MLB Player News

Montas notched three strikeouts over two scoreless innings in Monday's 6-5 loss to the Mariners. He also issued a walk.

The hard-throwing 24-year-old is experiencing the ups and downs in performance that are typical of a young pitcher, but he's now strung together three scoreless outings, his longest such streak of the season. While that's far from an extended stretch of consistency, it's a step in the right direction for Montas, who has outstanding stuff but has at times struggled with location. Factoring in Monday's effort, his ERA and WHIP remain at an unsightly 5.59 and 1.60, respectively, but he boasts 21 strikeouts over 19.1 innings.

Musgrove (3-3) allowed one run on eight hits and one walk while striking out five over 5.2 innings in Monday's 7-2 victory over the Marlins.

Astros starters are learning all you have to do is keep a game close, and eventually the potent offense will put some numbers on the board. On Monday, it was Yulieski Guriel taking Junichi Tazawa deep in the sixth inning for a grand slam -- Houston's second granny in as many games -- turning a deficit into a lead the Astros would not relinquish. Musgrove worked around several baserunners with the help of a double play, a pickoff and and an outfield assist. He also kept the ball in the park, not allowing a home run for the second time in eight starts. He's next scheduled to pitch Sunday at home against Cleveland.

Bassitt tossed five shutout innings for Triple-A Nashville in a rehab start Monday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bassitt is still not expected back soon, as he needs substantial rehab work on the road back from Tommy John surgery. Expect him to take at least two more starts in the minors, but if he keeps pitching this efficiently, he could be a real asset in Oakland's rotation in June and beyond.

The pectoral injury that forced Carrasco out of Monday's start in the fourth inning is not thought to be serious, Chris Assenheimer of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

Carrasco was struggling anyway, as he needed 75 pitches to get through 3.2 innings and allowed five runs in the process. Perhaps the pectoral tightness contributed to his inefficiency, but it currently doesn't look like Carrasco will need to miss any time.

Paxton (forearm) will throw a bullpen session Wednesday or Thursday, a precursor to a rehab assignment, the Seattle Times reports.

Paxton's swift progress has been dubbed "great news" by Mariners manager Scott Servais. If all goes well, he'll likely go on a rehab assignment next weekend, with a chance of returning at some point during Seattle's next road trip, which begins May 23. Considering how scary forearm tightness can be for pitchers -- especially those with electric arms like Paxton -- this swift turnaround should elicit sighs of relief from the lefty's fantasy owners.

Carrasco departed Monday's game due to left pectoral tightness, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The injury limited Carrasco to just 3.2 innings, but he wasn't sharp at all, needing 75 pitches (including 34 balls) to get that far. Further evaluation will be needed before we know whether he'll need to go on the disabled list, but he should be considered questionable for his next start at this point.

Carrasco was forced to leave Monday's start against Tampa Bay with an apparent injury, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com reports.

It was unclear what happened to Carrasco, but he walked off with a trainer after completing just 3.2 innings. He was wild all game long, as he threw just 41 strikes among 75 pitches and walked three batters.

Kluber (back) will throw off a mound Monday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

This is a sign of progress for the former Cy Young winner, although he's only expected to throw 20 pitches or so. This means Kluber is still a ways away from a return to the rotation (or a rehab assignment, for that matter), but the Indians' plans for him should become clearer as he ramps up his activity.

Mejia is temporarily inactive for Triple-A Rochester while he's attending to the birth of his child.

The 23-year-old pitching prospect shouldn't miss too much time with this occurrence. Prior to leaving the team, Mejia held a 4.08 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in three starts with the Red Wings.

Verlander (3-3) allowed four runs (all earned) over six innings and took the loss in Sunday's game against the Angels. He gave up five hits and five walks while striking out seven.

Verlander struggled with his control in this one, walking at least five batters in a game for the second time this season. The veteran's BB/9 is up to 4.66, which would be a career worst and is more than double his rate from 2016. The strikeouts are still there, and Verlander's average fastball is actually up a tick from 93.5 mph in 2016 to 94.8 this season. That suggests that if he can limit the walks moving forward, Verlander could approach his 3.04 ERA, 254 strikeouts and 16 wins from a season ago. He lines up to face the Rangers at home Saturday in his next start.