MLB Player News

Castellanos departed Thursday's game against the Giants at the start of the seventh inning due to left hip flexor tightness, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

With Castellanos leaving early, Max Kepler moved to right field and Edmundo Sosa entered the game in left field. After the game, it was revealed that Castellanos should be good to play Friday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports. It seems the outfielder will not miss time as he comes off his first career 162 games played season.

Williams (1-2) was charged with the loss Thursday in Pittsburgh after he allowed one run on three hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out five.

The right-hander served up a leadoff homer to Oneil Cruz in the bottom of the first inning, which was all it would take to be saddled with the loss. The performance was still a major step forward for Williams, who surrendered 12 runs across his first three starts of the season. A home matchup with the Orioles likely awaits next week.

Santana struck out a batter and didn't allow a baserunner in two-thirds of an inning to earn the save in Thursday's 1-0 win against Washington.

Southpaw Ryan Borucki stayed in for the start of the ninth inning to face the lefty-hitting Nathaniel Lowe, but Santana was called upon to secure the final two outs of the combined shutout. Both relievers have received a look in save situations since the demotion of David Bednar at the start of April, but Borucki blew his only ninth-inning chance while Santana is 2-for-2 in converting save opportunities. The 29-year-old righty has pitched well early in 2025 with a 2.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 5:3 K:BB over nine innings.

Miller (hip) struck out two over a scoreless inning during a rehab appearance with Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday.

The Cubs placed Miller on the 15-day injured list March 25 due to a left hip impingement, an injury that had been affecting his delivery while pitching. Now that he's resumed pitching at Triple-A, Miller has seemingly moved past the injury, though he'll still likely need to make another appearance or two in the minors before the Cubs activate him from the IL. Miller excelled while working as a setup man and in middle relief between stops with the Mariners and Cubs in 2024, registering a 2.32 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 54:11 K:BB to go with 13 holds, five wins and one save over 62 innings.

Assad (oblique) struck out four and allowed one earned run on four hits and one walk over 3.1 innings in a rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Iowa.

Assad has been on the shelf all season after suffering a left oblique strain early in spring training, but he's now reached the final phase of his recovery process. He tossed 66 pitches in Tuesday's outing and is expected to increase his workload in another start with Iowa on Sunday. If all goes well in his second rehab appearance, Assad could return from the 15-day injured list as soon as next weekend. It's not clear if Assad would immediately supplant Ben Brown or Colin Rea for a spot at the back end of the Chicago rotation once he's activated.

Triple-A Rochester placed Ogasawara on its 7-day injured list Thursday with an oblique injury, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.

Ogasawara retains a spot on the Nationals' 40-man roster after signing a two-year, $3.5 million deal in January, but he was unable to win a spot in the Opening Day rotation and is still waiting to make his MLB debut. He supplied a 4.80 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 12:4 K:BB over 15 innings through his first three starts with Rochester before going down with the oblique injury.

Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk, a solo homer and a stolen base during Thursday's 1-0 win over the Nationals.

After launching a decisive grand slam in Wednesday's victory, Cruz provided all the offense in Thursday's contest with a 442-foot blast to right-center field in the opening frame. The 26-year-old struck out twice and has a .228 batting average and 29.6 percent strikeout rate through 17 games this year, but he's still provided plenty of production with four homers and a league-leading nine steals.

Heaney (1-1) earned the win Thursday against the Nationals after giving up five hits and two walks over 7.1 scoreless innings. He struck out four.

The left-hander generated just nine swinging strikes on 95 pitches but scattered four singles and a double to pick up his first win of the campaign. Heaney surrendered four runs during his previous start in Cincinnati, but he's otherwise been dominant so far this season with a 2.13 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 22:6 K:BB across 25.1 innings.

Perdomo went 1-for-2 with two walks, a stolen base, two RBI and a run scored in Thursday's 6-4 win at Miami.

After launching his third homer of the season Wednesday -- already matching his 2024 total -- Perdomo followed it up with another productive performance in Thursday's series finale. The shortstop has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball early in 2025, as he's tied for fifth in MLB with 18 RBI and has a .317/.427/.492 slash line through 84 plate appearances.

Winn (back) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis on Friday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Winn has ramped up his baseball activities this week and is ready to test things out in a game setting. Barring a setback, he is on pace to be activated from the 10-day injured list when first eligible Tuesday. Winn has missed nearly a week of action with lower-back spasms.