MLB Player News

Sale will start Friday against the Yankees, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

As expected, Sale will get the ball Friday after his scheduled start Thursday was postponed due to rain. In five starts this month, Sale owns a 2.23 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and 56:8 K:BB in 32.1 innings.

German will start Saturday against the Red Sox, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

German was originally scheduled to start against the Yankees on Friday, but Thursday's rainout will afford the right-hander an extra day of rest. Through 11 appearances this season (10 starts), German owns a 3.43 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 63:16 K:BB in 60.1 innings.

Sale will no longer make his scheduled start Thursday against the Yankees as the game has been postponed due to inclement weather.

The game will be made up in August. The Red Sox have yet to announce their updated pitching plans, but they'll likely push everyone back by a day, with Sale now getting the ball Friday.

Faedo tossed 6.1 scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 12 batters Wednesday in Double-A Erie's 3-0 win over Reading. He scattered two hits and two walks in the 99-pitch outing.

While less heralded than rotation mates Matt Manning and Casey Mize, Faedo, a 2017 first-round pick, could settle in as a back-end starter for the big club within the next year or two. After an up-and-down performance in his 12 turns with Erie last season, Faedo has shown more consistency in his return tour of the Eastern League. He's already delivered three starts of at least six innings with no runs allowed and now has two double-digit-strikeout outings under his belt. Most impressively, the improved strikeout production hasn't come with any loss in control; Faedo's 25.7 K-BB% is 11 percentage points better than his 2018 mark at Erie.

Manager Scott Servais said earlier in the week that he plans to have Kikuchi make a "normal start" Thursday against the Angels, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Before Kikuchi's most recent turn last weekend in Oakland, Servais suggested the southpaw would make a start consisting of roughly one inning at some point in his subsequent 2-to-3 outings. Based on Servais' latest comments, it doesn't sound like Kikuchi's abbreviated outing will come until either June 4 versus Houston or June 9 against the Angels. Assuming that plan holds, it would make it easier for fantasy managers to justify keeping Kikuchi in active lineups next week, since he would still get a "normal start" for one of those two turns.

Miley (5-3) took the loss Wednesday as the Astros fell 2-1 to the Cubs, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk over seven innings while striking out nine.

The nine K's were a season high for the southpaw, but they were rendered moot by a pair of solo home runs from Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant, as well as the Houston offense's inability to solve Kyle Hendricks. Miley will carry a 3.25 ERA and 54:16 K:BB through 69.1 innings into his next start Tuesday in Seattle.

Snell allowed two runs on six hits and two walks across six innings during Wednesday's extra-inning win over the Blue Jays. He struck out five but did not factor in the decision.

Snell served up a two-run homer to Lourdes Gurriel during the first inning but otherwise kept the Blue Jays off the board. He was in line for his fourth victory until Jose Alvarado gave up the lead in the eighth inning. The 26-year-old has a 3.06 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 83:17 K:BB through 61.2 innings heading into his next start Tuesday at Detroit.

Means allowed one earned run on three hits and no walks while striking out seven across six innings Wednesday against the Tigers. He did not factor into the decision.

Means was effective against the weak Tigers' lineup, with his only troublesome spot coming in the fourth inning. Otherwise, he proved effective by generating 12 called strikes and 13 swinging strikes on 103 total pitches. He also showed strong command starting 14 of the 21 batters he faced with a strike, lowering his BB/9 to 2.5 across 54.2 innings for the season. Means has also emerged as a strong source of ratios, lowering his ERA to 2.80 and WHIP to 1.10. It was also encouraging to see him work relatively deep into the game, with Wednesday's effort marking only his third quality start in nine chances for the campaign. He'll look to replicate this effort in his next start, but will draw a tough matchup against the Rangers at hitter-friendly Globe Life Park on Wednesday.

Canning allowed one run on three hits with zero walks and five strikeouts across six innings during a no-decision against the Athletics on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old was in line for the win when he departed, but the Angels' bullpen blew two leads, the first of which cost Canning the chance at the win. Canning is really pitching well, though, after a rough start to his major league career. He's allowed just two runs over his last 18 frames in three starts. Behind that hot streak, Canning is 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, .185 batting average against and 34 strikeouts in 32.1 innings this season. The rookie will make his next start at the Cubs on Monday.

Bieber (4-2) allowed six earned runs on eight hits and no walks while striking out six across five innings to earn the win Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Bieber consistently ran into trouble in the start, surrendering three home runs and two doubles across his five frames of work. He salvaged some value out of the outing by racking up six strikeouts on the strength of 15 called strikes and 12 swinging strikes as well as earning his fourth win of the season. Bieber's skills remain elite -- he has a 11.1 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 -- which has led to solid 3.67 ERA, even after Wednesday's relatively poor outing. He'll look to bounce back in his next start, though will draw another tough matchup Tuesday against Minnesota.