this point. A timetable for Crawford's return won't become clearer until he starts ramping things up again and is able to throw against live hitters.

The Royals placed Ragans on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a left rotator cuff strain.

Ragans last pitched Thursday, getting knocked around for five runs over three innings in St. Louis in his first start back from a groin injury. It's not clear whether he suffered the rotator cuff injury during that outing or sometime since then, but either way, it's an injury that will likely sideline him longer than the minimum 15 days. Ragans' move to the IL should extend rookie Noah Cameron's stay in the rotation.

High-A Greenville placed Valera on its 7-day injured list May 27 due to an unspecified injury.

Valera landed on the IL two days after he made his eighth start of the season for Greenville. Over his 33.1 innings at High-A, the 19-year-old righty has logged a 5.40 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 37:9 K:BB.

The Twins transferred Lopez (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Wednesday.

The move frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for lefty Joey Wentz, whom the Twins claimed off waivers from the Pirates. The transaction has no bearing on Lopez's timeline for a return, as the right-hander was already expected to miss two months at a minimum after he was diagnosed last week with a Grade 2 right teres major muscle strain.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Wednesday that Civale will move to the bullpen for the time being, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

The Brewers are calling up right-hander Jacob Misiorowski from Triple-A Nashville to join the rotation Thursday, and Murphy wants to stick with a traditional five-man setup, so Civale will be the odd man out. Civale could eventually rejoins the rotation if Misiorowski struggles, although the Brewers hope to get Brandon Woodruff (shoulder/ankle/elbow) back from the 60-day injured list in the coming weeks.

Scherzer (thumb) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo on Friday, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Scherzer is in line to throw 60-to-65 pitches in what will be his first start since he went down with right thumb inflammation in late March. The 40-year-old will need at least one additional rehab start after Friday's outing before rejoining the Blue Jays' rotation.

The Pirates recalled Mlodzinski from Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday.

Mlodzinski is expected to serve in a bulk-relief role, per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He made nine starts for the Pirates earlier this season, collecting a 5.67 ERA and 28:12 K:BB over 39.2 innings.

Megill might be the odd man out of the Mets' rotation when Frankie Montas (lat) and Sean Manaea (oblique) are ready to come off the injured list.

Both veteran pitchers are currently on rehab assignments, with Montas on target for a late-June season debut and Manaea tracking to join the 26-man roster in early July. Even if the Mets stick with a six-man rotation at that point, they'll have seven starting pitchers available. Megill and David Peterson both have a minor-league option remaining, but the latter has been the more consistent pitcher this season with a 2.80 ERA and 1.26 WHIP through 12 starts and 70.2 innings, compared to Megill's 3.76 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 13 starts and 64.2 innings. A trade would also solve the logjam, but as things stand, Megill might get bumped to Triple-A Syracuse in a few weeks despite being on pace for the best season of his career.

Manaea (oblique) struck out four while giving up two hits and a walk over 2.2 scoreless innings for High-A Brooklyn on Tuesday.

The veteran southpaw built up to 46 pitches (31 strikes) in his second start for the Cyclones, and he's put together a 6:1 K:BB through 4.1 innings for Brooklyn to begin his rehab stint. Per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, Manaea is set for at least three more rehab starts before the Mets will consider activating him from the injured list, a timeline which could have him joining the big-league rotation as soon as July 1 against the Brewers.

Wrobleski is expected to serve as a bulk reliever in Wednesday's game against the Padres, Sammy Levitt of 97.3 The Fan San Diego reports.

Ben Casparius will open the contest and likely to work a couple of innings before turning the game over to Wrobleski. The left-handed Wrobleski has made two starts and one bulk-relief appearance for the Dodgers this season, posting a 7.20 ERA and 13:6 K:BB across 15 innings.