MLB Player News

Lovelady will start Monday's game against San Francisco, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.

Miles Mikolas was initially slated to start in Monday's series opener. Instead, the Nationals will have Lovelady start on the mound and toss one or two innings before Mikolas takes over in a bulk-relief role. It's the fifth opening assignment of the season for Lovelady, who has a 3.12 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, four saves (in five chances) and a 23:19 K:BB across 26 innings.

Mikolas will not start Monday against the Giants but will follow opener Richard Lovelady, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.

Mikolas has followed an opener in each of his last four outings. That trend will continue Monday, with the southpaw Lovelady set to toss one or two innings before handing the keys over to Mikolas. The latter is looking to rebound from his last appearance against the Marlins this past Tuesday, when he allowed six runs on six hits (including three home runs) and two walks while striking out four across six innings. Mikolas has a 6.39 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 36:16 K:BB across 56.1 innings this season.

Young is not in the lineup for Monday's game in San Francisco.

The Nationals will go with Dylan Crews in center field and James Wood in right field for the series opener. Young has had a power breakout this season with eight homer runs, though his .232/.284/.389 batting line remains lacking.

Crawford is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Blue Jays.

The left-handed-hitting Crawford will hit the bench for the ninth time in the Phillies' last 10 matchups with left-handed starting pitchers. The Phillies will go with a starting outfield of Edmundo Sosa, Brandon Marsh and Adolis Garcia from left to right while southpaw Patrick Corbin toes the rubber for the Blue Jays.

Andujar (hamstring) is not in the Padres' starting lineup against the Reds on Monday.

Andujar tweaked his hamstring during the seventh inning of Sunday's game against the Mets. He'll be out of the lineup for at least one game but could be available to pinch hit for Monday's game, per Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Gavin Sheets will as the Padres' designated hitter in Andujar's absence.

The Brewers optioned Yoho to Triple-A Nashville on Monday.

The transaction clears room on the 26-man active roster for reliever Joel Kuhnel, whom the Brewers acquired from the Athletics on Saturday in exchange for cash considerations. Milwaukee recalled Yoho on Friday, and the reliever proceeded to make appearances in two games over the weekend, allowing a solo home run and two walks while striking out five batters across three innings. He'll head back to Triple-A, where he has posted a 1.00 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 24:5 K:BB across 18 innings.

The Cubs are expected to option Alcantara to Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday, Tommy Birch of tThe Des Moines Register reports.

Alcantara has hardly played during his two-plus weeks in the big leagues and made a major baserunning blunder in Sunday's loss to the Giants. The 23-year-old doesn't have anything left to prove at Iowa, where he's hit .242/.339/.567 with 15 home runs this season. That being said, his opportunities with the Cubs have been few and far between, and he might need a change of scenery at this point.

Musgrove (elbow) started playing catch in late May, per MLB.com.

After making one appearance during spring training in early March, Musgrove experienced inflammation in his surgically repaired right elbow. He continued to play catch but was then shut down from even that amount of throwing. Musgrove has since been cleared to resume light throwing, but he doesn't appear to be anywhere near game action. He isn't expected to be ready to join the Padres until after the All-Star break.

The Cubs claimed Nunez off waivers from the Orioles on Monday.

Nunez will join his third organization in less than a month and his fourth since last year's trade deadline. The hard-throwing reliever has spent all of the 2026 campaign in the minors, collecting a 7.13 ERA and 21:19 K:BB across 17.2 frames. Nunez has been assigned to the Cubs' rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate, where he will go through the organization's pitching lab before eventually being assigned to a full-season affiliate, likely Triple-A Iowa.

Marquez (forearm) tossed four scoreless innings in a rehab start for Triple-A El Paso on Sunday, allowing one hit and issuing one walk while striking out two batters.

Sunday marked Marquez's second rehab appearance after landing on the injured list May 3 due to right forearm nerve irritation. The veteran righty has tossed 6.1 scoreless frames and has allowed just two hits while posting a 5:1 K:BB across the pair of minor-league outings. Marquez threw 47 pitches Sunday, sitting at 95.4 mph with his fastball Sunday after averaging 94.2 mph on the pitch before getting hurt. Marquez seems likely to need another rehab outing or two before being activated from the IL, but he could be back with San Diego by the end of June.