MLB Player News

Liberatore will start Friday against the Guardians at Progressive Field, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Though Liberatore made his last appearance out of the bullpen Sunday against the Dodgers, manager Oliver Marmol previously confirmed that the 23-year-old lefty would get another start during the team's weekend series in Cleveland. Liberatore now has a date set in place for his next turn, and he'll get the chance to build on a strong showing in his first start of the season versus Milwaukee on May 17, when he worked five scoreless innings and struck out six. If he's able to hold his own against Cleveland, Liberatore should have a good chance of sticking around with the big club as the sixth member of the rotation.

Hendricks (shoulder) will start Thursday's game against the Mets, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

Hendricks has been on the injured list all season due to a strained right shoulder he suffered in July 2022. He got roughed up quite a bit during his first two rehab starts, but he was able to regroup and surrender just three earned runs across 16 innings in his final three appearances. Hendricks' return will give Jameson Taillon a few extra days of rest, as Taillon's next start will now come on Saturday against the Reds.

Dodd will be recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday to start against the Phillies in Atlanta later that day, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Dodd holds a 6.46 ERA and 1.83 WHIP in the majors this season through 15.1 innings across three starts. His Triple-A numbers are similar, but he is coming off a four-inning shutout performance in his last minor-league start. Dodd is still in the process of proving he belongs in the big leagues.

Waldichuk (calf) is no longer starting for the A's on Wednesday versus the Mariners, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

The expectation is that he'll operate in bulk relief behind opener Austin Pruitt. It's probably a way to protect Waldichuk after he suffered a mild calf strain last Friday against the Astros. He threw a side session without issue Monday.

Suarez did not factor into the decision Wednesday, allowing five runs on five hits and a walk over five innings against the Diamondbacks. He struck out five.

Suarez did retire the final seven batters faced, providing some positive momentum heading into his next outing. Still, it's been a rough start to the year for the 27-year-old lefty, as he's pitched to a 9.82 ERA with a 2.00 WHIP and 13:5 K:BB through his first three games (11 innings) and is still looking for his first win of the season. Suarez will look to get on track in his next outing, currently lined for next week on the road against the Mets.

Gallen did not factor into the decision Wednesday, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks over 5.2 innings against the Phillies. He struck out three.

Gallen held the Phillies off the board for five innings before running into trouble in the sixth, allowing a pair of singles before he was relieved by Kevin Ginkel, who allowed both runners to score. While it wasn't a return to his early-season form, Wednesday's outing was certainly a step forward after Gallen allowed eight runs over 3.2 innings in his last start against Pittsburgh. The 27-year-old righty is 6-2 with a 2.97 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 75:14 K:BB through 11 starts (66.2 innings) this season.

Ryan (7-1) earned the win Wednesday, allowing one run on six hits and two walks over five innings during a 7-1 loss to the Giants. He struck out four.

The five innings were a season low for Ryan, ending his streak of seven straight quality starts. Despite laboring a bit, he still picked up his seventh win and now holds a 2.21 ERA across 10 outings (61 innings). Ryan's four strikeouts Wednesday tied his second-lowest mark of the campaign, but his 70:10 K:BB remains elite. The soon-to-be 27-year-old's next start is projected to come during a three-game set in Houston.

DeSclafani (3-4) took the loss Wednesday, allowing seven runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks over five innings during a 7-1 loss to the Twins. He struck out six.

DeSclafani surrendered a leadoff homer to Edouard Julien in the bottom of the first, and things didn't get much better for the right-hander as the game progressed. He allowed at least one run in each of the first four innings but was charged with only four earned runs thanks to a trio of errors in the third. Despite allowing a season-high seven runs, DeSclafani was able to finish at least five innings and record six-plus strikeouts for a second consecutive game and the fourth time this season. He'll look to get back on track next time out, which is tentatively scheduled for the opener of a three-game set versus Pittsburgh.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Wednesday that Liberatore will start one of the team's three games this weekend in Cleveland, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

There was talk of Liberatore being used out of the bullpen Tuesday night against the Reds, but that wasn't required as St. Louis rolled to an 8-5 victory. The 23-year-old left-hander tallied six strikeouts over five scoreless innings in his first major-league start of the season last Wednesday against the Brewers before struggling in a relief appearance Sunday versus the Dodgers. He should be an attractive fantasy option as he returns to the Cardinals' rotation against a light-hitting Guardians team.

Houser (1-0) earned the win Wednesday, allowing two hits and one walk across 5.1 scoreless innings during a 4-0 win over the Astros. He struck out three.

Houser allowed back-to-back hitters to reach with two outs in the first, but he ended the inning by retiring Jose Abreu. Including Abreu, the right-hander retired 14 straight batters before Mauricio Dubon reached on an error in the sixth. Alex Bregman followed that up with a double, but Joel Payamps was able to keep Houser's ledger clean by getting back-to-back outs to end the threat. When Houser's inducing grounders like he was Wednesday, he's tough to crack, and after struggling in his first two starts of the season, he's tossed 11.1 scoreless innings over his last two outings. Houser holds a modest 14:4 K:BB across four appearances (20 innings).