MLB Player News

Bassitt will not start Friday's game against Texas, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Instead, Liam Hendriks will serve as the club's "opener," likely lasting an inning or two before turning the ball over to Bassitt or another member of Oakland's bullpen. If Bassitt is called upon to take over, he should be able to eat up a chunk of innings since he hasn't pitched in the last six days.

Cobb is scheduled to pitch Sunday against Tampa Bay, but he might be held out due to a blister on his pitching hand, Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com reports.

It's unclear as to when the issue popped up, but if Cobb can't go, expect Josh Rogers to get the nod. Cobb looked sharp his last time out, notching the win and allowing one run through six innings Tuesday against Seattle.

Eovaldi will be called upon in long relief Tuesday against the Blue Jays, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

Eovaldi will pitch in relief Tuesday, with Chris Sale expected to serve as the opener, although the southpaw will be held to two innings or 40 pitches. Eovaldi also figures to be at the ready to take over in Sale's next start, with the Red Sox slowly stretching their ace out. Eovaldi's usage going forward will likely depend on how Sale responds after coming back from shoulder inflammation, but unless he suffers a setback, Eovaldi is expected to remain in the bullpen.

Kopech has a UCL tear and has been recommended for Tommy John surgery, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

While his top-end velocity hadn't quite been up to his usual levels in his past few starts, this still comes out of nowhere and is obviously devastating news for Kopech and the White Sox. Kopech is now facing the likelihood of missing all of 2019. The team released a statement confirming the report but said that Kopech will receive a second opinion before any decisions are made regarding surgery.

Sale (shoulder) will serve as Boston's "opener" against Toronto on Tuesday. He will be limited to two innings or 40 pitches, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Sale will continue to rebuild his arm strength without the benefit of a minor-league rehab assignment, so he'll instead make an appearance with the Red Sox. The left-hander was only able to make one start during the month of August due to separate stints on the DL with shoulder inflammation. Once he's gotten in his work, Nathan Eovaldi will enter the game for Boston. Manager Alex Cora added that Sale will "build up an inning at a time every five days," so he's expected to pitch three innings Sunday versus the Mets if all goes well.

Bassitt was called up from Triple-A Nashville prior to his expected start against Texas on Friday.

As expected, Bassitt rejoined the big-league roster ahead of his outing versus the Rangers, which will mark just his second appearance for Oakland since early July. On the year, he's logged a 3.19 ERA and 1.34 WHIP with 28 strikeouts across 36.2 innings (seven starts) for the club.

Cease was named Minor-League Pitcher of the Year by MLB Pipeline, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Cease, 22, went 12-2 with a 2.40 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 124 innings between High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. The right-hander ranked fourth among minor-league starters in wins, fourth in strikeout rate (32.5 percent), sixth in batting average allowed (.189) and 12th in strikeouts (160). ''We could not be more pleased with his development,'' general manager Rick Hahn said. ''Not only did Dylan take the ball every fifth day and answer the bell every time when we wanted him to start, but he dominated and seemingly got a little bit stronger as the season went on.'' Hahn alluded to Cease's dominant nine-start run to close out his season at Birmingham, when he went 3-0 with a 0.94 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 13.4 K/9.

Bieber (9-3) allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out six across 6.1 innings to earn the win Thursday against the Blue Jays.

All four of the runs against Bieber came in the fourth inning, when he allowed four of the first five batters he faced to reach base. Otherwise, it was an impressive outing for him as 15 of his 19 outs came on either groundballs or strikeouts, greatly limiting the Blue Jays' chance to do damage. The performance was a welcomed change for Bieber, as he had failed to record a quality start in three of his past four starts.

Severino (17-7) got the loss Wednesday, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out three over 2.2 innings against the Athletics.

It was a disastrous outing for the 24-year-old, and he wasn't helped by some miscommunications that led to two wild pitches and two passed balls in the first inning. It's a continuation of a troubling trend, as Severino is now sporting an unsightly 6.83 ERA over 55.1 innings in his last 11 starts. He still sports a 3.52 ERA and 202:42 K:BB in 173.2 thanks to a terrific first half, but he's now fallen short of a quality start in nine of 11 starts. He'll look to get back on track Tuesday in Minnesota.

Kopech (1-1) took the loss Wednesday as the Tigers tamed the White Sox 10-2, coughing up seven runs on nine hits -- including four home runs -- and a walk over 3.1 innings while striking out six.

The rookie was catching far too much of the plate on the night, and in total six of Detroit's nine hits went for extra bases. Chalk it up as a learning experience for Kopech, who still has a strong 15:2 K:BB through his first 14.1 big-league innings. He'll next take the mound Tuesday in Kansas City.