MLB Player News

Stripling is expected to pitch behind opener Julian Merryweather against the Rays on Wednesday, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star reports.

Merryweather and Stripling are poised to fill the rotation spot of Hyun Jin Ryu (neck), who was placed on the injured list over the weekend. Stripling last pitched Friday and allowed a run over three innings, and he's thrown about 45 pitches in each of his last two outings, so he should have a similar workload Wednesday.

Wacha won't start Wednesday against the Blue Jays after allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts and zero walks in three innings of long relief during Tuesday's loss.

Wacha was penciled in as Wednesday's probable starter, but he instead covered the final three frames of Tuesday's contest for Tampa Bay. The veteran right-hander will be unavailable for the next couple days, and it's unclear if he'll make any more starts down the stretch after surrendering six runs in his previous start. Luis Patino was pushed up in the rotation to start Wednesday's series finale versus Toronto.

Rasmussen pitched five innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out three in Tuesday's loss to the Blue Jays. He did not factor into the decision.

The 26-year-old commanded the strike zone in this one with 52 of his 70 pitches being strikes. The only major blow against him was a solo home run by Lourdes Gurriel in the fifth inning. Since joining the pitching rotation Aug. 12, Rasmussen has posted a fantastic 1.69 ERA and 0.84 WHIP over 32 innings. He's projected to start next against the Astros on Wednesday.

Manoah (7-2) picked up a win after pitching six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and six walks while striking out seven versus the Rays on Monday.

The rookie struggled with his command in this one, walking a career-high six batters. He was able to limit the damage to two RBI singles in the contest, one to Brandon Lowe in the second inning and another to Joey Wendle in the fifth. The 23-year-old has now put together three strong starts in a row after giving up six runs to the Athletics on Sept. 3. Over that stretch he has posted a 2.29 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with 21 strikeouts over 19.2 innings. He's lined up to face the Twins in his next start Sunday.

Garcia (3-2) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win Tuesday against the White Sox. He allowed one walk and struck out one.

Coming off of a productive 2020 campaign in which he posted a 1.66 ERA across 21.2 innings, Garcia has struggled with a 7.50 ERA across 35.2 innings this year. It's been even more of a struggle lately, as the righty had allowed five runs (four earned) in 2.2 innings this month before Tuesday's more encouraging effort. Garcia doesn't miss a ton of bats, so his margin for error is fairly small. He should stick in a middle relief role for the Tigers over the final few weeks of the season.

Lynch (4-6) was charged with the loss against Cleveland on Tuesday after surrendering four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out five across six innings.

Lynch allowed Cleveland to hit hard and hit early. After loading the bases with a pair of walks and a single in the first inning, Lynch earned his first out by sending Franmil Reyes down on strikes, but Yu Chang followed with bases-clearing triple to take a 3-0 lead. The southpaw's final damage of the night came from an Ernie Clement home run in the third. Lynch's first-inning woes are nothing new, as the 24-year-old has given up 19 earned runs in the first frames of his 14 starts. Overall this year, Lynch has compiled a 5.40 ERA and 1.57 WHIP.

Quantrill (7-3) earned the win Tuesday after holding the Royals to one run on seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out six across 6.2 innings.

Quantrill secured his third straight win and his third consecutive quality start with strong command Tuesday. The 26-year-old blanked Kansas City across the first six frames before Hunter Dozier broke through with a solo homer in the seventh. Otherwise, Quantrill was brilliant, pitching into the seventh inning for the sixth outing in a row. The right-hander will carry a 2.82 ERA and 1.18 WHIP into his next turn on the mound.

Manager Bob Melvin announced Tuesday that Kaprielian is no longer slated to start Thursday against Seattle and that the right-hander is likely to move to the bullpen going forward, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Kaprielian was originally scheduled to move to the bullpen last week, but with Daulton Jefferies (elbow) landing on the IL, he remained in the rotation to start Saturday against the Angels. The right-hander posted his strongest outing since late July, allowing just two hits while fanning five across six scoreless innings. While Melvin wouldn't commit 100 percent to him moving to a relief role with Chris Bassitt (face) set to be activated from the IL on Thursday, such a move makes sense considering that Kaprielian has tossed 116 innings this season after failing to reach the 40-inning mark in his previous six professional seasons.

Bassitt (face) will be activated from the 10-day injured list to start Thursday's game against the Mariners, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

James Kaprielian was initially pencilled in to start Thursday's series finale, but manager Bob Melvin announced Tuesday that Bassitt would be activated to toe the rubber instead. The right-hander hasn't pitched since being struck by a comebacker and suffering multiple facial fractures during his start against the White Sox on Aug. 17. He was initially deemed unlikely to return during the regular season, but with him pitching Thursday, he could start as many as three games during Oakland's pivotal 10-game stretch to conclude the season. Per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com, Bassitt's return will probably push Kaprielian to the bullpen, though that decision isn't expected to be made until later in the week. Given his lengthy absence and the fact that he did not go on a minor-league rehab assignment, Bassitt seems near certain to be on a strict pitch count Thursday.

Keuchel gave up two runs on 11 hits and a walk while striking out two across five innings during Tuesday's loss to the Tigers. He did not factor into the decision.

A lack of efficiency hurt Keuchel this time as he needed 95 pitches to complete five innings. Meanwhile, his 11 hits allowed were a season worst. Akil Baddoo was Keuchel's biggest enemy of the day with two RBI singles, accounting for all the damage. The lefty will bring a 5.18 ERA and 1.50 WHIP into his next projected start Sunday at Cleveland.