MLB Player News

Freeland did not factor into the decision during Thursday's loss to the Giants, allowing one run on three hits and a walk across three innings.

Making his final start of the season, Freeland limited damage but failed to go deep into the game, and he did not record a strikeout. The southpaw had recently returned from a month-long stint on the injured list (groin) and was still limited in his pitch count. Freeland finishes the year with a 3-11 record, 6.73 ERA and 1.62 WHIP.

Hamels (shoulder) is scheduled to start Saturday against the Cardinals, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Hamels has been sidelined since Sept. 16 with a sore shoulder, but he felt good after a bullpen session Tuesday, clearing the way for him to make one final start this season. The southpaw owns a 3.92 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 135:56 K:BB in 137.2 innings (26 starts).

Hendricks will not make another start this season, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The Cubs have yet to announce who will start Sunday's season finale in place of Hendricks, but the right-hander will sit out the rest of the season with Chicago eliminated from the postseason chase. Across 30 starts this season, Hendricks went 11-10 while posting a 3.46 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 150:32 K:BB in 177 innings.

Darvish will not make another start this season, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The Cubs will shut down both Darvish and Kyle Hendricks with no chance left at making the playoffs. Darvish finished his sophomore season with the Cubs 6-8 with a 3.98 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 229 strikeouts in 178.2 innings (31 starts). Alec Mills is starting in his place Friday against the Cardinals.

Mikolas is no longer listed as the starter for Saturday's game against the Cubs, Rob Rains of StLSportsPage.com reports.

The Cardinals are presumably shuffling their rotation around to gear up for the postseason. Adam Wainwright is now starting Saturday, while it's unclear when Mikolas will get the ball next.

Nola will not make another start this season, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Nola was originally scheduled to start Sunday's season finale against the Marlins, but with the Phillies no longer vying for a playoff spot, the team decided to shut down its ace. The right-hander will finish the season 12-7 with a 3.87 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 229:80 K:BB across 34 starts (202.1 innings).

Although Flaherty isn't scheduled to pitch in the final series of the season against the Cubs this coming weekend, he could be called upon to start Sunday's regular-season finale if the NL Central remains up for grabs, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Flaherty has been nearly unhittable since the All-Star break, generating an 0.97 ERA over 14 second-half starts. While the ideal scenario would naturally see Flaherty start either a Wild Card Game Tuesday on six days' rest or Game 1 of a divisional series on eight days' rest Thursday, manager Mike Shildt may have to call on his ace instead of Adam Wainwright if the Cardinals haven't been able to gain sufficient separation from the Brewers in the NL Central race entering Sunday.

Fried is not scheduled to make another start this season, Grant McAuley of 680 The Fan reports.

The Braves will go with Dallas Keuchel, Mike Foltynewicz and Mike Soroka this weekend, which is how they are expected to line up for the NLDS. While Atlanta wants to make sure its playoff starters are pitching competitively and on turn, they probably won't log high pitch counts, so we could see Fried out of the bullpen in one of those three games.

Walker (elbow, shoulder) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Thursday, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

If all goes well Thursday, the plan appears to be for Walker to open Sunday's season finale against the Padres with left-hander Alex Young coming in as the primary starter. Walker was expected to have a midseason return from Tommy John elbow surgery, but a right shoulder capsule sprain in mid-May delayed his eventual return. He's now hoping to throw an inning or two in a major-league game before the end of the season.

DeGrom (11-8) picked up the win in Wednesday's 10-3 victory over the Marlins, giving up only two hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings while striking out seven.

Once again, deGrom's record belies how well he pitched in a season. The right-hander finishes 2019 with a 2.43 ERA (second in the majors to Hyun-Jin Ryu), 0.97 WHIP (tops in the NL) and 255 strikeouts (also leading the NL), and he was especially strong down the stretch with the Mets trying in vain to reach the postseason, posting a 1.29 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 41:5 K:BB through 35 innings in September. A second Cy Young Award could be coming his way.