MLB Player News

Burnes allowed one run on two hits and three walks over 3.1 innings in Saturday's 8-3 win over the Cubs. He had six strikeouts and didn't factor in the decision.

The young right-hander pitched fairly well Saturday, but he struggled a bit with his control as he needed 75 pitches to record 10 outs. Burnes figures to receive a longer leash as he continues to get stretched, but he'll need to bring down the walk total to have a real chance of pitching later into games. The 25-year-old is next scheduled to take the mound Friday versus the Cardinals.

Strasburg doesn't believe the nerve issue which caused him to miss his scheduled start Saturday against the Yankees will keep him out "too long," Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

While Strasburg's optimism is certainly a good sign, "too long" is hardly a precise timeline. There's a good chance one should emerge soon, however. Erick Fedde is set to make a spot start in his absence Saturday.

Mikolas will start Wednesday's game against the Twins, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Mikolas threw 60 pitches in his final tuneup of summer camp, and he'll receive the nod for Wednesday's contest in Minnesota. After a career season in 2018, the right-hander posted a 4.16 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 184 innings across 32 starts last season.

Strasburg was scratched from his scheduled start Saturday with a nerve issue in his right hand, Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic reports.

Strasburg reportedly received an injection and is currently considered day-to-day. However, he won't be able to take the mound Saturday against the Yankees, and right-hander Erick Fedde will start in Strasburg's place. Whether the issue will force him to miss any additional time remains to be seen.

Martinez will start Tuesday's game on the road against the Twins, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Martinez was dominant in his final tuneup in an exhibition game against the Royals. The right-hander will rejoin the Cardinals' rotation after serving as the closer last season, when he converted 24 of 27 save chances with a 3.17 ERA over 48.1 innings.

May will start Wednesday's game against the Astros, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Manager Dave Roberts confirmed Saturday that May will get another turn in the rotation Wednesday as Clayton Kershaw (back) remains on the injured list. The 22-year-old was strong in his Opening Day start on short notice and will attempt to replicate his results against the Astros.

Webb will start in Saturday's game against the Dodgers, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

The Giants have had difficulty silencing the Dodgers' bats over the first two games of the season, and Webb will take the mound Saturday to see if he can get any results. The right-hander posted a 5.22 ERA and 1.46 WHIP over eight starts with the Giants last season.

May has a good chance of starting against Houston on Wednesday, though the Dodgers have yet to commit to that decision, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Clayton Kershaw (back) isn't eligible to be activated from the injured list until the team's weekend series against Arizona, so May is the logical choice to fill his spot in the rotation after impressing in his Opening Day start against the Giants. Still, the Dodgers have other options they can consider and an off-day Monday, so it makes sense to keep an eye on the situation until the team clarifies their pitching plans for the Houston series.

Kim converted his first regular-season save opportunity against the Pirates on Friday, hurling one inning and giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits. He did not register any walks or strikeouts.

Kim entered the ninth inning with a three-run lead and nearly gave it all back as the Pirates plated a pair of scores in the frame. The fault can't be placed entirely on Kim -- the inning began with a fielding error by Tommy Edman -- but it certainly wasn't a spectacular outing by the recently-anointed St. Louis closer. The good news is that Kim recovered to nail down the save after the first three Pittsburgh batters reached base, so perhaps he just needed to get Opening Day jitters out of the way. Kim's hold on the closer role is far from secure, so it would be wise to pay close attention to how he performs his next time out.

Flaherty (1-0) earned the victory over Pittsburgh on Friday, completing seven innings and giving up two runs on six hits and no walks while striking out six.

Flaherty looked every bit an ace Opening Day, throwing 62 of 89 pitches for strikes in an efficient seven innings. He held the Pirates scoreless until the seventh frame and yielded only six singles on the night. The right-hander broke through with a dominant second half last season and will look to cement his place as one of the game's elite hurlers in the abbreviated 2020 campaign. His next test will come at Milwaukee on the final day of July.