MLB Player News

Lugo is starting Game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Marlins, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

This will technically be a bullpen game, but with the Mets having to play nine games over the next six days, the Mets would obviously like Lugo to go as deep as possible in this outing. He has a 2.61 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 11:2 K:BB in 10.1 innings.

DeGrom will start Wednesday's game against the Marlins, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

He will get an extra day of rest, as he was unable to get on a mound for a side session until Monday due to the team's altered schedule. Seth Lugo will start a bullpen game in Game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader while Rick Porcello starts the matinee. The Mets would not confirm that deGrom would not pitch later this week, so we may see him pitch on short rest against the Yankees on Sunday, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports.

The Marlins are expected to call up Rogers from their alternate training site to start one game of Tuesday's doubleheader with the Mets, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Though Rogers isn't currently on the 40-man roster, Miami would have a spot open for him after it designated reliever Sterling Sharp for assignment Monday. A 2017 first-round pick, Rogers is one of the Marlins' top pitching prospects, but the 22-year-old lefty lacks much high-level experience after having only made five starts at the Double-A level in 2019. Over his 136.1 innings in total last season between Double-A Jacksonville and High-A Jupiter, Rogers submitted a 2.90 ERA and 150:33 K:BB.

Woodford fired two scoreless innings in a win over the Royals on Monday, allowing two hits and no walks.

Woodford finished off the Royals over the last pair of frames with his second consecutive scoreless two-inning appearance. The 23-year-old right-hander's early-career body of work has been nearly flawless, as Woodford has allowed just one run, which came on a solo home run by fellow prospect Luis Robert in the pitcher's big-league debut against the White Sox on Aug. 15. Woodford has already shuttled between the Cardinals' alternate training site in Springfield and the majors on multiple occasions, but given his success thus far, he could stick around for the balance of the regular season as a multi-inning relief asset.

Oviedo is slated to start the second game of the Cardinals' doubleheader Thursday against the Pirates, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

Oviedo will earn another turn start after he impressed in his big-league debut Aug. 19 against the Cubs, striking out four and allowing two runs over five innings to take a no-decision. Though Oviedo doesn't have a permanent spot in St. Louis' rotation, the team's spate of cancellations earlier in August will leave the Cardinals with few off days and several doubleheaders over the rest of the season. With that in mind, Oviedo could continue to make at least semi-regular starts so long as he continues to perform capably.

Toussaint was optioned to Atlanta's alternate training site Tuesday.

Ian Anderson's contract was purchased in a corresponding move. Inconsistency has plagued Toussaint at the big-league level, as he had a splendid nine-strikeout outing against the Blue Jays earlier this year, but followed that up by walking nine batters over his next 8.1 innings (three appearances). He could rejoin the big-league club when it needs a fresh bullpen arm later this summer.

Anderson's contract was selected and he will start Tuesday's game against the Yankees.

This is far from a soft landing for the right-handed Anderson, as he will have to face a tough Yankees lineup, albeit one with few left-handed hitters. While Anderson is one of Atlanta's top pitching prospects, he has logged walk rates north of 10 percent at Double-A and Triple-A, so he is not a safe option, regardless of which team he is facing. His fastball is his best pitch when he is locating it, and his secondary offerings have been inconsistent but can flash plus.

Flaherty (2-0) picked up the win Monday against Kansas City, allowing one hit and striking out three in five scoreless innings.

After being limited to 1.2 innings and 41 pitches Aug. 19, Flaherty was able to go five innings and pick up his second win Monday. He allowed a ground-rule double to Meibrys Viloria in the third inning but kept the Royals off the bases besides that. Under normal circumstances, the right-hander would certainly have tossed more than five innings and 64 pitches, but he is still stretching his arm out after St. Louis' long layoff due to its COVID-19 outbreak. Flaherty will look to go a little bit deeper into the game when he takes the ball Saturday against the Indians.

Martinez (illness) threw what manager Mike Shildt described as a "low-intensity live batting practice" Monday, and the team currently isn't planning to have him return as anything but a starter, Richard Justice of MLB.com reports. "Carlos wants to start, and I understand that, and I appreciate that," Shildt said. "Ultimately, we're going to perform with guys that have their heart in a certain position."

The right-hander and Shildt had a conversation about Martinez's role following the session, and the skipper's remarks imply he empathizes with Martinez's desire to start to the extent he's willing to forgo any potential plans to reintegrate him as a reliever. However, the tradeoff to that approach is that Martinez will require a longer buildup time before he's deemed ready for activation. "It's gonna take longer for him to just get back to being able to handle the load of what we would expect the starter to handle," Shildt said. "And candidly, we can't stay in a mode where we can just keep building guys up on the fly."

Lopez (3-1) allowed six hits and two walks while striking out three over five scoreless innings on the way to a win Monday night against Washington.

Lopez dealt with plenty of traffic on the basepaths, but he managed to exit the contest with a 7-0 lead, and his club would hang on for an 11-8 victory. The right-hander tossed first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 23 batters he faced. Lopez has looked sharp in five starts this season, surrendering two or fewer runs in each outing, good enough for a 1.98 ERA to go along with a 1.24 WHIP and a 27:7 K:BB across 27.1 frames.