MLB Player News

Smith-Shawver could make a start for Atlanta on Friday or Saturday versus the Nationals, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Michael Soroka was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett earlier Monday, freeing up a spot in the rotation. Smith-Shawver made his major-league debut in relief Sunday in Arizona after Soroka struggled early on in his start, and the rookie fired 2.1 scoreless frames with three strikeouts. The 20-year-old barely has more than 100 professional innings under his belt, but his upside warrants rostering in most leagues.

Atlanta optioned Soroka to Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

After being called up from Gwinnett last week, Soroka made a pair of starts for Atlanta in what marked his first big-league action since 2020 following his recovery from multiple injuries. Over the two outings, the right-hander surrendered nine runs on 12 hits and six walks while hitting two batters and striking out five others over 9.2 innings. With Soroka failing to deliver the sort of results that Atlanta was hoping for from a back-end starter, the team will send the right-hander back to Gwinnett with the hope he gets back on track and potentially rejoins the big club later in 2023. Rookie AJ Smith-Shawver, who tossed 2.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in Sunday's win over Arizona, could be the next man up to join the rotation when Soroka's turn comes up again later this week.

Atlanta transferred Fried (forearm) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Monday.

The move frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for waiver pickup Luke Williams. Fried is throwing again as he works his way back from a left forearm strain, but it's going to take several weeks for him to complete the ramp-up process. As a result of his move to the 60-day IL, Fried won't be eligible for activation until early July.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Crawford will likely start Wednesday's game in Cleveland, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Assuming Crawford gets the ball Wednesday, he'll be pitching on three days' rest, after he most recently covered three innings as a starter in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday with the Rays. With that in mind, Crawford could have his pitch count managed carefully Wednesday, and he could struggle to work deep enough into the outing to qualify for a win. Crawford is expected to join the rotation as a replacement for Chris Sale (shoulder), who landed on the injured list Friday.

The Reds selected Abbott's contract from Triple-A Louisville ahead of his scheduled start Monday versus the Brewers.

Abbott is slated to make his major-league debut Monday and will line up for a two-start week, with Cincinnati already confirming him to make his next turn through the rotation Saturday in St. Louis. The left-hander leads the minor leagues with 90 strikeouts thus far in 2023 to go along with a 2.50 ERA and 0.93 WHIP along the way across 54 innings between Double-A Pensacola and Louisville. Abbott's first matchup is a good one, as the Brewers rank last in baseball as a team with a .281 wOBA versus lefties.

Smith-Shawver walked one and struck out three in 2.1 scoreless, no-hit innings of relief during Sunday's win over the Diamondbacks.

Stepping on the mound in a big-league game for the very first time, Smith-Shawver showed little in the way of nerves and fired 22 of 39 pitches for strikes while topping out at 97.1 mph with his four-seam fastball. The 20-year-old right-hander began the season at High-A before rocketing through Atlanta's system, and while he may be in a low-leverage role at the moment, it's worth noting the team had Spencer Strider in a similar long-relief role for his first 11 appearances in 2022 before shifting him into the rotation. If Atlanta follows a similar plan with Smith-Shawver, he could be on track to take on a much bigger assignment after the All-Star break.

Rogers (biceps) delivered five scoreless innings in his rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Jacksonville, striking out five while ceding just one hit and one walk.

After striking out seven over four scoreless frames for Single-A Jupiter in his first rehab start last Tuesday, Rogers was similarly effective in his second outing while making a two-level jump in competition. The southpaw, who is building back up from a biceps strain that has kept him on the shelf since April 21, tossed 70 pitches (40 strikes) in Sunday's outing. Though Rogers appears to be stretched out enough to offer something close to a normal workload if he's cleared to make his next start with the big club, the Marlins could push his activation from the 15-day injured list back to next week while back-end rotation arms Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett and Eury Perez have all pitched effectively in their recent outings.

McKenzie mowed down the Twins' lineup, allowing just one hit and a walk while striking out 10 over five innings. He did not factor into the decision.

McKenzie's 2023 debut was certainly one to remember. It was his seventh career double-digit strikeout game, and he became just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to throw five innings or less while allowing zero runs, striking out 10 or more and allowing 1 or fewer hits and walks. His slider was noticeably dominant in the outing. He got seven swings on it and six swing and misses for an absurd 86 percent whiff rate. It's obviously coming from a very small sample size, but fantasy managers who opted to hold on to McKenzie after the preseason injury news certainly seem to be rewarded. The 25-year-old will look to keep rolling into a home start against the Astros next weekend.

Skubal (elbow) covered two innings Sunday in his rehab start for High-A West Michigan, striking out one while allowing one hit and no walks.

The lefty needed just 12 pitches (10 strikes) to record his six outs. Considering that Skubal's appearance Sunday was his first in affiliated ball since Aug. 1, 2022 after a long recovery from flexor tendon surgery, he'll likely need to build up to around 5-to-6 innings and/or 75-to-90 pitches on his rehab assignment over the course of around 3-to-4 more rehab starts before he's ready to rejoin the Detroit rotation. In any case, Skubal is the only pitcher among the seven currently residing on Detroit's injured list that's on an active rehab assignment, so he may still be first in line for a return, likely at some point in late June.

Ryan (7-3) was dealt a tough-luck loss against the Guardians on Sunday, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out four over 6.2 innings.

Ryan was cruising and had faced the minimum through 6.2 frames before walking Jose Ramirez and surrendering an RBI double to Josh Naylor for the first run of the game for either team. He was then replaced by Caleb Thielbar, who immediately allowed a triple to Andres Gimenez. Those two runs were enough to hand Ryan the loss despite a late rally from the Twins. The 27-year-old returned to dominant form after a blunder against the Astros earlier in the week, and now sits at a 2.76 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 80:14 K:BB over 71.2 innings. He'll look to get back in the win column in a road test against the Blue Jays next weekend.