MLB Player News

Kluber exited Tuesday's game against the Tigers early with lower back discomfort, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Kluber was getting bludgeoned by Tigers hitters prior to his early departure Tuesday. Through three innings, the Indians' ace had allowed five earned runs on seven hits, one walk and four strikeouts. Kluber was plagued by back discomfort earlier this season, so it's possible that a trip to the DL is coming in order to give the 31-year-old ample time to heal. Through six starts, Kluber's ERA is now sitting at 5.06. He'll be listed as day-to-day until a more official injury diagnosis emerges.

Hamels was scratched from Tuesday's start against the Astros due to tightness in his oblique, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

It's unclear if the oblique tightness flared up during warmups or if this is something that has been bothering Hamels in the past. Either way, the starter will not pitch Tuesday against the Astros in a very last-minute scratch. Alex Claudio will take the mound for his first major-league start in Hamels' absence. More news on the injury should become available in the near future.

Bassitt (elbow) is scheduled to pitch four innings during a rehab assignment with High-A Stockton on Thursday, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports.

Thursday's assignment will mark Bassitt's second minor-league rehab game as he works his way back into playing shape following his 2016 Tommy John surgery. The 28-year-old is making notable progress, but isn't eligible to come off the 60-day DL until June.

Meyer's next scheduled start at Triple-A Salt Lake was postponed, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

Meyer was slated to pitch Wednesday's outing at Salt Lake. However, the club opted to push it off so it could entertain the possibility of bringing him up to start Thursday's outing against the Mariners, as the Angels need someone to fill Tyler Skaggs' (oblique) spot in the rotation. Meyer has started one major-league game this season, during which he allowed two runs over 3.2 innings.

Severino (2-2) took the loss Monday against the Blue Jays, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks across 5.2 innings. He struck out three.

Severino allowed a two-run homer in the second inning but settled down to cruise through the fifth. He ran into trouble in the sixth, however, and allowed a rare two-run sacrifice fly before Chris Coghlan's solo shot chased him from the game with two outs. He became a tad predictable as he pitched from behind in the count -- a result of his hitting the strike zone with just 56 percent of his pitches. Despite the rough outing, Severino still owns a respectable 3.86 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP and a strong 12.8 K/9 ahead of Sunday's matchup with the Cubs.

Bundy (4-1) allowed two runs on five hits and four walks across seven innings in Monday's win over the Red Sox. He struck out two.

Bundy scattered baserunners through seven scoreless innings before running into a bit of trouble in the eighth, allowing a run after three straight hits and another when the bullpen allowed an inherited runner to score after his removal. The right-hander has been terrific in his first full season in the rotation, tossing quality starts in each of his six turns en route to a 1.82 ERA over 39.2 innings. He finally appears to be emerging as the top-of-the-rotation arm he was projected to be in the minors, and Bundy will look to continue his encouraging start Saturday against the White Sox.

Odorizzi (hamstring) returned to the mound Monday against the Marlins, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and one walk across six innings en route to a no-decision. He struck out six.

Odorizzi pitched well in his return from a strained hamstring, giving up just a sacrifice fly after an error in the first inning and a solo homer to Marcell Ozuna in the fourth. He was rather economical, needing just 78 pitches to make it through five frames. However, his absence over the last couple weeks without a rehab assignment caused his removal at that juncture, just before the Rays took the lead. Though he wasn't lucky enough to get the win, Odorizzi still lowered his ERA to 3.50 and will look to take on a regular workload in Sunday's start against the Blue Jays.

McCullers allowed two runs on six hits (one home run) while walking two and striking out 10 over 6.1 innings for a no-decision in Monday's 6-2 win over the Rangers.

McCullers tied a season high with his 10 punchouts, and the promising right-hander now has 46 strikeouts in 35.1 innings for an 11.7 K/9. The 105-pitch effort dropped his season ERA to 4.08. With good health, the 23-year-old is primed for a breakout season, and his high .353 BABIP suggests more positive regression is coming soon. Two five-run outings have inflated his ERA in the early going.

Odorizzi (hamstring) was activated from the 10-day disabled list and will start Monday's game against the Marlins.

Odorizzi is set to make his first start since April 15 after a tight left hamstring sidelined him for two weeks. The right-hander didn't embark on a minor-league rehab assignment prior to his activation and only tossed a simulated game, but it's not expected that he'll face a pitch limit Monday. Erasmo Ramirez will move to the bullpen to accommodate Odorizzi's return to the rotation.

Darvish will have his next scheduled start pushed back from Thursday against the Astros to Friday's series opener against the Mariners, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

The Rangers recently kicked off a stretch of 17 games in as many days, so they'll build in an extra day of rest for their ace by deploying a six-man rotation this week. With Darvish moving back to Friday, it's expected that A.J. Griffin (ankle) will be activated from the disabled list to take the hill Thursday, allowing both Griffin and Nick Martinez to remain in the rotation for the time being. In addition to gaining some extra recovery time following his 10-strikeout outing against the Angels over the past weekend, Darvish will benefit from a better matchup against a comparatively weaker Mariners lineup.