MLB Player News

Wells (3-1) earned the win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out eight batters over seven scoreless innings.

Wells was fantastic in the victory, giving up just one hit -- a second-inning single. He retired 17 straight batters after that base knock before appearing to run out of steam with back-to-back two-out walks in the seventh frame. Wells racked up an impressive 18 swinging strikes and punched out a career-high eight batters in his second quality start of the campaign. The right-hander is in the midst of a career-best season, posting a 2.68 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 39:9 K:BB over 42 innings.

Sale did not factor into the decision Saturday, allowing one run on three hits and one walk over eight innings against St. Louis. He struck out nine.

Sale turned back the clock Saturday, giving up one run across eight innings while approaching his season high in strikeouts (11). The lone blemish for Sale came in the seventh frame, when Nolan Arenado tagged him for a solo home run. However, Sale's chances for a victory were ruined by Kenley Jansen, who walked a trio of batters and blew a 3-1 lead in the top of the ninth inning. Though Sale holds a 5.40 ERA, which would be a career high, he has provided fantasy managers with a high strikeout rate (11.3 K/9) to offset the struggles with damage control.

Kaprielian (0-3) took the loss Saturday, allowing three runs on six hits and one walk over seven innings in a 5-0 loss to the Rangers. He struck out seven.

Kaprielian rejoined the Athletics from Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday and immediately took the mound against Texas. After giving up 18 runs across his first three starts (13.1 innings) for Oakland this season, Kaprielian was pushed to the bullpen. He managed just three relief appearances before being sent down to the minors, giving up five runs over 2.2 innings. Despite the shift to the pen, Kaprielian was fully stretched out Saturday, throwing 104 pitches over seven innings. Though he gave up only three runs while striking out seven, the A's offense was shut out by Jon Gray and John King, handing Kaprielian his third loss of the season. Though the start was a sign of life for the 29-year-old, it's not a sure thing that Kaprielian remains a part of Oakland's pitching rotation moving forward.

Gray (3-1) earned the win Saturday, allowing three hits and two walks over eight scoreless innings against Oakland. He struck out five.

Gray picked up his second straight quality start, blanking the lowly Athletics across eight innings after allowing one run over seven innings in his previous start. Though the 31-year-old has strung together a pair of strong performances and has yet to allow more than four runs in a start, Gray sports only a 6.31 K/9 so far, down from his 2022 average of 9.47 K/9 and 2021 average of 9.48 K/9 while giving up 1.39 HR/9, which would match his career high. Gray has had significantly more success against right-handed hitting, allowing a slash line of .212/.278/.364 compared to a .275/.366/.478 to lefties.

McCullers (forearm) threw another bullpen session Saturday, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McCullers has been out all season while working back from a strained forearm. He's thrown multiple bullpen sessions but is not yet at full strength. His velocity sat 89-91 mph in Saturday's session, down significantly from his average of 93.3 mph last year. He's also still only throwing four-seamers, changeups and sinkers, with cutters expected to follow Tuesday and his breaking pitches sometime after that.

Whitlock (elbow) will make at least two rehab starts before the Red Sox decide whether or not to activate him from the injured list, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

Whitlock was hoping to a minimum-length stay when he hit the injured list with ulnar neuritis in late April, but he'll end up missing something close to a month, at least. He's scheduled for starts Tuesday and next Sunday, which means he'd be on schedule to return May 26 against the Diamondbacks.

Rodon (back) has begun physical activities over the last two days and will have his readiness to begin a throwing program assessed Saturday, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.

Injuries have thus far prevented Rodon from getting his Yankees career off the ground, including both a forearm strain and chronic back issues. The back problem is the primary one at this point, but he's at least been able to take one small step toward his return after receiving a cortisone shot in early May. His return timeline should become clearer once it's revealed whether or not he's ready to begin throwing.

Crawford (hamstring) is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list Friday in San Diego, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

He will follow Garrett Whitlock (elbow) in a rehab outing Tuesday with Triple-A Worcester, with his next appearance expected to come out of the big-league bullpen. Crawford has been effective in long relief and logged a 1.25 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 21.1 innings across his six most recent MLB appearances.

Sears' start has been pushed to Sunday vs. the Rangers, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

James Kaprielian, who was just recalled from Triple-A, will slot into Mason Miller's (elbow) spot in the rotation Saturday, pushing everyone else back a day. Sears will matchup against Andrew Heaney on Sunday.

Kaprielian will start Saturday's game against the Rangers, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The team will push its other five starters back a day and stick with a six-man rotation despite Mason Miller (elbow) landing on the shelf. Kaprielian was just recalled from Triple-A, where he made two strong starts after struggling to a 12.94 ERA in 16 MLB innings prior to getting demoted.