MLB Player News

Walker earned the save in Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Cubs, allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth inning.

Walker failed to convert a save in Tuesday's contest, allowing the Cubs to tie the game with two runs on a hit and two walks in the ninth inning. However, Walker was called upon to close out a two-run lead again Wednesday. He'd give up a leadoff hit to Carson Kelly before inducing a double-play ball off the bat of Justin Turner en route to his seventh save of the year. Walker's had a few tough outings early in the season, though he remains the preferred ninth-inning option for San Francisco. Overall, his ERA sits at 6.08 with a 1.35 WHIP and 15:4 K:BB across 13.1 innings.

Reds manager Terry Francona said that Marte's placement on injured list Wednesday was due to a Grade 2 left oblique strain, Charlie Goldsmith of the Dayton Daily News reports.

Marte is eligible for activation May 15, but because he's dealing with a moderate strain rather than a mild one, he will most likely be sidelined beyond the minimum 10 days. A more precise timeline for Marte's return should emerge once he's able to resume baseball activities. Santiago Espinal will start at third base in Wednesday's game against Atlanta and will likely receive the bulk of the playing time at the position while Marte is on the shelf.

Ray (5-0) earned the win Wednesday over the Cubs, allowing one run on three hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out five.

Ray was sharp again Wednesday, delivering a third straight quality start -- the veteran southpaw has posted a stellar 1.80 ERA over his last four outings (25 innings). Overall, Ray's ERA is down to 2.84 on the season with a 1.20 WHIP and 46:23 K:BB through eight starts (44.1 innings). He'll look to keep rolling in his next outing, currently lined up for next week against the Diamondbacks.

Bryant (back) will undergo an ablation procedure Thursday to help aid in his recovery from a lumbar degenerative disc disease, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

An updated return timeline will likely come out after Bryant goes under the knife, though he will presumably need several weeks to recover before starting up his rehab. The 33-year-old has been on the injured list since mid-April and was slashing just .154/.195/.205 when healthy.

Crow-Armstrong went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the Giants.

Crow-Armstrong plated Chicago's only run of the afternoon on his 11th double of the season in the fourth inning. The speedy outfielder is off to a good start in 2025 with a .265 batting average and .840 OPS through 38 games. Crow-Armstrong also leads the Cubs with 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts, and his nine home runs are tied with Seiya Suzuki and Kyle Tucker for the team high.

Nootbaar went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI in Wednesday's 5-0 win over the Pirates.

After beginning May mired in a 2-for-24 slump, Nootbaar broke out against Pittsburgh righty Mitch Keller. The three knocks were a season high for the 27-year-old outfielder, and he sports a .246/.374/.408 slash line through 37 games with five homers, four steals, 19 RBI and 24 runs while exclusively hitting leadoff for the Cards.

Gray (4-1) picked up the win Wednesday, scattering two hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings in a 5-0 victory. He struck out eight.

In his best performance of the season so far, Gray only allowed one baserunner to get into scoring position, and that came when a catcher's interference call put Andrew McCutchen on board after what would have been strike three in the fourth inning. Gray racked up 30 called or swinging strikes over 89 pitches (60 total strikes) in his fourth quality start of the year, and he'll take a 3.50 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 47:11 K:BB through 46.1 innings into his next outing, which is scheduled to come on the road early next week in Philadelphia.

Hoerner went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the Giants.

Hoerner was one of Chicago's lone offensive bright spots Wednesday, as he recorded half of the team's hits and the only run. The infielder has been mostly a singles hitter this year, with only eight extra-base hits and no home runs among his 38 hits overall, but he's still been fairly productive with a .281 batting average. Hoerner has also chipped in seven stolen bases in nine attempts, which is his main source of fantasy value.

Woodruff (shoulder) allowed two earned runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out six in his latest rehab start at Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday.

Making the fifth start of his rehab assignment, Woodruff built up to 83 pitches (60 strikes) and displayed a fastball that topped out at 94.4 miles per hour. He's in the final stages of his recovery from September 2023 right shoulder capsule surgery, which kept him out for the entire 2024 season. Per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, Woodruff will either make one more rehab start with Nashville or return from the 15-day injured list to make his 2025 debut with the Brewers, which would likely fall next week in Cleveland.

The Dodgers recalled Sauer from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

Though he was optioned to Triple-A after tossing five innings of one-run ball while working in bulk relief in last Tuesday's win over the Marlins, Sauer was able to rejoin the Dodgers before the minimum 15 days lapsed because Los Angeles placed reliever Evan Phillips (forearm) on the injured list in a corresponding move. Los Angeles had an opening in its six-man rotation for Wednesday's game in Miami, but the Dodgers turned to Landon Knack to start rather than Sauer, who will be available in relief for the series finale.