MLB Player News

Kopech won't make his scheduled start Sunday against the Athletics for rest purposes, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Manager Pedro Grifol indicated earlier in the week the right-hander could get some extended rest after lasting fewer than five frames for the third straight start last Tuesday, and the skipper has opted to give Touki Toussaint the ball to start Sunday's series finale in Oakland. Kopech has been a solid rotation piece for Chicago with a 4.08 ERA and 10.2 K/9 this season, but the organization is looking to give him some extra rest with the All-Star break on the horizon given his limited workload over the past few years while returning from injuries.

Mozzicato was promoted from Single-A Columbia to High-A Quad Cities on Sunday.

Despite missing a month on the injured list, Mozzicato showed growth in his second year at Single-A, posting a 3.04 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 85:34 K:BB over 56.1 innings. The southpaw will now get a new challenge at High-A, likely for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. While he still has youth and a good prospect pedigree on his side, Mozzicato will need to work on trimming back his walk rate as he works up the Royals' system.

Eovaldi (10-3) earned the win Saturday, allowing two hits and four walks over seven scoreless innings against Houston. He struck out five.

Eovaldi tossed at least seven scoreless innings for the fourth time this year and picked up his 10th win. Aside from some issues with his velocity, the veteran's first season in Texas has been phenomenal thus far, as he sports career-best marks in ERA (2.64) and WHIP (0.99) across 17 starts. With Jacob deGrom (elbow) set to miss the remainder of the season, Eovaldi is now the ace of the Rangers' rotation and will look to continue putting up dominating performances. His next start is projected for a three-game set against his former team, the Red Sox.

Bradish (4-4) took the loss Saturday, allowing one run on seven hits and one walk over six innings against the Twins. He struck out seven.

The right-hander surrendered a solo homer to Joey Gallo during the fourth inning and otherwise kept Minnesota off the board, but that was enough to be saddled with the loss since Bailey Ober countered with seven scoreless frames. Bradish has given up just six total runs in his last four starts and has a 23:5 K:BB across 25 innings during that span. The 26-year-old tentatively projects for a road matchup with the Yankees his next time out.

Brown (6-5) allowed three earned runs on 10 hits and no walks while striking out six across four innings to take the loss Saturday against the Rangers.

Brown was in a tough matchup against one of the better lineups in the league. He avoided the long ball, but the Rangers constantly had runners on base. That inflated Brown's pitch count and forced him into a subpar outing. After an excellent start to the season, Brown has a 4.86 ERA and 1.35 WHIP across his last six outings and 33.1 frames.

Ober (5-4) earned the win Saturday against the Orioles after he allowed just two hits and no walks across seven scoreless innings. He struck out eight.

The 27-year-old needed only 85 pitches to get through seven frames, and the Minnesota bullpen maintained a 1-0 advantage to give him his second win in his past eight starts. Despite the lack of victories during that stretch, Ober has pitched well of late with quality starts in five of his last six outings, and he has a 37:4 K:BB during that six-start span. A rematch at home versus Baltimore likely awaits next weekend for the right-hander.

Miller, who exited Friday's start against the Rays with a blister on his right middle finger, may be forced to miss his next turn through the rotation, Brandon Gustafson of SeattleSports.com reports. "We're concerned," manager Scott Servais said. "We'll be hopeful he'll make his next start, but right now it's up in the air."

Miller would line up to face the Giants on Wednesday for his final pre-All-Star-break start, and despite the rookie's initial optimism after exiting the game Friday, he could be looking at a shutdown that extends through the Midsummer Classic. Servais explained prior to Saturday's game that Miller's finger was still very sore, adding that although the right-hander was receiving treatment designed to get his nail down, a lot would be determined by whether he was dealing with pockets of blood below the surface. Given Miller's importance to Seattle's injury-hampered rotation, the team may well err on the side of caution and take full advantage of the extended layoff afforded by the upcoming pause in play to try and get him back to full health. Servais stated he expected to have a firmer grasp on Miller's progress after Sunday's series finale versus the Rays, which could tee up an early-week decision on Wednesday's starter.

Kikuchi (7-3) took the loss Saturday, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks over 4.1 innings against Boston. He struck out seven.

Kikuchi was first victimized by a two-run home run from Rafael Devers in the top of the third to put the Blue Jays down 2-1. He would again run into trouble in the fifth after giving up a leadoff single to Rob Refsnyder, surrendering another three runs in the inning on four hits as Boston added to its lead. It marked the lefty's first loss since May 24 against the Rays, which was also the last time he allowed five runs in a start this season. Kikuchi had made it through at least six innings in each of his previous two starts and now sports a 40:8 K:BB since the start of June following his seven-strikeout performance.

Crawford (3-4) earned the win Saturday, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks over 5.2 innings against the Blue Jays. He struck out five.

Crawford gave up a leadoff home run to George Springer to open the bottom of the first but was able to keep his composure, allowing just one more run over the next 4.2 innings, which again came on the long ball. The right-hander produced 14 swinging strikes on the afternoon while recording five strikeouts for the third time in his last four starts. Crawford has now won two of his last three decisions, though he's also allowed two home runs in back-back-back starts after not allowing more than one in any of his appearances since April 3 against the Pirates.

Severino (1-3) took the loss Saturday, allowing nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits and three walks over four innings against St. Louis. He struck out two.

Severino ran into trouble in the bottom of the third, allowing back-to-back singles to open the frame before surrendering a three-run homer to Paul Goldschmidt. But the right-hander's troubles didn't end there as the Cardinals went on to add another two runs in the inning and two more in the fourth. The seven earned runs allowed tied his season high and Severino has now lost three of his last four decisions. He's also walked at least three batters while giving up at least seven hits in three of his last four starts.