MLB Player News

Carrasco (illness) tossed a scoreless inning Monday in his rehab outing for Double-A Akron. He worked around a walk and struck out a batter in the 16-pitch appearance.

Carrasco's appearance was his first at any level since he was diagnosed in June with acute myeloid leukemia. The right-hander entered the contest for Akron in the sixth inning and will likely continue to work out of the bullpen throughout his rehab assignment, as the Indians intend to deploy him in relief once he's reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The expected move to relief lowers Carrasco's overall fantasy ceiling, but he showed Monday that he could become a useful late-inning weapon. According to Duane Cross of MiLB.com, Carrasco opened the outing with a 97 mile-per-hour fastball, which is almost three ticks better than his average offering as a starter this season (94.1, per Brooks Baseball).

Kikuchi will have his next start skipped for rest purposes, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

Kikuchi has received periodic rest throughout his first MLB campaign but it hasn't done him much good. He's posted a 5.19 ERA and 1.44 WHIP with a 103:43 K:BB over 135.1 innings, so the Mariners will give him another breather. Justus Sheffield will start in Kikuchi's place Friday night against Toronto.

Cole (hamstring) is listed as the Astros' probable starter for Thursday's game against the Tigers.

The Astros seemingly have no lingering concern about Cole's sore right hamstring after he completed a bullpen session Monday without incident. Though he was never placed on the 10-day injured list, Cole ended up missing just over two weeks as a result of the hamstring issue. Houston demoted Rogelio Armenteros to Triple-A Round Rock over the weekend to open a spot back up in the rotation for Cole.

Kluber underwent an MRI on Monday and was diagnosed with an internal oblique strain.

Following this diagnosis, the timetable for Kluber's return is unknown, though he's been shut down from throwing and will be re-evaluated in two weeks to determine whether he's ready to begin a rehab program. He suffered the injury during a rehab start for Triple-A Columbus on Sunday.

Boyd was placed on the paternity list Tuesday.

Boyd will be away from the team for the next few days while on the paternity list, though he should be back in time to make his scheduled start Friday in Minnesota. Tyler Alexander has been recalled from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move.

Milone will serve as the primary pitcher Tuesday against the Rays, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Milone is set to follow Matt Wisler, who's expected to toss an inning or so as the team's opener. Milone picked up the victory in his last appearance, surrendering two runs while fanning three over four innings Thursday against Detroit.

The Angels designated Mejia for assignment Tuesday.

It's the second time this season that Mejia has been removed from the Angels' 40-man roster, as the team had reclaimed him off waivers from the Cardinals earlier this month. The 26-year-old has been hit hard across 24 relief appearances between three teams at the big-league level this season, yielding 23 runs on 32 hits and 17 walks over 25.2 innings.

Means (8-9) took the loss Monday, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks over five innings while striking out four as the Orioles fell 5-4 to the Royals.

The southpaw continues to struggle in the second half. Means is now 1-5 in six starts since the All-Star break with a 7.48 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 19:10 K:BB through 27.2 innings, and Monday's outing was the first time during that stretch he didn't serve up a homer. He'll look to turn things around in his next start Saturday, at home against the Rays.

Heaney will start Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Rangers, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Heaney was initially scheduled to get the ball in Game 2 but will now start the opening game of the twin bill. Jaime Barria, the original Game 1 starter, will be recalled from Triple-A to start Game 2.

Allard threw five innings in a no-decision against the Angels on Monday, giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits over five innings, striking out three and walking two as the Rangers picked up an 8-7 extra-innings victory.

Allard picked up his first big-league win in his last start, but he couldn't keep it rolling, as the Angels blasted him for five of their seven runs in the first inning to ruin any chance he had of salvaging his stat line. He's now yielded 11 earned runs in his 15 innings with the Rangers to leave him with a 6.60 ERA ahead of his next start, which is tabbed for a Saturday road matchup against the White Sox.