MLB Player News

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Friday that Crawford (knee) has not yet been cleared to face hitters, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.

Crawford's recovery from right patellar tendiopathy seems to be coming along as expected, but the Red Sox are proceeding cautiously with him. The right-hander is able to throw off a mound but it's not clear when he might be ready to face hitters and go out on a rehab assignment.

The Nationals recalled Rutledge from Triple-A Rochester on Friday.

The right-hander missed out on the Opening Day roster but will join the Nationals as Michael Soroka (bicep) heads to the injured list. Rutledge has worked as a starter for most of his professional career, but he's unlikely to fill Soroka's spot in the rotation as anything other than an opener -- he shifted to a relief role in spring training and worked out of the bullpen in his first two appearances of the season for Rochester.

The Nationals placed Soroka on the 15-day injured list Friday with a right bicep strain, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Soroka had hoped to make his next start after exiting his first outing of the season March 31 with what the team had referred to as a bicep cramp. However, the injury is now classified as a strain and will sideline him for at least a couple starts. It's not yet clear whom the Nationals will turn to in Soroka's spot in the rotation.

Double-A Springfield placed Hjerpe on the injured list with an undisclosed injury, Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline reports.

He's missed a lot of time with elbow injuries since being selected in the first round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft. Hjerpe's inability to handle a starter's workload thus far points to a future in relief. He had a 3.27 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 76:28 K:BB in 52.1 innings (15 starts) at Double-A last year.

Cobb (hip) said Friday that he expects to throw a live batting practice session early next week, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Cobb has been throwing bullpen sessions, but this will be his first time facing hitters since he was diagnosed with right hip inflammation at the beginning of spring training. There is no timeline for the veteran right-hander's return, but it likely won't happen for at least another month or so.

High-A Peoria placed Lin on the injured list with an undisclosed injury, Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline reports.

Lin is a hard thrower with a starter's pitch mix who logged a 2.79 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 123:36 K:BB in 116 innings as a 22-year-old at Single-A last season. He's a little behind his peers developmentally, and he has yet to have success against age-appropriate competition.

Rojas is dealing with a midsection injury and didn't break camp with an affiliate, Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline reports.

It's not an arm injury for Rojas, which is encouraging, and he should be able to return before the end of April. The 22-year-old southpaw threw two hitless, scoreless innings against the Twins on March 15 in the Spring Breakout game and logged a 2.43 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 61:12 K:BB in 55.2 innings at High-A last year, so he might be ready to get his first assignment to Double-A once cleared.

Crouse appeared to suffer an injury and departed Thursday's game with Triple-A Salt Lake after throwing four pitches, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Crouse entered the contest in the eighth inning and worked a 1-2 count on the only batter he faced before being pulled. The right-hander went down to a knee while waiting for a trainer to examine him on the mound, then walked off the field in apparent frustration after it was determined that his outing was over. The organization hasn't yet provided an update on Crouse, so it's not clear what caused his early exit Thursday. He logged 25 outings with the Angels last season, posting a 2.84 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 34:17 K:BB over 25.1 innings, but he wasn't able to crack the Opening Day roster this year.

Gonsolin (back) tossed 1.2 scoreless innings in a rehab outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, allowing one hit and issuing two walks while striking out one batter.

Gonsolin's control wasn't great in the outing -- he threw only 15 of his 30 pitches for strikes -- but otherwise the right-hander had a smooth return to game action. Gonsolin had his spring cut short due to a back injury he suffered while lifting weights, and he's currently on the major-league 15-day IL. He could be ready to return to the big club in mid-to-late April, though it's not clear what his role will be given that the Dodgers currently have five healthy starters while in the midst of an 8-0 beginning to the campaign.

Carrasco (1-0) picked up the win after allowing three runs on five hits and two walks in 5.1 innings Thursday against the Diamondbacks. He struck out five.

After giving up three runs in two innings of mop-up duty during Saturday's 20-9 rout of Milwaukee, Carrasco was sharper Thursday while being staked to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Two Alek Thomas groundouts resulted in a pair of runs in the second and fourth innings, and Lourdes Gurriel doubled to plate another during Carrasco's two-run fourth frame. It's unclear how long the veteran right-hander will maintain a rotation spot, with Clarke Schmidt (shoulder) targeting a mid-April return, but Carrasco's next start is currently penciled in for early next week in Detroit.