MLB Player News

Freeland suffered an apparent right shoulder injury on a play at the plate during Monday's game against the Phillies, Luke Zahlmann of The Denver Gazette reports.

On a night when the Rockies were dealing with a short-handed bench, Freeland was called upon to pinch run in the top of the ninth inning and was involved in a collision at the plate with Philadelphia pitcher Jeff Hoffman. Freeland was in obvious pain walking off the field, though fortunately, he was holding his non-throwing shoulder as he headed for further evaluation. The southpaw will be considered day-to-day until more information on his injury is released. He had tentatively been in line to make his next start during this weekend's home series versus Seattle.

Buehler (elbow/hand) is set for make a fourth minor-league rehab start Thursday, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Buehler has been working his way back from the Tommy John surgery that he underwent in August 2022. During his most recent rehab outing last Friday with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, Buehler was lifted after two innings due to his right hand being hit by a comebacker, but his early exit has since been deemed precautionary. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that if Buehler is able to reach the 80-to-90-pitch threshold in his upcoming rehab start Thursday, the right-hander will be a strong candidate to return from the 15-day injured list next week to rejoin the big-league rotation. The right-hander hasn't appeared in an MLB game ince suffering the elbow injury over a year and a half ago, but he certainly looks to be on the cusp of his long awaited return to the Dodgers rotation.

The Nationals recalled Parker from Triple-A Rochester on Monday, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.

Parker started in one game for Rochester, tossing four scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and five strikeouts. The 24-year-old left-hander will make his major-league debut Monday against a formidable Dodgers lineup.

The Dodgers plan to call up Knack from Triple-A Oklahoma City this week, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

It's unclear whether Knack will be making a start, but the Dodgers haven't named a starter for games Tuesday and Wednesday versus Washington and have an opening in the rotation with Bobby Miller (shoulder) recently moving to the injured list and Walker Buehler (elbow) in line for one more rehab start before being activated from the IL. Whenever Knack does pitch, he will be making his major-league debut. The 26-year-old holds a 4.02 ERA and 16:4 K:BB over 15.2 innings covering his first three starts of the season at Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Crawford didn't not factor into the decision, allowing two hits and striking out six over 5.2 scoreless innings during Monday's loss to the Guardians.

Crawford did more than enough to earn the win, but he left with the game still scoreless as the Red Sox bats also couldn't muster anything against Cleveland starter Xzavion Curry. It was the third time in four starts that Crawford did not allow an earned run and he's now allowed only one earned run over 21.1 innings this season. Crawford now sports a miniscule 0.42 ERA and 0.80 WHIP with 24 strikeouts against eight walks but despite those impressive numbers remains winless on the season. His next opportunity to pick up his first win is tentatively slated to come this weekend on the road against the surprising Pirates.

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said Monday that Flexen will remain in the rotation for now but will "at some point" pitch out of the bullpen, Vinnie Duber of AllCHGO.com reports.

Flexen has permitted 13 runs with a 7:6 K:BB over 13.1 innings in his three starts this season. The White Sox will keep him in the rotation for the time being more out of necessity, but it sounds like he might be headed for a long relief role once Mike Clevinger is ready.

Verlander (shoulder) will throw a bullpen session Tuesday, and if all goes well, he's expected to be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to make his first start of the season this weekend in Washington, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

Verlander gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out three over four innings in his second minor-league rehab start with Double-A Corpus Christi this past weekend. While his results weren't encouraging, Verlander more importantly built up to 77 pitches and reported no setbacks coming out of the rehab outing. He'll link back up with the Astros this week and will have his bullpen session monitored by the coaching and training staffs, but assuming he checks out fine, he should be on track to start Friday's series opener versus the Nationals.

Rodriguez will start Friday against the Padres, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Rodriguez impressed in his major-league debut Saturday against the Rockies, allowing run run with six strikeouts over 3.2 innings. While the right-hander will stick in the Blue Jays' rotation for now, the team will surely need to curtail his workload eventually. Rodriguez didn't pitch at all in 2023 and was used as a reliever in Japan in 2022.

Valdez (elbow) played some light catch Monday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

He had been slated to play catch Tuesday, but evidently the decision was made to move it up a day. Valdez is on the injured list with left elbow inflammation but is hopeful that he can return when first eligible April 23. It's possible, though he certainly has more work to do first before he can reach that goal.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said Monday that Garrett (shoulder) experienced a "dead arm" after his last bullpen session, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

The issue isn't related to the left shoulder injury which has kept Garrett out all season, but it nonetheless could prevent the left-hander from making his season debut this week. The southpaw threw 86 pitches in his second rehab start with Triple-A Jacksonville this past Friday, and his return from the 15-day injured list appeared imminent. Garrett will undergo testing on his arm just to be safe, so it's no longer a lock that he'll rejoin the rotation this week.