MLB Player News

Greinke (3-0) picked up the win Thursday against the Rangers, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk across six innings. He fanned nine.

After being spotted a 4-0 lead in the first inning, Greinke was able to punch out nine on his way to a quality start. The veteran right-hander has yet to take a loss or allow more than three runs in any of his eight starts this season. With Gerrit Cole departing to the Yankees last offseason and Justin Verlander out with a forearm injury, Greinke has done a fantastic job of stepping up at the top of the Astros' rotation. He's slated to start one of the games of Tuesday's doubleheader against Oakland.

Greinke (3-0) picked up the win Thursday against the Rangers, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk across six innings. He fanned nine.

After being spotted a 4-0 lead in the first inning, Greinke was able to punch out nine on his way to a quality start. The veteran right-hander has yet to take a loss or allow more than three runs in any of his eight starts this season. With Gerrit Cole departing to the Yankees last offseason and Justin Verlander out with a forearm injury, Greinke has done a fantastic job of stepping up at the top of the Astros' rotation. He's slated to start one of the games of Tuesday's doubleheader against Oakland.

Kickuchi will start Friday's game against the Rangers, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

With all three of their games against the A's being postponed this week, the Mariners took the opportunity to shuffle their rotation ahead of the set against the Rangers. Kikuchi will open the series, with Justus Sheffield, Justin Dunn and Marco Gonzales to follow.

Paxton (forearm) began his throwing program Thursday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

He played catch in what marks the first steps of him building back up. The Yankees hope that Paxton can be back to make a start or two at the end of the month so that they can figure out what he will be able to provide them with in the postseason, but it's unclear how realistic that timetable is.

Manager Dusty Baker said Thursday that he expects Bielak and Jose Urquidy (undisclosed) to make starts in Saturday's doubleheader against the Angels in some order, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Baker suggested Wednesday that Cy Sneed and Luis Garcia were candidates to make starts in the twin bill, but Urquidy apparently impressed in his throwing session Thursday, leaving Houston optimistic he'll be ready to make his season debut this weekend. Meanwhile, Bielak will be given another chance to redeem himself after two rough outings in a row, during which he recorded only six outs while giving up 11 runs (10 earned) on eight hits and four walks. Assuming Urquidy feels fine coming out of his start, he should permanently take over as the fifth member of Houston's rotation, likely bumping Bielak to the bullpen next week as a result. If Bielak shows improved form in Saturday's outing, he would at least cement himself as the next man up to start if a rotation spot should reopen at some point.

Manager Dusty Baker said that Urquidy (undisclosed) would likely start one game of Saturday's doubleheader with the Angels in Houston, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Urquidy finally looks ready to make his 2020 debut after he was absent for all of summer camp due to the unspecified issue. The 25-year-old reported to the Astros' alternate site in Corpus Christi in late July and has spent the past month getting his arm built up to handle a starter's workload. The Astros had Urquidy rejoin the big club for workouts this week, with Baker noting that the right-hander looked good during Thursday's session. Like most pitchers making their first start of the season, Urquidy will presumably have a workload restriction Saturday, so those rostering him in fantasy leagues shouldn't plan on him tossing more than five innings or 75 pitches. Brandon Bielak is expected to start the other end of the doubleheader.

Keuchel (illness) will make his next start Sunday against the Royals, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

During his last start Tuesday against the Twins, Keuchel pitched effectively over five innings, but manager Rick Renteria elected to pull the southpaw early while he dealt with a stomach ailment. The fact that the White Sox are already listing Keuchel as a probable starter for the series finale in Kansas City suggests the team doesn't believe the illness will affect his availability heading into the weekend.

Teheran didn't factor into the decision in Wednesday's game between the Angels and the Padres. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while fanning two across five innings.

Teheran matched his season-high mark for innings and his season-low mark for runs allowed so, based on what he's done in 2020, this was a positive start for the former Braves hurler. That said, he has posted a 7.94 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 22.2 innings this season -- both figures would be career-worst marks for him -- and still has a long way to go before he can be considered a trustworthy starting candidate in mixed leagues.

Eovaldi (calf) could come off the 10-day injured list to start Sunday against the Blue Jays, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

The Red Sox had been hoping Eovaldi might start Saturday, but they pushed those plans to wait and see how he responds to a bullpen session that is scheduled for Thursday. Eovaldi hasn't pitched since Aug. 20 due to a right calf strain.

Bielak is one of three pitchers that manager Dusty Baker could start in one of Saturday's doubleheader games, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Bielak's hold on a spot in the rotation became tenuous following a two-start run in which he allowed 11 runs over two innings. In addition to Bielak, the manager mentioned Cy Sneed and Luis Garcia as potential starters.