MLB Player News

McCullers (back) is scheduled to make a rehab start with Double-A Corpus Christi on Wednesday, Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports.

McCullers is set to make his second rehab start as he continues to work his way back from a back ailment that has sidelined him for all of August. The 23-year-old walked five batters in three innings during his first rehab start, and he issued nine free passes over 14.1 innings before landing on the disabled list, so he'll need to show better control before the Astros consider bringing him back. If he's able to show improvement in his second start, he shouldn't be too far from activation.

The Yankees will recall Montgomery from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to start the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader with the Indians, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Since Tuesday's contest was rained out and the Yankees won't have an off day until Sept. 7, the team will require six starters in the rotation for the time being, so Montgomery will move back up to the big club in what's expected to be a one-start cameo. The lefty has generally impressed as a rookie with a 4.00 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 23 starts and looks like he could be a mainstay in the rotation for years to come, but he won't play a major role in the Yankees' push for the playoffs this season with the organization eager to limit his innings load.

Bundy was activated from the bereavement list ahead of his scheduled start Tuesday against the Mariners.

Bundy will make the start on his normal schedule, as his placement (and return) from the bereavement list didn't force the Orioles to alter their rotation plans. Manager Buck Showalter has expressed a desire to build in more rest for Bundy in between starts over the final month and change of the season, but with no talk of a shutdown imminent, the right-hander is still worth holding in most formats. After a rough start to the second half, Bundy has been the Orioles' staff ace in August, going 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 33 strikeouts over 27 innings over his four starts this month.

Manager Scott Servais said that he expects Paxton (pectoral) to throw off a mound Friday or Saturday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Since hitting the disabled list Aug. 10 with a left pectoral strain, Paxton has been limited to playing catch, but the lefty has made enough progress in the last few days to move on to the next phase of the rehab process. Servais said that Paxton and Felix Hernandez (shoulder), who remains on a similar recovery timetable to Paxton, would both throw 20-to-25 pitches in the bullpen session. If Paxton endures no further setbacks along the way, he could be on track to rejoin the Mariners' rotation as soon as mid-September, which would put him in line for about two or three more starts before the end of the regular season.

Bergman gave up an earned run on five hits over two innings in Monday's 7-6 loss to the Orioles.

Just recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Tacoma, Bergman immediately fulfilled the multi-inning role he was summoned for. The 29-year-old right-hander has had multiple stints with the big-league club this season, and given the uncertainty of the length of his stay, his fantasy value remains negligible for the moment.

Heaney (1-0) picked up his first win of the season after tossing six innings of one-run ball while striking out a career-high 10 batters in Monday's victory over the Athletics.

The 26-year-old bounced back in fine fashion after getting hit hard (8.10 ERA) in his first two starts back from the disabled list. Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register noted that Heaney's early struggles were related to his ineffective breaking ball, an aspect of his game that he clearly rediscovered Monday. It is tough to immediately trust pitchers coming off of Tommy John surgery, but the talented southpaw showed fantasy owners what he is capable of when he brings his A-game. Heaney will look to carry this momentum into his next start against the Rangers on Sunday.

Stroman allowed just two runs (one earned) on seven hits and struck out four over six innings Monday against Boston, only to be stuck with a no-decision.

Stroman now has four quality starts in his last five outings, a stretch in which he owns a nifty 25:7 K:BB over 32.1 innings. Unfortunately, he's gone just 1-1 over that stretch thanks to little help from his mates, including the bullpen promptly giving away Stroman's lead in the seventh inning Monday. Stroman's 11-6 record this year is solid, but with a 3.11 ERA over 170.2 innings, he could have a lot more wins if he had the benefit of a little more support from his team.

Severino (11-6) took the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and three walks despite nine strikeouts over 6.2 innings Monday against Cleveland.

This marks just the second time Severino has allowed more than one earned run in his past nine starts, with the other being an eight-run blowup against Boston on Aug.12. This one could have been much worse, as Severino gave up three home runs, but he managed to keep the floodgates from bursting by keeping the bases clear ahead of the big flies. Severino has been on a mighty roll since the All-Star break, and even with this modest hiccup, he induced a ludicrous 17 swinging strikes to strike out at least nine batters for the ninth time in 2017.

Kluber (13-4) allowed two runs on three hits and a walk and struck out seven over eight innings to pick up the win Monday against the Yankees.

Kluber still hasn't lost two consecutive starts all season long, as he was able to follow up a tough-luck defeat last time out against Boston with another dominant outing against another AL East opponent. Kluber is now 5-1 over his last six starts and hasn't given up more than three runs in any of the six. His ERA is down to a pristine 2.63, buoyed by an absurd 215 strikeouts over 160.2 innings.

Gonzales allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks across 3.1 innings in a no-decision Monday against the Orioles. He struck out two.

Gonzales put a constant stream of runners on base in this one, yielding two runs in the second and one in the third before he was chased by a two-run rally in the fourth. He failed to induce a single groundball out and threw first-pitch strikes to just seven of 19 batters. Gonzales has struggled mightily at the big-league level this season, posting an 8.25 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP across 24 innings. He'll look to produce a better result Sunday against the Athletics.