MLB Player News

Velasquez (finger) signed a minor-league contract with the Padres on Wednesday and is expected to be added to the 28-man active roster to start Friday's series opener against the Cardinals in St. Louis.

The 29-year-old was cut loose by the Phillies on Tuesday after being designated for assignment over the weekend, and the injury-plagued Padres will bring him aboard and quickly insert him into the starting rotation. The team hasn't formally announced which game of the series in St. Louis that Velasquez is slated to pitch, but Friday makes the most sense, given that Blake Snell (groin) -- the previously scheduled starter that day -- was placed on the injured list. Velasquez landed on the injured list with Philadelphia due to a right middle finger blister in early August, but he made six rehab appearances in the minors before parting ways with the organization and appears to be healthy again.

Snell was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a left adductor groin strain.

Snell was removed from Sunday's start against the Dodgers after only 11 pitches due to the injury, and he'll require stint on the injured list before rejoining the rotation. The left-hander was initially expected to be ready to make his next start, but he's continued to feel soreness over the past couple days and will miss some time. Vince Velasquez signed a minor-league deal with the Friars and is expected to fill Snell's spot in the rotation for now.

Kelly (illness) was activated from the COVID-19 injured list ahead of his start against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Kelly has spent the past month on the injured list after testing positive for COVID-19, but he'll rejoin the rotation Wednesday after making one rehab start. The right-hander threw 66 pitches in that outing and figures to have some minor workload limitations in his first start back.

Mets manager Luis Rojas said Wednesday that Syndergaard (elbow) will throw another live batting practice session in the coming days before the team determines his next step, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports.

While squaring off Wednesday against rehabbing outfielder Brandon Nimmo (hamstring), Syndergaard threw approximately 15-to-20 pitches in a live BP session, with his fastball velocity sitting in the low-to-mid-90s during the session. Rojas indicated that Syndergaard was deliberately not throwing at 100 percent velocity, so the right-hander will presumably ramp up the intensity in his next throwing session as he looks to prove that he's moved past the bout of elbow inflammation that resulted in him being shut down in late May. Assuming he experiences no further setbacks during his throwing program, Syndergaard could make it back from the 60-day injured list during the final two weeks of the season in a relief role.

Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Brubaker (shoulder) began a plyometric training program Wednesday, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports. He'll be reassessed later this week before the Pirates determine his next steps.

Even though Brubaker hasn't resumed throwing since being shut down a week ago, the Pirates aren't yet closing the door on the right-hander making it back from the 10-day injured list before the end of the season. However, with just two and a half weeks to go, Brubaker doesn't appear to have enough time to build back up for starting duty, even if he avoids any further setbacks in his recovery.

Oviedo was ejected from Wednesday's game at Triple-A Memphis after the top of the fourth inning for an apparent violation of the league's foreign substance rules, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Oviedo has been in Memphis since late July, and he was removed from Wednesday's contest after an umpire examined his glove as he left the mound. His glove was confiscated and will be examined by the league. If the right-hander is found to be in violation of the foreign substance policy, he'll face a 10-game suspension.

Cabrera (toe) is scheduled to start Saturday's game against the Pirates in Miami, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

He'll return to the mound on five days' rest after his previous outing was cut short by a sore right big toe, which may have played a factor in Cabrera's spotty control -- he threw 44 of 75 pitches for strikes -- in the start against Atlanta. Through his first four big-league starts, Cabrera is still searching for his first career win after going 0-1 with a 6.61 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 9:10 K:BB in those games.

DeSclafani (12-6) earned the win Tuesday against the Padres after tossing 6.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits and a walk while fanning three.

DeSclafani delivered another dominant performance, but the fact that he did it against one of the most dangerous lineups in the National League delivers added value to this outing. He's now given up three or fewer runs in each of his last six appearances, though he only has two quality starts in that stretch. He has a 2.12 ERA across three September starts.

Woodruff (illness) will start Wednesday's game against the Tigers in Detroit.

Woodruff was pushed off his most recent scheduled start over the weekend in Cleveland while he dealt with a stomach bug, but the All-Star right-hander looks like he'll be ready to go Wednesday on eight days' rest. Through nine second-half starts, Woodruff has gone 2-4 with a 3.42 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and a 62:16 K:BB in 50 innings.

Gray (8-10) allowed two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven over five innings in a win over Atlanta on Tuesday.

Gray secured his first win since July 30 after limiting Atlanta to two runs over five innings. He got off to a bit of a rough start as Atlanta took an early 1-0 lead in the first off a Freddie Freeman single but would eventually get into a bit of a groove, as he got nine outs in a span of 10 batters. Atlanta got to him again in the fourth for another run on a double by Dansby Swanson and Gray's night eventually ended after five frames and 90 pitches. The 29-year-old hasn't logged a quality start since Aug. 4 but has strung together two solid efforts to open up September. Overall. Gray has a 4.16 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 140:56 K:BB over 136.1 innings and lines up to face the Nationals on the road his next time out.