MLB Player News

The Royals optioned Marsh to Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday.

Marsh will lose his spot in the rotation and on the 26-man active roster after the Royals acquired Michael Lorenzen from the Rangers earlier this week and settled on him as their new No. 5 starter. The Royals have a doubleheader on Aug. 26 in Cleveland, so Marsh will be a candidate to return that day, if he's not needed before then. While Marsh is down in the minors, Royals manager Matt Quatraro said that the right-hander will scale back his workload and throw around 40-to-60 pitches in his outings at Omaha, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

Judge went 3-for-4 with a run and two walks in a 7-6 extra-innings win against the Phillies on Wednesday.

Judge reached base five times in the contest -- the second time he's done that over his past four games. The slugger has been incredible during his past five contests, slashing .550/.667/1.200 with four homers, 10 RBI, eight runs and a 7:4 BB:K. Among a host of other categories, Judge leads the majors in OBP (.451), with only teammate Juan Soto (.436) within arm's reach of that mark.

Volpe went 2-for-5 with a double, a run and a stolen base Tuesday in a 7-6 extra-innings win against Philadelphia.

Volpe recorded his 20th double of the season in the fourth frame, and he produced his 19th theft following a single in the sixth. The shortstop batted out of the No. 8 slot in the lineup after hitting out of the No. 9 slot in his previous game. Volpe has been in the bottom third of the order each of his past five contests and has hit safely in each game, going 8-for-24 with two homers, three RBI, five runs and two stolen bases.

Urias is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.

Urias had started each of the last three games at third base, but he'll likely move into the short side of a platoon in the Baltimore infield with the left-handed-hitting Jackson Holliday, who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday. Holliday should start at second base against most right-handed pitchers while he's up with the big club, while Jordan Westburg will likely replace him at the keystone against lefties to open up starts at the hot corner for Urias.

Cole (fatigue) played catch without issue Wednesday and is slated to throw a bullpen session Friday, Meredith Marakovits of YES Network reports.

Assuming he comes out of the bullpen session with no concerns, Cole will make a start this weekend against the Blue Jays, likely Sunday. The veteran right-hander was scratched from a scheduled start Tuesday in Philadelphia due to general body fatigue, but the Yankees don't seem concerned that he's dealing with any sort of long-term issue.

Kjerstad is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.

Kjerstad will stay on the bench for the fourth time in five games, and his playing-time outlook appears to have only worsened in the aftermath of Tuesday's trade deadline. Not only did Kjerstad stay put in Baltimore rather than being sent to a rebuilding team as part of a trade package, but he'll face more competition for at-bats at designated hitter and in the corner outfield after the Orioles acquired Eloy Jimenez from the White Sox and Austin Slater from the Reds on Tuesday. With rookie Colton Cowser seizing hold of the leadoff role against right-handed pitching, Kjerstad doesn't have a spot in an everyday outfield that typically features Cowser, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander from left to right. Meanwhile, Ryan O'Hearn and Jimenez seem poised to form a platoon at DH.

Joyce is expected to operate as the Angels' closer after the trade of Luis Garcia on Tuesday.

Garcia was labeled the closer while Joyce was named the setup man and closer-in-waiting after the trade of Carlos Estevez over the weekend, and Garcia has now also been dealt. However, manager Ron Washington used Joyce in the eighth inning Tuesday while Hunter Strickland picked up the save, so it remains to be seen if the skipper sticks with the initial plan. Joyce still struggles to control his 101.8-mph fastball at times and has a 4.0 BB/9 this season, but that's an improvement from his first taste of the big leagues last year when he walked nine over 10 innings and had an 8.1 BB/9 at Triple-A. The right-hander has a 2.01 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 19:10 K:BB in 19 appearances this season.

McCann (nose) will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.

Despite suffering multiple nasal fractures when he was hit in the face by a fastball while he was batting in the first inning of Game 1 of Monday's doubeheader with Toronto, McCann was able to stay in the game. After re-evaluating McCann on Tuesday, the Orioles made him available off the bench for their eventual 6-2 win, and he'll now draw back into the lineup for the series finale while top backstop Adley Rutschman gets a day off. According to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com, McCann took batting practice Wednesday while wearing a protective mask, but it doesn't sound like it'll be anything that inhibits his vision at the plate or while catching.

Hernaiz (ankle) played a full game at shortstop in Triple-A Las Vegas' loss to Albuquerque on Tuesday, going 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs.

Hernaiz was charged with an error as well, but otherwise, his night was yet another step in the right direction. The 22-year-old appears ready for activation at any point moving forward, as he's now forged a .345 average and .873 OPS across 33 plate appearances over eight rehab games. Hernaiz has experience playing every infield position besides first base.

Orioles general manager Mike Elias confirmed Wednesday that Suarez will move to a long-relief role, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Rather than expanding the rotation to six men, the Orioles will shift Suarez to the bullpen to make room for lefty Trevor Rogers, who will take over as the club's No. 5 starter following his acquisition from the Marlins on Tuesday. Suarez owns a 3.62 ERA over 77 innings with the big club this season, but he failed to deliver a quality start in any of his last three outings while going 0-2 with a 10.03 ERA and 2.14 WHIP across those contests.