MLB Player News

Garrett (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Jacksonville on Sunday, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Garrett was scheduled for a three-inning simulated game earlier this week, which evidently must have gone off without a hitch. He'll next throw four innings with Jacksonville and seems likely to require at least one additional rehab start before rejoining the Miami rotation. The left-hander has been working his way back from a left shoulder impingement.

Edwards is being held out of baseball activities while being treated for a bacterial infection in his left foot, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

It's not clear at this point when he might be cleared for baseball activities again. Edwards is eligible for activation from the injured list next week, but it seems unlikely that he will be ready at that time.

Scott will start in center field and bat leadoff Thursday against the Marlins.

The Cardinals are hamstrung by injuries right now, with normal leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan (elbow) and Willson Contreras (hand) unavailable Thursday and Lars Nootbaar (ribs) and Tommy Edman (wrist) still on the injured list. The domino effect is Scott getting a test drive in the leadoff spot for the home opener, even as the Marlins are starting a lefty in Ryan Weathers. Scott is 3-for-25 with one stolen base in his first seven major-league games.

McDonald is on the injured list at Double-A Richmond with a groin injury, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports.

McDonald is a nice sleeper prospect for dynasty leagues, as he has excellent control and could potentially get to pitch half his games in the pitcher-friendly park in San Francisco. In his age-22 season, McDonald logged a 1.33 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 51 strikeouts in 47.1 innings across 14 appearances in the lower levels of the minors. He averaged 94 mph with his two-seam fastball last year (touching 98 mph) and had a groundball rate north of 70 percent. McDonald also sports a plus curveball, while mixing in a four-seamer and a slider.

Herrera will start at catcher and bat cleanup in Thursday's game against the Marlins.

Herrera will pick up his second straight start behind the plate in Thursday's home opener. Both Herrera and top backstop Willson Contreras -- who served as the Cardinals' designated hitter -- were included in the lineup in Wednesday's loss to the Padres, but Contreras was hit by a pitch in left hand during the contest and is dealing with swelling a day later. Contreras is scheduled to undergo X-rays later Thursday as the Cardinals look to assess whether he's dealing with anything more than inflammation and soreness. For now, Contreras is being viewed as day-to-day, but Herrera could be in line for an extended run as the Cardinals' primary catcher if Contreras' injury is significant enough to force him to the injured list.

Donovan (elbow) won't be in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Marlins, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Donovan was hit twice by pitches during Wednesday's loss to San Diego and had to be removed from the game after taking a sinker off his right elbow. He has played in left field most often to begin the season, so Alec Burleson and Mike Siani will likely receive an increase in playing time while Donovan is out.

Harvey struck out four batters over 1.2 perfect innings to record his second hold of the season in Wednesday's win over the Pirates.

Entering the game with one out in the seventh inning, the right-hander carved up the heart of Pittsburgh's order, with a soft liner back to Harvey from Jack Suwinski being the only ball put into play against him. Harvey got tagged for two runs in his first appearance of the season but has settled down quickly after that, and he sports a 6:1 K:BB through 3.2 innings. Kyle Finnegan is 2-for-3 in save chances so far, but Harvey could be pushing for ninth-inning work before long if he keeps dominating.

Soler went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and two total runs scored in Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Dodgers.

Soler has powered up with homers in back-to-back games, and he has an RBI in each of the last three contests. The slugger is 7-for-25 (.280) with a 5:6 BB:K through seven games this season. Soler displayed better plate discipline with a 24.3 percent strikeouts rate and an 11.6 percent walk rate in 2023, but it's possible he could build on those marks in 2024. His playing time as the Giants' designated hitter has been steady, so he should continue to be heavily involved in run production.

Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix announced Thursday that Perez (elbow) will undergo Tommy John surgery Monday, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Perez was diagnosed with mild inflammation in his right elbow late in spring training and opened the season on the shelf, but he was never shut down from throwing and looked to be tracking toward making his season debut sometime in April. However, after experiencing elbow tightness following a bullpen session Tuesday, Perez met with Dr. Keith Meister, who recommended that the season-ending procedure. Even if no further damage is detected beyond a torn UCL once surgery is performed Monday, the 20-year-old is still likely facing a 14-to-16-month recovery timetable, meaning that he'll be out for a significant portion of the 2025 season as well. The injury is an unfortunate setback for the budding young ace, who disclosed in spring training that he had no history of elbow issues before the inflammation cropped up. He'll join Sandy Alcantara (elbow) among Marlins starters who are out for the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, but Miami should soon get some reinforcement to its rotation with both Edward Cabrera (shoulder) and Braxton Garrett (shoulder) having recently pitched in rehab games.

Vargas went 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and a stolen base in Wednesday's win over the Pirates.

The utility player pinch ran for Victor Robles (hamstring) in the second inning and stayed in the game to play left field, picking up his first RBI, first extra-base hit and first steal of 2024. Vargas has appeared in three games so far and done so at three different positions, also seeing action at second base and third base. His most consistent path to playing time will come as Luis Garcia's platoon partner at the keystone, but after he saw a career-high 286 plate appearances in 2023, Vargas might be headed for an even bigger role this season while bouncing all over the diamond. Whether the 32-year-old does anything with the opportunity is another question, though -- he has a career .248/.289/.368 slash line in the majors.