MLB Player News

Pepiot (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday, Alex Freedman of the Oklahoma City Dodgers reports.

A left oblique strain and a setback in early May have kept Pepiot on the shelf all season, but he is now entering the final stage of his recovery process. It's unclear how long the Dodgers plan on keeping Pepiot in the minors. He will likely make multiple starts in OKC before potentially returning to the Dodgers' rotation.

Atlanta designated Munoz for assignment Thursday.

After putting up a 4.28 ERA and 1.55 WHIP through 27.1 frames to begin the season in Triple-A Gwinnett, Munoz will be cast off Atlanta's 40-man roster. The move makes room for Lucas Luetge, who was selected to Atlanta's active roster from Gwinnett on Thursday. It's possible Munoz is claimed by another team looking for bullpen help, but he now appears in line to finish 2023 in the minors.

The Giants promoted Black to Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday.

Black had a strong first half with Double-A Richmond, putting up a 3.57 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and a 83:21 K:BB through 63 innings across 16 starts. The 23-year-old righty will likely close out the season in Sacramento and has a chance to make his debut for the Giants sometime in 2024.

DeSclafani (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment with the Giants' rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate Thursday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

DeSclafani is expected to require just one rehab start, setting the right-hander up to rejoin the Giants rotation next week. He has been on the shelf since early July due to right shoulder fatigue and posted a 4.44 ERA across 17 starts prior to being deactivated.

Ferris has a 3.29 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a 35:15 K:BB in 27.1 innings across 10 starts for Single-A Myrtle Beach.

His best outing of the year was his first pro start May 5 against Columbia, where he struck out a career-high seven batters over three no-hit innings. Ferris, an uber-projectable 6-foot-4 lefty, has yet to complete four innings in a start, but he has flashed a very high ceiling.

Murphy has a 2.87 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 26:4 K:BB over his last three starts (15.2 innings) for Single-A Augusta.

The 20th overall pick in last year's draft, Murphy had a rough six-start stretch from mid-May through mid-June where he had a 7.78 ERA, 1.73 WHIP and 20:12 K:BB in 19.2 innings, so it's encouraging to see him right the ship. This recent hot stretch included an eight-strikeout game and a 12-strikeout game, which are his top strikeout performances to date as a pro.

Fried (forearm) will make his next rehab start with High-A Rome on Saturday, Jeff Schultz of The Athletic reports.

Fried's first rehab start was at Triple-A Gwinnett, but they're on the road this weekend so the lefty will stay closer to home for his second outing. He threw 35 pitches in his first rehab outing, so Fried should be able to get up to around 50 pitches Saturday. The southpaw is tracking toward a return later this month.

Flexen signed a minor-league contract with the Rockies on Thursday, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

Flexen has posted a 7.71 ERA over 17 appearances (four starts) at the major-league level this season but was a solid arm for the Mariners from 2021-22 while bouncing between the rotation and bullpen. He will report to Triple-A Albuquerque for now but is a good bet to join the Rockies' rotation sooner rather than later.

Brown has a 5.76 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 74 strikeouts in 50 innings across 12 starts for Triple-A Iowa.

Brown's 15 percent walk rate and 1.6 HR/9 have resulted in ugly numbers despite a 32.7 percent strikeout rate. There have always been control/reliever concerns with Brown, and while he dominated in four Double-A starts to open the year, those concerns appear to be as real as ever for the 23-year-old righty.

Webb will not be among the Giants' starters during their first series of the second half in Pittsburgh, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Webb leads all of baseball in innings pitched, so the team will give him a little extra rest around the All-Star break. Presumably, he'll make his second-half debut early next week in Cincinnati. Ross Stripling and Alex Cobb will get two of the starts this weekend versus the Pirates, with the Giants' third starter not yet determined.