MLB Player News

Miley (shoulder) is on track to rejoin the Mariners' rotation next Wednesday, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN reports.

Miley is set to make a rehab start with short-season Everett on Friday and it appears that will be the only minor league appearance he will make barring any setbacks. If everything goes as planned, Miley will face off against the Pirates at Safeco Field in his first start after coming off the disabled list.

Nuno allowed four runs on four hits and three walks in 3.1 innings Thursday in an emergency start after scheduled starter Arian Sampson was injured in pregame warmups. He struck out two.

Sampson injured his elbow on his second warmup pitch so Nuno was tabbed to start in his place. Nuno had pitched more than two innings just twice this season before taking one for the team Thursday. He threw 68 pitches in a decent outing, all things considered.

Rodriguez threw just four sliders out of his 102 pitches thrown in Wednesday's game against the White Sox, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports.

Rodriguez relied heavily on his fastball (77 pitches) and changeup (21) Wednesday, a mix that came back to haunt him later in the game when Todd Frazier teed off on a fastball for a game-tying homer in the sixth inning. In many ways, the game was a breakthrough for the left-hander, who pitched without a knee brace for the first time and consistently hit 95-96 mph on his fastball after scrapping a month-long experiment with a new windup, but until he can get comfortable with a breaking ball, batters will ignore the few that he does throw and wait on his heater. "I need to work in the breaking ball more," said Rodriguez. "If I can throw it for strikes, strike one, show them I've got something [that breaks], it changes the eye levels."

Kopech was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday due to a leg-muscle cramp, Andy Bitter of the Roanoke Times reports.

Boston's No. 5 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, had been scheduled to make his High-A debut after missing the first few months of the season due to a fractured pitching hand. The injury is not considered serious and the decision to scratch Kopech is being called a precaution.

Alvarez (shoulder) visited Dr. James Andrews on Thursday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The visit to the esteemed doctor was Alvarez's second in as many days, as the player and team are still trying to determine what is wrong with his shoulder. Alvarez experienced soreness following his outing with Triple-A Nashville last weekend in what was just the latest in a series setbacks. His timetable to return to the major leagues has been pushed back indefinitely.

Nolasco (3-5) lasted 6.2 innings in Thursday's loss to the Phillies. He allowed four runs, 10 hits and four walks while striking out one.

The veteran drew a perfect opportunity to become the Twins first pitcher with four wins, but struggled to command his pitches. Nolasco's four walks were a season high, and his one strikeout was a season low. He was only able to garner seven swinging strikes while missing the zone on 41 percent of his pitches. He'll look to rebound Tuesday when he toes the rubber against the White Sox.

Nuno will start Thursday's game against Detroit, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports.

In an odd turn of events, Thursday's scheduled starter, Adrian Sampson, was removed from the game before the first pitch was even thrown. According to Dutton, Sampson may have tweaked something during warmups before Thursday's contest. Regardless, Nuno will fill in as the spot starter Thursday, but he hasn't thrown more than 3.0 innings in any of his appearances this season. With that, Thursday could be a very taxing day for the Mariners bullpen on a getaway day.

Worley (groin) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Thursday, then make a rehab appearance at Double-A on Saturday, MASN Sports reports.

Worley's timetable will be June 28 if the Orioles only give him one rehab appearance and that may be all he needs. He would be back on the roster after the minimum 15 days. Worley should return to his long relief role at that point. There is no indication that he is a candidate for a rotation spot, but he could challenge Ubaldo Jimenez if Jimenez struggles.

Rodriguez went back to his old delivery for Wednesday night's game against the White Sox and had his most powerful fastball of the season, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

Rodriguez had been using a modified delivery after rehabbing a knee injury suffered during spring training, but was experiencing diminished velocity on his fastball. Going back to his old delivery Wednesday, the left-hander's heater was sitting consistently around 95-96 mph. While he gave up two more homers Wednesday -- that's seven homers allowed in 26.2 innings -- Rodriguez struck out a season-high seven.

Gibson allowed five runs, four of which were earned, on eight hits and two walks while striking out five over six innings, but received no decision Wednesday against the Phillies.

Gibson was provided plenty of run support, but he allowed the Phillies to post runs in three of his six innings of work to keep him from having a chance to pick up a victory. Opponents have now scored at least five runs off of him in three of his last four starts, and his ERA is at 6.05. He'll make his next start Tuesday at the White Sox.