MLB Player News

Hamels (7-1) silenced the Cardinals on Friday, keeping them off the scoreboard for 7.2 innings while allowing just three hits and three walks. He struck out six in the 1-0 win.

For the fourth straight outing, Hamels notched a quality start while pitching seven-plus innings, a feat he hadn't accomplished since early June of last year. He lowered his ERA to 2.88 while notching more strikeout than he did in any of his previous four starts. Hamels has won more than 15 games just once in his impressive 10-year career entering 2016. This year, however, the 32-year-old is on pace to bypass 15 and challenge his personal record of 17 wins in a season.

Hill (groin) threw a 10-pitch bullpen session Friday, Connor Letournau of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The A's are opting to play it cautious with Hill while he recovers from a groin injury. He last pitched May 29 before being placed on the 15-day DL. He sported a 2.13 ERA during the month of May. His next step will be to make a rehab start. The timetable for that is currently unknown.

The Red Sox believe Rodriguez is still tipping his pitches, the Boston Herald's Mike Silverman reports.

While this might sound troubling, it at least suggests that with a minor tweak to his delivery and release, Rodriguez's performance could take a big step forward. He has been hit hard so far since coming off the disabled list, but just based on pure stuff, there's No. 3 starter upside here if he can make the necessary adjustments. The Red Sox are sticking with him in the rotation, but if he can't fix the pitch-tipping problem soon, he could be sent back down to Triple-A to try to fix the problem in games that don't count against the big league club.

Miley was placed on the 15-day DL on Friday with a left shoulder impingement.

It is unclear how serious the injury is, but Miley was likely in danger of losing his spot in the rotation at some point in the near future anyway, as he has a career-worst 5.28 ERA and his 4.85 FIP is his worst mark since 2011. Miley was scheduled to start Saturday's game against the Red Sox and Adrian Sampson, who is with the team Friday although not officially added to the 25-man roster yet, is expected to step into the rotation for the time being.

Cobb (elbow) is on track to return to the Rays in late July or early August, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Cobb's rehab is seemingly progressing as planned, and more will likely be known after he throws his live bullpen session Saturday. With his return slated to be at the latter end of July or the beginning of August, Cobb could throw in his first MLB game since September of 2014.

Gray allowed five runs over six innings in a 7-5 loss to the Rangers on Wednesday.

It was a bit of an odd outing for Gray as he looked excellent in shutting out the Rangers for the first five innings on only three hits, but then exploded in the sixth allowing five earned runs to blow a 5-0 A's lead. Aside that one poor inning, Gray has been very good since returning from the DL, allowing only three runs in 17.2 innings. Gray will next take the bump Tuesday at home against the Brewers.

Gibson (0-5) held the Yankees to three runs on six hits over 6.1 innings Thursday, but took another loss. He struck out four and walked a pair.

This was a far sight better than Gibson's first start off the DL, and he deserved a better fate -- he left the game with two on and one out in the seventh inning, then reliever Fernando Abad promptly gave up a three-run homer that plated the inherited runners. Still, Gibson's low-strikeout, high-walk ways don't add up to a fantasy-friendly formula, making him a consideration strictly for adventurous AL-only owners and those in extremely deep mixed leagues.

Manager John Farrell announced Thursday that Rodriguez will remain in the rotation, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Rodriguez was hit hard in his start Thursday, allowing five earned runs on eight hits through just 4.1 innings en route to earning his second loss of the season. However, Farrell will allow Rodriguez to work through his struggles and keep him in the rotation for now. He will have a chance to bounce back from Thursday's outing when he takes the mound to face the White Sox on Tuesday.

Snell (0-1) was tagged for five runs (just one earned) on eight hits and three walks in only 3.1 innings Thursday against the Mariners.

A pair of Tim Beckham errors extended two rallies against Snell, but he also did himself no favors by throwing only 56 of his 92 pitches for strikes. Snell's posted an astounding 90 strikeouts in 63 innings for Triple-A Durham this season, so there's no doubt he can miss bats, but he's also averaged a walk almost every other inning, which is not a great formula for translating success in the minors to baseball's highest level. The 23-year-old will need to rein in his control to be more effective, but he'll likely see an extended opportunity to make adjustments while pitching at the back end of the Rays' rotation.

Paxton (1-2) held the Rays to three runs on seven hits over six innings Thursday for his first win of the season. He struck out five and walked two.

Despite the victory, this was Paxton's second-worst start of the four he's made this year -- he went unrewarded for sparkling outings against the Rangers and Indians that ended in defeat for Seattle. Once among the majors' most highly touted pitching prospects before injuries derailed his last two seasons, Paxton's delivered three straight quality starts while showcasing never-before-seen control (by his standards, anyhow) -- that 29:6 K:BB in 22 innings should have him flying off waiver wires.