MLB Player News

Montgomery (elbow) will be shut down from all throwing activities for 2-to-3 weeks with an initial timetable of 6-to-8 weeks before he returns to the big-league club, Sweeny Murti of Sportsradio 66 WFAN reports.

Montgomery landed on the 10-day disabled list due to a left elbow flexor strain that he suffered during Tuesday's outing in Houston. The club has yet to confirm who will be taking Montgomery's place in the rotation, but Domingo German appears to be the best bet.

Montgomery was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left elbow strain Wednesday.

The southpaw was lifted from Tuesday's contest after just one inning of work due to elbow soreness, but that has since been upgraded to a full-blown elbow strain. It's unclear how long he'll be out, but elbow injuries are never a good sign for pitchers. David Hale will replace Montgomery on the active roster, though Domingo German seems like the top candidate to slide into the rotation to replace him.

Eovaldi touched 99 mph in a live bullpen session, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Eovaldi is looking good while rehabbing from late-March arthroscopic elbow surgery. He's targeting a late-May return and remains ahead of his original timetable. The Rays could certainly use him, as the back of their rotation looks shaky even after cutting down to a four-man setup.

Nicasio notched his 11th hold in a win over the Athletics on Tuesday, firing a scoreless eighth inning in which he recorded two strikeouts.

Nicasio continues racking up holds and impressive outings, with Tuesday serving as the latest example. The veteran reliever fired 12 of 14 pitches for strikes while generating his fifth perfect one-inning outing over his last seven trips to the mound. Nicasio has proven to be one of manager Scott Servais' most reliable workhorses out of the bullpen, as he's already logged 14.2 innings across 14 appearances.

Rodriguez was put on family medical leave but remains on track for Saturday's scheduled start against the Rangers, Sean McAdam of the BostonSportsJournal.com reports.

Rodriguez will be away from the team for the next few days in order to deal with a family issue. In a corresponding move, the Red Sox recalled Marcus Walden from Triple-A Pawtucket to serve as depth out of the bullpen.

Cease tossed seven shutout innings while striking out 12 Tuesday for High-A Winston-Salem against Lynchburg. He allowed two hits and zero walks.

At one point in the 22-year-old righty's career outing he retired 19 batters in a row. Cease now ranks eighth among all minor-league pitchers with 36 strikeouts over 26.1 innings this season. He consistently threw his mid-90s fastball in this outing, reportedly touching 100 mph on the ballpark's radar gun, which is not a new development for the fireballer. Cease also credited mixing in his changeup in this one to keep hitters off his fastball, MiLB.com's Andrew Battifarano reports. The number one statistic to keep an eye on with Cease in 2018 is innings pitched. He has never topped 100 innings in a season as a pro (career-high 93.1 innings last year) and will need to start eclipsing that mark if he wants to shed the future reliever label.

Sale allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out six over seven innings in Tuesday's 7-6 loss to the Royals in extra innings.

Sale wasn't at his best -- he also hit two batters -- but as usual kept the game close despite some sketchy defense behind him and departed with a lead. The win escaped him when Craig Kimbrel blew his first save since last August, serving up an over-the-plate fastball that Alex Gordon drilled for a game-tying home run. Sale has yet to allow more than three runs in any of the seven games started so far, but has just two wins to show for his good work. His next start comes Sunday on the road against Texas.

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said Kopech is not yet ready for a promotion to the majors, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Kopech, who was named the organization's Pitcher of the Month for April, made his fifth start at Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out six. Command was one area of focus for Kopech, who has dropped his walk rate to a serviceable 3.0 BB/9, but Hahn wants to see the young right-hander incorporate more changeups. In his previous start, Kopech threw just seven changeups, one for a strike. The GM also mentioned a less measurable skill -- mound composure -- as an area of improvement. "He's making progress in both those areas," Hahn said. "We want to see more effective use of the changeup in the coming starts as well as ideally going deeper in ballgames over the next several and we'll continue evaluating." So, while the fans are anticipating Kopech's arrival, the decision makers remain patient. All the while, the White Sox's rotation needs to perform better. After Tuesday's loss to the Indians, Chicago's starters are 4-13 with a 5.27 ERA (27th in MLB).

Cobb allowed two runs on seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out two over six innings in Tuesday's loss to the Angels. He did not factor into the decision.

After getting shelled each of his first three times out, it was reassuring to see Cobb finally settle down and start to resemble his former self. The lack of strikeouts remain a bit of a concern -- he now has just six in 17.2 innings -- but after allowing 10 hits and at least five runs in every start prior to Tuesday, any sign of improvement is a welcome sight. Despite the much improved outing, the 30-year-old isn't out of the woods yet; he's still sporting an ugly 9.68 ERA and remains in search of his first win. He'll get another crack at that Sunday against the Athletics.

Gibson struck out six and walked two in a no-decision against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings.

Gibson shut out the Blue Jays into the fifth, but allowed a home run to Kendrys Morales and an RBI single to Justin Smoak to tie up the game. Gibson has tallied a decision in only two of his six starts so far, but holds a respectable 3.38 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. The strikeout numbers have been a pleasant surprise from the 30-year-old, as he's currently sporting a 10.1 K/9, well above his career mark of 6.4 K/9. It remains to be seen if Gibson can maintain those numbers over the long haul. His next start will come against the White Sox in Chicago.