MLB Player News

Sandoval (biceps) is an option to replace Connelly Early (elbow) in Boston's rotation, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy mentioned Sandoval or Brayan Bello as potential fill-ins for Early, who was placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with left elbow inflammation. Sandoval, whose rehab assignment ends Saturday, will make one more start at Double-A Portland this weekend and is scheduled to throw around 70 pitches. With a scheduled day off coming Monday, however, Boston won't need a fifth starter until July 11.

The Cardinals have a flexible cap on Leahy's innings this season as he transitions from reliever to starter, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The team will alter their rotation coming out of the All-Star break in order to bake in extra rest for Leahy. Additional measures will be taken during the second half to manage the righty's workload, though what exactly that will look like hasn't been decided upon. Leahy has logged 81.1 innings this season, which is just 6.2 frames shy of last year's total. The 29-year-old accumulated 144.2 innings in 2022, which was the last year he was used as a full-time starting pitcher, so the curtailing of his workload shouldn't be too dramatic. Leahy's next start is scheduled to come Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Cavalli will appeal the seven-game suspension he received Thursday, Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports.

MLB issued bans for Cavalli and teammate Miles Mikolas (five games) along with Boston's Willson Contreras (seven games) and Nate Eaton (three games) for their roles in a benches-clearing incident Tuesday. Cavalli's suspension was set to begin Friday, but the 27-year-old's decision to appeal the ban will allow him to make his next turn through the rotation, which is expected to come Monday against the Astros. One or both Nationals pitchers could end up dropping their appeals at a more convenient time as the team figures out how to juggle the two looming absences from its rotation.

Sugano (finger) is listed as the Rockies' starting pitcher for Saturday's game against the Giants at Coors Field, Kevin Henry of The Denver Gazette reports.

Sugano developed a finger injury during his most recent start this past Friday in Minnesota, resulting in the Rockies pushing him back a few days in their pitching schedule. The right-hander got through a bullpen session earlier this week unscathed, so he's not expected to be operating with any restrictions Saturday. Sugano is tied for the team lead with eight wins on the season, but his poor ratios (4.80 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 7.0 K-BB%) have made it difficult to depend on him as anything more than a streaming option in deeper leagues.

Cairone (undisclosed) made his professional debut Thursday, tossing an inning for the Brewers' rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate while allowing one earned run on one hit.

Selected out of high school with the No. 68 overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft, Cairone was involved in a serious car accident near his home in New Jersey on Jan 2. Per JR Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the 18-year-old left-hander was hospitalized for nearly a month and required an arduous rehab in which he had to relearn everyday tasks, but he began working out at the Brewers' facility in Arizona just over two months ago. Cairone is expected to stick around in rookie ball until the Complex League season ends in late July.

The Cubs optioned Wicks to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday.

Wicks logged a save in each of his two appearances during this stint with the Cubs, though they were both unconventional, with one coming in extra innings and the other being of the three-inning variety in a blowout win. The Cubs will announced a corresponding roster move prior to Friday's game against the Cardinals.

Marquez allowed two runs on two hits and three walks while striking out one batter over three relief innings against the Dodgers on Thursday.

Marquez was activated from the injured list ahead of Thursday's contest following a two-month absence caused by a forearm injury. The veteran hurler entered in the sixth inning with San Diego trailing 10-6. Marquez threw 35 of 56 pitches for strikes but issued three walks on the way to allowing a pair of runs. Randy Vasquez started for San Diego but lasted just three innings, and he had a fainting episode after exiting while on his way to get X-rays for a possible ankle injury. If Vasquez ends up needing to miss time, Marquez -- who threw six more pitches than Vasquez on Thursday -- could be called upon to re-enter the rotation.

Vasquez fainted while being taken in for an evaluation on his ankle following his start versus the Dodgers on Thursday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Vazquez finished with a no-decision in the contest after allowing four runs on seven hits and one walk over three innings. He was struck on the ankle by a Mookie Betts comebacker in the first inning but remained in the contest for two more frames; however, he was later on his way to get an X-ray before fainting. According to Cassavell, the veteran hurler was taken to the emergency room as a precaution, though he is reportedly stable and conscious. Vasquez will presumably get tests done to try to determine what caused the fainting episode in addition to having imaging on the injured ankle. It's too early at this point to know if either issue will cause him to miss any time.

Sasaki allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three batters over three innings in a no-decision against San Diego on Thursday.

Sasaki's outing began ominously when the first batter he faced, Fernando Tatis, rocked him for a 116-mph double. That proved to be a precursor for what was to come, as the Padres pounded him for seven extra-base hits, including three homers. Manager Dave Roberts finally pulled the plug on Sasaki after three frames and a whopping 88 pitches. Sasaki was fortunate to escape with a no-decision since the Dodgers' offense exploded for 12 runs, but it was unquestionably a troubling outing by the Japanese hurler, who has now given up 19 runs over his past four starts spanning 17 innings. After the game, Roberts said that Sasaki will make his next start but indicated that the team will do a "deep dive" into the pitcher to determine what went wrong, which will include trying to determine if he was tipping his pitches, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

Urena (5-7) allowed one run on one hit and four walks while striking out six batters over 5.2 innings in a loss to Seattle on Thursday.

Urena and Seattle starter Bryce Miller went toe-to-toe for five scoreless innings, but Urena folded in the sixth, when he walked three batters and gave up a double to allow a run to cross the plate. That ended up being the only time the Mariners scored in the contest, but it was enough to hand Urena the loss since the Angels were blanked. Despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives for the right-hander, who racked up 17 whiffs and six punchouts while rebounding nicely from a seven-run, 4.1-inning dud in his previous appearance. Urena has pitched pretty well overall so far during his rookie campaign. Through 16 appearances (14 starts), he has a 3.03 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 75:41 K:BB over 77.1 innings.