MLB Player News

Heaney (shoulder) tossed 2.2 innings in a rehab appearance with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, allowing four runs on six hits and no walks while striking out two batters.

Heaney logged his first game action since June 19 and looked rusty in the minor-league start. He served up a pair of home runs in 2.2 frames after allowing just one long ball across 15.1 innings with the Dodgers this season. The left-hander is working his way back from a shoulder issue and is expected to make at least one more rehab start, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

May (elbow) still doesn't have a set date to begin a minor-league rehab assignment, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated Friday that such a stint will happen "soon," Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

May has been tossing live batting-practice sessions since late June and has been said to be "really close" to going on a minor-league rehab assignment since early July, but the right-hander remains without a set date for that to happen. Nonetheless, May hasn't suffered any setbacks in his recovery from the Tommy John surgery he underwent last May. He'll likely need a few weeks of game action to ramp back up once the rehab stint begins, so May isn't likely to be back with the Dodgers until at least mid-August.

Matz (shoulder) and the Cardinals won't face the Reds on Sunday after the game was postponed due to inclement weather in St. Louis, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Matz, who was reinstated from the 15-day injured list Sunday, will thus have to wait until after the All-Star break to make his first start with the big club since May 22. The Cardinals and Reds will make up the postponed game Sept. 17 as part of a split doubleheader.

Ashcraft and the Reds won't face the Cardinals on Sunday after the game was postponed due to inclement weather in St. Louis, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

As a result of the postponement, Ashcraft will have to wait until after the All-Star break to make his 11th start of the season. The rookie, who has gone 4-2 with a 4.45 ERA and 1.35 WHIP over 54.2 innings in the big leagues this season, is expected to be part of a six-man rotation coming out of the break with Tyler Mahle (shoulder) trending toward a return from the injured list for the Reds' first series of the second half.

Painter pitched four scoreless innings for High-A Jersey Shore on Saturday, striking out nine and allowing just two hits without a walk. He now has a 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 19:3 K:BB through 12 innings in High-A.

Painter certainly hasn't been asked to do too much since being promoted, as the Phillies are presumably looking to monitor his workload in his first full professional campaign. He threw six innings in each of his final two Single-A starts, so we know Painter is capable of going deeper into games. For now, the important thing is that Painter is missing bats just as impressively as he did at the lower level. Collectively, he's struck out 88 batters while allowing just 28 hits in 50.2 minor-league innings this season.

Stone has a 1.53 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 78:19 K:BB across 53 innings (10 starts) since his promotion to Double-A Tulsa.

Those stats should have dynasty managers on high alert, as Stone -- a fifth-round pick in 2020 -- has been incredibly dominant in the minors this year and is looking like a potential mid-rotation starter in the big leagues. With three plus pitches (fastball, slider, changeup) to his credit, Stone has limited opposing hitters to just a single home run all season. He's also shown excellent control outside of his two most recent starts, in which he's issued nearly half of his Double-A walks. It's worth monitoring him out of the break to see whether his control returns to normal, but there's a lot to like here in general.

The Cardinals reinstated Matz (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list ahead of his scheduled start Sunday against the Reds in St. Louis, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Matz will make his return to the St. Louis rotation for what will be his first start since May 22 after he needed extended time off to recover from a left shoulder impingement. During his most recent rehab start at Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday, Matz built up to 4.1 innings and 81 pitches, so he should face only a light workload restriction Sunday.

Keller (3-7) gave up one unearned run, five hits and two walks while striking out six over six innings in a 2-0 defeat to the Rockies on Saturday. Keller was saddled with the loss.

Keller was tasked with the tough assignment of pitching in Coors Field, but he held his own and didn't give up an earned run over six quality innings. The only unearned run surrendered by the Pirates with Keller on the mound was caused by an errant throw from Oneil Cruz on a play at first base. Connor Joe advanced to second on the play and later came in to score on a Kris Bryant single. The 26-year-old right-hander has now thrown two quality outings in a row, giving up only one earned run over 13 innings. Keller will look to build on the momentum and lower his 4.55 ERA in his next expected start against the Marlins after the All-Star break.

Urena (1-1) gave up five hits and two walks while striking out four over six scoreless innings to earn the win in a 2-0 victory over the Pirates on Saturday.

Urena took advantage of the lowly Pirates offense, going six strong for his first win of the season. The veteran right-hander has been solid in his three starts since being recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on July 7. He has given up only three earned runs in 18.2 innings as a starter. Despite playing well in the opportunities he has been given this season, it is unclear if he will hang in the rotation since Antonio Senzatela (shoulder) is expected to return after the All-Star break.

Meyer (0-1) took the loss against Philadelphia on Saturday, allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk over 5.1 innings. He struck out five batters.

Meyer was called up prior to the game to make his big-league debut. The 23-year-old navigated through three scoreless frames before serving up a two-run homer to J.T. Realmuto in the fourth inning. He gave up a solo shot to Rhys Hoskins in the sixth, then watched from the dugout as two more runs were charged to his ledger. Despite the rough debut, Meyer is expected to get additional turns in the rotation following the All-Star break.