MLB Player News

Junis (personal) was activated from the paternity list ahead of his scheduled start against the Indians on Friday.

Junis is back with the Royals after spending the past two days on paternity leave. The right-hander will look to continue his strong start to the second half of the season Friday, as he is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 17:5 K:BB in two starts (13 innings) since the All-Star break. Jake Newberry was sent to the minors in a corresponding move.

Swanson served as the opener in a win over the Tigers on Thursday and fired two scoreless innings during which he allowed a walk and recorded three strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision.

It took a matchup against the most offensively inept team in the majors, but Swanson was at least able to get a rare taste of success. The 25-year-old has been better since returning to the majors after allowing a total of 15 earned runs over 7.2 innings across his last two starts before a May 17 demotion. Factoring in Thursday's outing, Swanson has surrendered three earned runs over six innings while serving as an opener on three occasions following a July 16 promotion.

Manaea (shoulder) is likely to make only two more rehab starts for Triple-A Las Vegas before activation, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Manaea took his share of lumps in his most recent rehab start with Triple-A Las Vegas on Wednesday, but there were also plenty of positives to be gleaned. Gallegos reports that Manaea's control (7:1 K:BB) and velocity (89 mph) were two aspects of the performance that pleased manager Bob Melvin. Furthermore, the Athletics' skipper also made it a point to emphasize the extremely hitter-friendly conditions at the Aviators' home park when taking the three home runs Manaea allowed into account. The southpaw is set to make another start with Las Vegas on Monday and approach 90 pitches, an outing that would be followed with a 100-pitch appearance later that week. Absent any major setbacks in that pair of starts, Manaea is expected to join the Oakland rotation during the second week of August.

Beeks is a candidate to log starts during the absence of Blake Snell (elbow), Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Beeks has scuffled on occasion, such as in his outing last Monday when he allowed eight earned runs on seven hits to the Red Sox. However, the southpaw has acquitted himself well overall this season, posting a 5-1 record, 3.69 ERA, two holds and one save. The 26-year-old has only logged one official start this season, but he has plenty of multi-inning stints on his ledger from his work as a primary/bulk reliever.

Yarbrough is one of the leading candidates to log starts during the absence of Blake Snell (elbow), Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports. The lefty is expected, however, to work as a bulk reliever behind opener Diego Castillo in his next scheduled turn Friday in Toronto, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Yarbrough is naturally well stretched out after filling a variety of roles thus far this season, including spot starter. The 27-year-old southpaw has put together a respectable 3.93 ERA and stellar 0.93 WHIP while posting an 8-3 record across 16 appearances (five starts) at the big-league level in 2019.

Jurado (6-6) picked up the win against the Athletics on Thursday, giving up three earned runs on three hits over seven innings, striking out six and walking two as the Rangers took an 11-3 victory.

Jurado had been knocked around for five earned in each of his last two starts, but he bounced back with an excellent outing in this contest, limiting Oakland to just three hits on the evening before departing with the Rangers comfortably ahead. The solid performance moves the 23-year-old's ERA to 4.83 and his WHIP to 1.39 through 82 innings ahead of his next scheduled start, which will see him take on the Mariners at home on Wednesday.

VerHagen (1-1) took the loss against the Mariners on Thursday, giving up seven runs (six earned) on six hits over four innings, striking out four and walking four in a 10-2 defeat for the Tigers.

VerHagen was called up from Triple-A Toledo to start the contest, and it didn't go well, as he was shelled by Seattle for six earned before departing the contest after just four innings and 82 pitches. The right-hander didn't bolster his case for another turn in the rotation, so he could himself back in Triple-A shortly.

Payano will start Sunday's game against Oakland, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Payano picked up his first big-league win Tuesday, and he'll get at least one more chance to take the mound while Joe Palumbo deals with right ankle tendinitis. Payano has appeared in two games this season for the Rangers, surrendering just one run while fanning seven over six innings.

Betances (lat) threw from 90 feet Thursday, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.

Betances picked up a throwing program last week, and Thursday's session marked the first time he was able to throw from 90 feet since suffering a setback in his recovery in mid-June. Seeing as the big right-hander has been sidelined all season with a lingering shoulder injury, his rehab will likely last multiple more weeks before the Yankees contemplate activating him from the 60-day injured list.

Solomon is recovering from Tommy John surgery, J.J. Cooper of Baseball America reports.

He suffered the injury in April and will be out until late in the 2020 season, at the earliest. Solomon, a fourth-round pick in 2017, was a promising starting pitching prospect but will be 24 years old when he is back pitching in games and has yet to pitch above High-A.