MLB Player News
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Gerrit Cole SP | NYY
Yankees' Gerrit Cole: Won't be ready for Opening Day
Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed Thursday that Cole (elbow) will not be ready for the start of the 2026 season, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.
Cole had Tommy John surgery with internal bracing in March, so the expectation has been that he will begin the 2026 season on the injured list. The hope is that his absence will be brief, but a clearer picture of his timeline will be available at a later date. Cole has begun throwing on flat ground but has yet to progress to mound work.
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Carlos Rodon SP | NYY
Yankees' Carlos Rodon: To miss time after elbow surgery
Rodon underwent surgery Wednesday to remove loose bodies and shave down a bone spur in his left elbow, Jorge Castillo of ESPN.com reports.
Rodon will not be allowed to throw for eight weeks and the operation "probably delays him" to begin the 2026 season, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday. It sounds like the left-hander should be ready to make his season debut sometime in April, but a firmer timetable for Rodon's return will not be known for a while. The southpaw won a career-high 18 games during the 2025 regular season, finishing with a 3.09 ERA and 203:73 K:BB over 195.1 innings.
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George Kirby SP | SEA
Mariners' George Kirby: Shelled during Game 3 loss
Kirby took the loss in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Blue Jays on Wednesday after allowing eight earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out four batters over four-plus innings.
Kirby made it through the first two frames unscathed, but things quickly turned sour for the 27-year-old once he gave up a leadoff double to Ernie Clement in the third, followed by a game-tying two-run blast from Andres Gimenez. Kirby allowed three more runs to score before the end of the inning, and additional solo shots from George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero contributed to the right-hander's early exit from the game. Now sporting a 7.07 ERA through 14 innings in the postseason, Kirby would likely get the call to start Game 7 if the two sides take the series that far.
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Matt Mikulski SP | MIN
Matt Mikulski: Released by Minnesota
Mikulski was released by the Twins on Wednesday, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
Mikulski was traded to Minnesota from Houston for Carlos Correa at the trade deadline and was essentially a throw-in to facilitate the salary dump. Mikulski had a 7.84 ERA between rookie ball and High-A last season with a 25:28 K:BB in 20.2 innings.
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Shane Bieber SP | TOR
Blue Jays' Shane Bieber: Quality start in Game 3
Bieber picked up the win in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Mariners on Wednesday, allowing two earned runs on four hits and a walk while striking out eight batters over six innings.
The right-hander's day got off to a shaky start, as he allowed a leadoff walk to Randy Arozarena before serving up a two-run homer to Julio Rodriguez to give Seattle a 2-0 lead with one out in the first inning. Bieber did a tremendous job settling in afterward, collecting the next 17 outs while surrendering just three additional hits, while a 13-run outburst from Toronto's offense gave the 30-year-old far more support than he needed to leave the ballpark with a win. Bieber is lined up to possibly retake the mound in Game 7, if the series makes it that far.
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Cade Horton SP | CHC
Cubs' Cade Horton: Expected to have normal offseason
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Wednesday that Horton (rib) was going to be on the NLCS roster if the team advanced, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.
Horton exited his final regular-season start with a right rib fracture and was not on the wild-card or NLDS rosters, but he appears to be healthy now and is expected to have a relatively normal offseason. The rookie right-hander collected a 2.67 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 97:33 K:BB over 118 regular-season innings for the Cubs.
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto SP | LAD
Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Goes distance in Game 2
Yamamoto picked up the win Tuesday against the Brewers in Game 2 of the NLCS, giving up one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven batters over nine innings.
Jackson Chourio sent Yamamoto's first pitch over the right-field wall to give Milwaukee a quick 1-0 lead. That would prove to be the only mistake the 27-year-old right-hander made Tuesday, as he allowed just three men to reach base for the rest of the game while recording all 27 outs by himself on only 111 pitches. The earliest that Yamamoto could potentially be called upon to make his next start would be Game 6, but that may not be necessary with the Dodgers already up two games to none as the series moves to Los Angeles.
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Freddy Peralta SP | MIL
Brewers' Freddy Peralta: Hit with Game 2 loss
Peralta took the loss in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Dodgers on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs on five hits and a walk while striking out four batters over 5.2 innings.
The 29-year-old righty took the mound in the second inning with a 1-0 lead but watched it quickly disappear courtesy of a solo home run from Teoscar Hernandez and an RBI double from Andy Pages. Peralta did a good job of settling in afterward and kept the game close for the next several innings, but he was eventually pulled after coughing up another solo shot to Max Muncy in the sixth. If Milwaukee can rally and take a couple of games from the Dodgers on the road, Peralta may be able to take the mound again in Game 6 or 7.
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Shane Bieber SP | TOR
Blue Jays' Shane Bieber: Drawing start for Game 3
Bieber will start Wednesday's Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Mariners, Nick Camino of WKYC Channel 3 Cleveland reports.
Bieber was unable to provide the Blue Jays with much stability during his last outing in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Yankees, surrendering three runs (two earned) over 2.2 innings of work. Toronto desperately needs Bieber to come through with a quality appearance in Seattle after dropping the first two games of the ALCS at home, though he'll likely be on a short leash considering the club can't afford to go down 3-0 in the series.
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Roki Sasaki SP | LAD
Dodgers' Roki Sasaki: Roughed up in NLCS Game 1
Sasaki was unable to convert the save in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers on Monday and was removed after allowing one run on one hit and two walks in two-thirds of an inning.
This shaky outing comes less than a week after skipper Dave Roberts praised Sasaki for his performance during his first few appearances of the NLDS against the Phillies, noting that the right-hander was the team's primary option at closer. That could change after Monday's showing, especially after Blake Treinen was able to come up big by cleaning up Sasaki's mess in the bottom of the ninth inning. However, it would be difficult to imagine that Sasaki wouldn't still be in the mix for high-leverage innings considering his elite stuff along with the state of LA's unreliable bullpen.