MLB Player News

Montas isn't eligible to be recalled from Triple-A Nashville until 10 days after his Aug. 31 demotion to the Sounds due to a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Athletics overlooked the provision -- which requires a team to wait 10 days before recalling a player that's been optioned to the minors, even if the minor-league team's season is over -- and had originally planned on having Montas back with them to serve as the long reliever in Tuesday's bullpen day against the Yankees. Instead, they'll have to wait until early next week to get the right-hander back in the fold.

Bassitt isn't eligible to be recalled from Triple-A Nashville until 10 days after his Aug. 27 demotion to the Sounds due to a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Athletics overlooked the provision -- which requires a team to wait 10 days before recalling a player that's been optioned to the minors, even if the minor-league team's season is over -- and had originally planned on having Bassitt back with them Tuesday. The right-hander could serve in a variety of roles upon his return.

Lively was claimed off waivers by the Royals on Wednesday.

Lively will head straight to the major-league roster, though it's unclear if he'll be a member of the rotation or the bullpen down the stretch. The 26-year-old made 20 starts for the Phillies over the last two seasons, posting a 4.81 ERA. He's been good at avoiding walks, posting just a 7.0 percent walk rate, but he doesn't strike out enough batters (15.2 percent strikeout rate) to be anything more than a back-end starter at best.

Whitley (lat) was activated from the minor-league disabled list Wednesday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Whitley's lat discomfort wasn't expected to be a serious issue, and he'll wind up missing less than two weeks. He'll return in time to pitch for Double-A Corpus Christi in the playoffs and will then head to the Arizona Fall League. The highly rated 20-year-old needs all the innings he can get, as he's thrown just 26.1 so far this year while battling two injuries and a suspension.

Morton (shoulder) threw a bullpen session Tuesday, Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Morton has not yet reported back to manager A.J. Hinch how he felt, so we're still in a holding pattern as to whether the pitcher will be ready to return for the weekend series against the Red Sox. "Everything is pointing in the right direction," Hinch said. "There's no declaration or decision, but I love seeing that he's on the mound." If Morton is unable to throw this weekend, then the Astros will have Josh James start one of the games in Boston.

Cobb (5-15) got the win Tuesday, allowing one run on four hits and three walks while striking out two over six innings against the Mariners.

Cobb allowed a solo home run to Robinson Cano in the first inning, but he settled down the rest of the way to notch his seventh quality start in eight tries. The 30-year-old has worked to an impressive 2.73 ERA over 52.2 innings in that span, but the damage on his season-long ratios (4.97 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) has already been done thanks to a dreadful start to the year. He'll look to keep rolling Tuesday against the Athletics.

Giolito (10-10) gave up five runs (four earned) on four hits in 1.1 innings against the Tigers on Tuesday, striking out three and walking two while taking the loss.

Giolito pitched a scoreless first frame but was undone in the second inning, giving up four base hits -- including two run-scoring doubles -- and two walks before being lifted at 50 pitches (31 strikes). Giolito had been coming off four consecutive quality starts and had seen his ERA get down to 5.66 on the year (it had been at 7.19 in mid-June) before Tuesday's rough outing. The right-hander has a modest 6.7 K/9 and also has the second-most walks (79) in the majors, resulting in a poor 1.44 WHIP even though he's allowed less than a hit per inning (8.3 H/9). His next start will be against the Royals in Kansas City.

Verlander (14-9) allowed one run on three hits in a win over the Twins on Tuesday, striking out eight and walking two in seven innings.

Verlander was solid once again, allowing just one extra-base hit and throwing 71 of 102 pitches for strikes to pick up his 14th win of the season. Verlander now has 22 quality starts this year and ranks in the top five among MLB starters in innings pitched (188), strikeouts (248) and WHIP (0.94). He'll take on his old team in his next start in Detroit.

Clevinger (11-7) gave up one run on three hits and a walk while striking out 10 in Tuesday's win against the Royals.

He was staked with a 6-0 lead after two innings, allowing him to cruise to his 11th victory. Clevinger is now unbeaten in his last seven starts. During one dominant stretch Tuesday he struck out six of nine batters. What's impressive about this current run is that Clevinger is now in uncharted workload territory, sitting at 176.1 innings after never logging more than 158 in a season (back in 2015). His next start is scheduled for Sunday in Toronto.

Heaney (8-9) allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk across six innings Tuesday to take the loss against the Rangers. He struck out five.

Heaney allowed just two baserunners over the first three innings before allowing a pair of solo home runs in the fourth. He allowed another pair of runs on two hits and a walk in the fifth before working through the sixth. Unfortunately, Heaney didn't get much offensive support and suffered his ninth loss of the season. He's allowed at least four earned runs in three of his last four starts, though he has compiled a solid 21:5 K:BB in that span. Heaney will look to improve upon his 4.16 ERA next week against this same Rangers club.