MLB Player News

Rea will start Saturday's game against the Brewers, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The Cubs need to make some adjustments to their rotation after Tyler Chatwood was scratched from his scheduled start Friday. Rea served mainly as a starter in the minors and in past major-league appearances but came out of the bullpen twice to begin the 2020 season, tossing three scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out three.

Strasburg left Friday's game in the first inning with an apparent injury, Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports.

Strasburg gave up two runs in the first inning of Friday's originally scheduled game, and he was visited by an athletic trainer after throwing just 16 pitches. He exited the game with an undisclosed issue. The nature and severity of the injury are unclear.

Smyly (finger) threw off flat ground Friday and will be reevaluated over the weekend, Kerry Crowley of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Smyly has already served the minimum 10 days on the injured list with a strained finger, but his return doesn't appear to be imminent. A clearer timeline should emerge over the weekend.

DeGrom was scratched from Friday's start against the Phillies with neck tightness, Justin Toscano of The Bergen Record reports.

The 32-year-old apparently experienced the tightness following Sunday's start versus the Marlins, and the issue lingered throughout the week. DeGrom plans to throw a bullpen session Sunday or Monday since there's no structural issues, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, leaving his status for his next couple turns through the rotation up in the air. Walker Lockett will take the mound Friday in his absence.

Quantrill will start Saturday's game against Arizona, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Quantrill has been used in relief in his three appearances thus far this season, posting a 3.12 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP over 8.2 innings of work. He was a starter in 18 of his 23 appearances in his rookie campaign last year, struggling to a 5.16 ERA while striking out a modest 20.1 percent of opposing batters.

DeGrom was scratched from Friday's start at Philadelphia for unspecified reasons, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

The team hasn't provided an official reason for deGrom being scratched, but he did have a finger issue crop up during his previous start Sunday. It's also unclear who will be taking the mound Friday for the Mets, but more information should be available later in the afternoon.

DeGrom (finger) will start Friday's game against the Phillies in Philadelphia.

DeGrom indicated after his most recent start Sunday against the Marlins that he experienced a finger issue during the outing, but he was able to complete a between-starts bullpen session to stay on his normal rest schedule heading into Friday's turn. The right-hander, who has gone 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in 22 innings this season, isn't expected to face any limitations Friday.

Flaherty isn't expected to make his next start until Monday's series opener with the Cubs after general manager John Mozeliak didn't name the right-hander as one of the Cardinals' three starting pitchers for this weekend's series with the White Sox, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

The Cardinals have received clearance from MLB to return to action Saturday, ending a 16-day hiatus that was caused by a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak. Though Flaherty wasn't among the players who tested positive, the Cardinals won't include their ace in the pitching schedule right away, as Mozeliak noted that the club will have Adam Wainwright start the front end of Saturday's doubleheader, while the other half of the twin bill is treated as a bullpen game. Dakota Hudson, meanwhile, will take the hill in the series finale with the White Sox on Sunday. The decision to hold Flaherty back isn't believed to be injury-related; instead, the Cardinals presumably just prefer to have him make a start against a tough division rival in the Cubs, who sport an MLB-best 13-3 record heading into Friday's action.

Velasquez allowed two runs on two hits and one walk in one inning pitched during Thursday's loss to the Orioles.

Velasquez was considered an option to start Friday's game against the Mets but that nod appears to be going to Spencer Howard after Velasquez entered Thursday's game in the eighth inning. The right-hander was able to strike out the lone batter he faced in the sixth inning, but he gave up a two-run double to Jose Iglesias in the seventh. It's unclear how the Phillies plan on using Velasquez in the coming days, although he remains a candidate to start one of the games during the doubleheader against the Blue Jays on Aug. 20.

Lorenzen threw 3.1 scoreless innings in Thursday's loss to the Pirates, allowing just one hit while striking out two.

This was Lorenzen's first outing since getting blown up by the Brewers on Sunday, and just his second appearance in eight in which he didn't allow a run. He and Cody Reed combined for six innings after Anthony DeSclafani allowed nine runs over two innings, saving the rest of the bullpen.