MLB Player News

Cortes (elbow) was added to the Yankees' World Series roster Friday.

Cortes has been shelved since late September with a left flexor strain but had faced hitters a couple times over the past week and bounced back with no issues. The left-hander is expected to be used in relief by the Yankees, although it's unclear how many innings he might be able to go.

Schmidt will start Monday against the Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Schmidt has allowed four earned runs over 9.1 innings across his two postseason appearances, and he'll have the challenging task of keeping quiet a Dodgers offense that's posted an impressive .785 OPS during the playoffs. The 28-year-old righty will follow Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon in New York's World Series rotation.

Rodon will start Saturday in Game 2 of the World Series against the Dodgers, Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports.

The southpaw was the obvious choice to follow Game 1 starter Gerrit Cole, and Rodon revealed Thursday that he's been told he will indeed take the ball in Game 2. In three starts so far this postseason, Rodon holds a 4.40 ERA and 22:1 K:BB over 14.1 frames. He will be opposed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Yamamoto will start Saturday in Game 2 of the World Series versus the Yankees, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Yamamoto has allowed seven earned runs over just 12.1 innings across his three postseason appearances and will be facing a Yankees offense that has posted a .759 OPS during the team's playoff run. However, the 26-year-old righty found success against The Pinstripes when he faced them in June, throwing seven shutout innings while allowing just two hits and two walks.

Flaherty has been named the Dodgers' starter for Game 1 of the World Series versus the Yankees on Friday, Noah Camras of DodgersNation.com reports.

Flaherty made his last start in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Mets this past Friday, so he will head into Game 1 of the World Series with six full days of rest. The right-hander had an excellent start in Game 1 of the NLCS, shutting out the Mets across seven innings. However, the Mets got to him in his second outing, scoring eight runs in just three innings. With Flaherty set to go Friday, it is likely Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler will start the following two games, respectively.

Gray is on track have a normal offseason after finishing the regular season on the 15-day injured list with right forearm flexor tendinitis, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Gray missed his final start of the season because of the forearm issue, but his offseason training is expected to be unaffected. The right-hander held a 3.84 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 203:39 K:BB across 28 regular-season starts during his first year in St. Louis.

The Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball have granted Ogasawara's request to be posted for major-league teams this offseason, Yahoo Japan reports.

Ogasawara, 27, held a 3.12 ERA and microscopic 3.7 percent walk rate in 2024 with the Dragons, although that also came with just a 13.6 percent strikeout rate. The left-hander has missed more bats in the past and is a relatively young, so perhaps he could land a multi-year contract this offseason. Once the posting becomes official, Ogasawara would have 45 days to reach a deal with a major-league club.

Blackburn underwent surgery Oct. 11 to repair a cerebrospinal fluid leak, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

Per the Mets, it's a procedure which typically carries a return to play timeline of 4-5 months. That would seemingly give Blackburn a shot to be ready in time for Opening Day, provided there are no setbacks along the way. If healthy, Blackburn should open the 2025 season in the Mets' rotation. He held a 4.66 ERA and 59:21 K:BB over 75.1 innings covering 14 starts between the Athletics and Mets in 2024.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that there's a "good chance" Cortes (elbow) will be on the team's World Series roster, Greg Joyce of the New York Post reports.

Cortes will throw another live batting practice session Tuesday and, as long as he gets through that with no concerns, it sounds like he'll be part of the Yankees' roster for the Fall Classic against the Dodgers. It's expected that Cortes would be used as a reliever, although Boone hasn't officially committed to that. The southpaw has been out since late September with a left flexor strain.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that Cole will start Friday in Game 1 of the World Series, Laura Albanese of Newsday reports.

The Yankees wrapping up the ALCS in five games allowed them to set up their rotation as they wanted, and that means Cole taking the ball in Game 1. Boone added that Cole will likely be followed by Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil, in that order, although he has not yet etched that into stone. Cole holds a 3.31 ERA and 12:6 K:BB over 16.1 innings in three starts this postseason.