MLB Player News

Cecconi (3-4) earned the win Monday against the Tigers, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks in 7.1 innings. He struck out four.

The 26-year-old right-hander delivered perhaps his finest performance of the year, spinning a season-high 7.1 frames in what was only his second quality start thus far. Cecconi has still been highly erratic for the Guardians overall, giving up at least four runs in five of his 10 starts while surrendering two or fewer in the other half. Despite Monday's showing, Cecconi might still be tough to trust when he brings a 5.16 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 42:19 K:BB over 52.1 innings into a difficult road assignment against the Phillies.

Valdez (2-3) took the loss Monday against the Guardians, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out three.

The 32-year-old left-hander was mostly ineffective Monday, inducing just four whiffs while falling one walk short of his season worst. Valdez has been a boom-or-bust fantasy player so far in 2026, as he's given up two runs or fewer in seven starts while yielding at least four in the other three. He'll be searching for some consistency during his next scheduled outing in Baltimore, where Valdez will carry a lackluster 4.58 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 45:21 K:BB over 55 innings.

Weathers didn't factor into the decision Monday against the Blue Jays, allowing five runs on seven hits and no walks with seven strikeouts across 5.1 innings.

Weathers didn't have his best stuff against Toronto, as he was burned by the long ball in this one. The left-hander served up a three-run shot to Ernie Clement in the fourth inning before George Springer took him deep for a solo shot in the fifth. While the results weren't great, Weathers has continued to flourish from a K:BB perspective. This was his third walk-less start of the season, and he's now struck out a career-high 4.7 batters for every issued walk. He's in the 90th percentile in strikeout rate, and through nine starts, Weathers owns a 3.58 ERA and 61:13 K:BB across 50.2 innings. He's lined up to take his next turn through the rotation against the Rays over the weekend.

Baez (elbow) was activated from the 7-day injured list Tuesday.

Baez missed the start of the 2026 campaign due to an elbow injury. He's appeared in two games since being activated, allowing seven runs on six hits and four walks while striking out eight across 4.2 innings.

Gore was removed from his start Monday against the Rockies due to left lat tightness, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports. He allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two over one inning before departing.

Gore dove for a slow grounder to the third-base side in his lone inning and appeared to be shaken up on the play, though it's unclear if he suffered the injury while pursuing the grounder or had already been pitching through the issue. He can be considered day-to-day until the Rangers have more information to share on his availability moving forward.

Castillo is slated to piggyback starting pitcher Bryce Miller during Tuesday's game against the White Sox, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports.

Castillo will be making the first relief appearance of his MLB career Tuesday after going 1-4 with a 6.34 ERA and 1.57 WHIP through his first nine starts of the season. Since Miller covered 5.1 innings in his 2026 Mariners debut last week in Houston following his return from the injured list, manager Dan Wilson is likely to let Miller work as long as he's effective against the White Sox. With that in mind, Castillo's innings projection for Tuesday is highly variable, and how he and Miller both perform could determine how Seattle sets up its rotation moving forward. If Miller comes through with a strong outing Tuesday, he'll likely draw another start the next time the fifth spot in the rotation comes up, while Castillo could be thrust into a more flexible bullpen role on a longer-term basis.

Matz (elbow) will return from the 15-day injured list to start Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Matz came out of a bullpen session Sunday with no concerns, clearing the path for his return. The veteran southpaw didn't make any rehab starts while he was on the shelf, but since he was on the IL for the minimum amount of time, he may have only a light workload restriction in his return to action Wednesday. Matz posted a 3.86 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 28:13 K:BB over 37.1 innings covering his first seven starts for the Rays before going down with left elbow inflammation.

The Astros recalled Alexander from Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday.

Alexander has been battered for 10 runs over 6.1 innings across his two relief outings in the majors this season. The righty will provide some length in the bullpen.

Scherzer (forearm/thumb/ankle) threw a 20-pitch bullpen session Monday, Jorge Castillo of ESPN.com reports.

Scherzer is working his way back from ankle, forearm and thumb issues and required cortisone injections to combat each of the latter two injuries. He will continue ramping up his throwing as his body allows, but a timeline for his return won't be available until he gets farther along. Scherzer has been sidelined since late April.

Manager Aaron Boone said Monday that the Yankees are discussing the possibility of activating Cole (elbow) from the 15-day injured list and having him make his season debut this weekend against the Rays, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.

The Yankees had previously planned for Cole to make one more rehab start this week, but that was before the right-hander struck out six over 5.1 innings of one-run ball in his latest rehab outing with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. Elmer Rodriguez -- who had been filling the final slot in the Yankees rotation -- was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier Monday, seemingly clearing the path for Cole's season debut, which would likely fall on Friday. Cole got his pitch count up to 86 on Sunday, so he's sufficiently stretched out. He's coming back from Tommy John surgery with an internal brace that he underwent in March 2025.