MLB Player News

Richards will serve as the Blue Jays' opening pitcher in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader with the Orioles, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Richards will be picking up his fourth "start" of the season, but because he hasn't recorded more than seven outs in any of his 61 appearances with the Blue Jays, he's unlikely to face any hitter more than one time. Once Richards exits the contest, the Blue Jays will have one of Casey Lawrence, Mitch White and Yusei Kikuchi available as a potential bulk-relief option. The Blue Jays will then likely save two of those pitchers to cover the majority of the innings in Game 2.

The Blue Jays recalled Lawrence from Triple-A Buffalo and appointed him as their 29th man for Wednesday's doubleheader with the Orioles.

Reliever Trevor Richards is scheduled to serve as the Blue Jays' opening pitcher for Game 1, but Lawrence is expected to enter the contest behind him and will likely serve as a bulk reliever for Toronto. Lawrence has made each of his five appearances with Toronto this season out of the bullpen, but he had been a member of the Buffalo rotation prior to his call-up. He closed the Triple-A season by covering at least five innings in six of his final seven outings while generating a 3.90 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 24:2 K:BB across 32.1 frames.

The Orioles recalled Vespi from Triple-A Norfolk and designated him as their 29th man for Wednesday's doubleheader with the Blue Jays, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.

Vespi will give the Orioles some extra coverage out of the bullpen as the team wraps up its season with a twin bill. In 24 relief appearances with Baltimore on the season, the 26-year-old rookie owns a 4.21 ERA and 1.36 WHIP across 25.2 innings.

Lamet allowed one hit across two scoreless innings with four strikeouts to earn a hold Tuesday against the Dodgers.

Lamet was claimed off waivers Aug. 5 and has stuck in the majors since, appearing in 19 games for the Rockies. He's pitched primarily in low-leverage situations, though he has racked up three holds and also worked multiple innings four times. All told, Lamet maintained a 4.05 ERA with a 29:10 K:BB across 20 innings during his time with Colorado.

Bard saved Tuesday's 5-2 win against the Dodgers, tossing a 1-2-3 ninth inning without a strikeout.

Bard made quick work of the Dodgers in the ninth inning, needing just six pitches to secure his second save in three days against Los Angeles. The 37-year-old threw 35 pitches Sunday, so Tuesday's punctual outing was necessary and could keep him in the mix to pitch again during Wednesday's season finale. Bard's scoreless inning streak is now at 15, with his last earned run coming Aug. 26.

Manager Dave Roberts said Treinen (shoulder) is scheduled to throw to batters Wednesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

The 34-year-old returned to mound work over the weekend and is now poised to face hitters a few days later. According to Roberts, Treinen could be included on the roster for the NLDS next week if the righty's rehab continues to progress smoothly.

Poche suffered a strained right oblique during Tuesday's loss to the Red Sox and will miss the rest of the season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Poche retired only one of the five batters he faced and allowed four runs before he exited Tuesday's contest, and he'll now miss the rest of the year with the oblique injury. The left-hander had seven saves and 23 holds with a 3.99 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 64:22 K:BB over 58.2 innings during 2022.

Fleming will be recalled from Triple-A Durham to start Wednesday against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The left-hander has a 6.23 ERA, 1.91 WHIP and 25:12 K:BB across 30.1 innings with the Rays this season, and he'll rejoin the big club for the final game of the regular season. Tampa Bay is already locked in to face the Guardians in the wild-card round Friday, so Fleming could have some extra leash compared to his previous outings.

Manaea (8-9) earned the win during Tuesday's 6-2 victory over San Francisco, allowing one hit and one walk with six strikeouts across six scoreless innings.

Manaea put the first two Giants he faced on base before retiring the next 18 batters in order to finish with a 75 game score, his best mark since hist first start of the season April 8. The 29-year-old pounded the zone with 50 of an efficient 66 pitches going for strikes, and he undoubtedly would've worked deeper if a playoff appearance for the team wasn't looming. Prior to Tuesday's victory, Manaea had gone 0-3 with an 8.18 ERA in 22 innings across his last six starts, with San Diego falling in each contest. He concludes 2022 with a 4.96 ERA and 1.30 WHIP -- the worst and second-worst marks of his career, respectively -- with 156 strikeouts in 158 innings across 28 starts and 30 appearances.

Winder (4-6) allowed four runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batsman while striking out two over 2.1 innings, taking the loss Tuesday versus the White Sox.

Winder wasn't at his best in his last outing of the year. The White Sox did all their damage against him in the third inning, though it could have been worse had Aaron Sanchez not gotten a double play to end the threat in that frame. The rookie right-hander finished the campaign with a 4.70 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 47:18 K:BB across 67 innings spanning 15 appearances (11 starts) at the major-league level. He failed to complete five innings in four of his five outings after a recall to the big leagues in September.