MLB Player News

The Rays placed Alexander on the bereavement list Tuesday.

Alexander has struggled in each of his first two appearances of the season, registering an 8.68 ERA, 1.93 WHIP and 8:4 K:BB over 9.1 innings. He's scheduled to start Friday against the Giants, but he will step away from the team for a few days to be with his family. In a corresponding move, the Rays recalled Kevin Kelly from Triple-A Durham.

Ortega (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day IL on Tuesday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The Astros placed Ortega on the 15-day injured list at the end of March. The righty found himself facing a recovery timeline of 3-to-4 months after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. The 27-year-old is being shifted to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot for Wander Suero.

Valdez was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with left elbow inflammation, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

It's not a major surprise after the left-hander was scratched from his start Monday due to elbow soreness. Valdez will be shut down from throwing for the next couple days before being re-evaluated, so at this point he's without a clear timeline for his return beyond the 15-day minimum for the injured list.

Suero was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The Astros signed Suero to a minor-league contract in December. The right-hander surrendered seven earned runs in just eight innings at the major-league level with the Dodgers in 2023. In a corresponding move, Oliver Ortega (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot for Suero.

Mushinski was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Mushinski is back with the Astros just four days after being optioned to Sugar Land. In two games in the majors this season, the left-hander has allowed four runs (two earned) on three hits and one walk while striking out two over 1.1 innings.

O'Neill went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-1 loss to the Orioles.

O'Neill was responsible for the Red Sox's lone run in Tuesday's defeat with a 413-foot solo shot off Corbin Burnes in the first inning. O'Neill has now homered in back-to-back games, giving him a league-leading six long balls early in the campaign. The 28-year-old outfielder has gotten off to a tremendous start in Boston, going 11-for-32 with a 1.394 OPS in his first 10 games after struggling to a .231/.312/.403 slash line with just nine home runs in 238 plate appearances last season with the Cardinals.

Manoah (shoulder) said he will make his next rehab start Saturday with Triple-A Buffalo, Scott Mitchell of TSN.ca reports.

The right-hander made his first rehab outing Sunday at Single-A Dunedin and threw 58 pitches, but he retired just five of the 16 batters he faced. Manoah is expected to build up to around 75 pitches Saturday, and he'll likely need to illustrate better control to have a chance of joining Toronto's rotation once fully ramped up.

Bello (1-1) took the loss versus the Orioles on Tuesday, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out three.

Bello was solid for the most part Tuesday. However, Jarren Duran would misplay a fly ball with two outs in the fourth inning before Colton Cowser ripped a two-run double, tagging Bello with a pair of unearned runs that proved to be enough to stick him with the loss. It's been an up-and-down start to the year for Bello -- he now sports a 4.11 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP and 11:3 K:BB through his first three outings (15.1 innings). Bello's currently lined up for a home matchup with the Angels on Sunday.

Cowser went 2-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI in Tuesday's 7-1 win over the Red Sox.

Cowser drove in the Orioles' first three runs Tuesday, driving in Cedric Mullins with a two-out double in the second inning before adding two more RBI with a second two-bagger in the fourth. Cowser would add a fifth RBI with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. The 24-year-old outfielder has started over Austin Hays in three of Baltimore's last four games against right-handed pitching. Cowser's certainly run with the opportunity, going 7-for-15 with four doubles to start the year. After a rough showing in his first big-league stint last season, Cowser is starting to show why he was regarded as one of the top prospects in a loaded Orioles system.

Soderstrom owns a .148 average and .233 on-base percentage across his first 30 plate appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas, but he sports an impressive .519 slugging percentage in that sample as well.

The final component of Soderstrom's slash line is the byproduct of having laced all four of his hits thus far for extra bases in the form of a double and three home runs. The early power is certainly encouraging, and Soderstrom's minuscule .063 BABIP over the small sample implies he's run into some bad luck when putting the ball in play early this minor-league season. Soderstrom's numbers should therefore be due for some improvement, considering this is the third consecutive year he'll have spent time at the Triple-A Level after logging 373 plate appearances with the Aviators over the last two minor-league campaigns.