MLB Player News

The Cubs optioned Barnes to Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday.

Barnes made one appearance during his brief stint with the big club, yielding four runs (three earned) over three innings in Monday's loss to the Phillies. The Cubs will replace him with a fresh relief arm.

Priester (wrist) is tracking toward beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville next week, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Priester is slated to throw a two-up live batting practice session at the Brewers' spring training complex Thursday, and if that goes well he will be cleared to pitch in rehab games. Working his way back from symptoms related to thoracic outlet syndrome, Priester missed all of spring training, so he will need a few rehab outings before being considered for the Brewers' rotation.

Mikolas is expected to serve as a bulk reliever behind opening pitcher PJ Poulin in Tuesday's game in Pittsburgh, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.

The Pirates typically roll out a starting lineup featuring two left-handed hitters (Oneil Cruz and Brandon Lowe) with OPSes north of 1.000 in the top two spots, so the Nationals will hope to neutralize them or force Pittsburgh to alter its batting order by having the left-handed Poulin begin the game. Poulin is unlikely to cover more than an inning or two before giving way to Mikolas, who should get a softer landing to begin his appearance by facing the back end of the Pittsburgh lineup. Mikolas struggled mightily through in first three starts with Washington, giving up 19 runs (17 earned) on 22 hits and seven walks over 12.1 innings.

Reds manager Terry Francona said Tuesday that Lodolo (finger) could face hitters Friday, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.

Lodolo has thrown a couple bullpen sessions since he had to be pulled off his rehab assignment following a setback with the blister on his left index finger. He has not thrown breaking balls during those sessions, however, and re-incorporating those pitches will be a big test for his blister. If Lodolo does face hitters Friday and gets through that step without issues, he could be cleared to resume a rehab assignment.

Rea is no longer scheduled to start Tuesday's game in Philadelphia but appears likely to work in bulk relief behind opening pitcher Riley Martin.

Chicago had initially listed Rea as its starter for Tuesday, but the Cubs will instead have the lefty Martin take the hill to begin the game since the Phillies typically have two left-handed hitters (Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper) within the top three spots of the lineup. Martin is unlikely to work more than an inning or two before giving way to Rea, who is coming off a strong start at Tampa Bay last Wednesday in which he held the Rays to one run on two hits and two walks in five innings. Though Matthew Boyd (biceps) appears to be tracking toward a return from the injured list early next week, the Cubs should still have one more opening in the rotation for either Rea or Javier Assad. Rea is the presumptive frontrunner for that spot after Assad was blasted for nine earned runs over 4.1 innings in the Cubs' 13-7 loss in Monday's series opener.

Dobbins (knee) will make the third start of his rehab assignment Tuesday at Triple-A Memphis.

Dobbins reached five innings in both of his prior two starts with Memphis and produced a 3.48 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 10:3 K:BB across 10.1 frames in total between the outings. After Wednesday, the right-hander should be stretched out enough to handle a typical starter's workload, but it's unclear if St. Louis will have an opening for him in its rotation. Andre Pallante owns a 5.40 ERA and 1.60 WHIP through his three starts and would seem to be most at risk of moving to the bullpen if the Cardinals decide to shake up their rotation to make room for Dobbins once he's activated from the injured list.

Triple-A Memphis reinstated Hansen (shoulder) from its 7-day injured list Tuesday.

Hansen is likely to make his 2026 debut with Memphis later this week after making a four-inning start Sunday in his second and final rehab outing at Single-A Palm Beach. The 25-year-old lefty pitched exclusively at the Double-A level with Springfield in 2025, logging a 3.93 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 123:37 K:BB over 137.1 innings.

The Nationals recalled Parker from Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday.

He's absorbing the roster and bullpen spot vacated by Jackson Rutledge. Parker boasts a 16:3 K:BB over 13.1 innings in his first three starts with Rochester this season, though that's come with a 6.08 ERA. The lefty will give the bullpen some length behind Tuesday's scheduled starter, Miles Mikolas, who's lasted a total of just 7.1 frames over his last two starts.

Montgomery has earned one win and three holds while posting a 7.11 ERA, 2.05 WHIP and 14:5 K:BB over 6.1 innings in seven appearances for the Pirates this season.

The ratios look ugly, but Montgomery has been better lately, allowing just one run with an 8:1 K:BB over his last four appearances. Acquired from Tampa Bay in the Brandon Lowe trade, Montgomery brings the heat from the left side (98.5 mph average fastball) and his breaking pitches all have whiff rates of 42 percent or higher. With manager Don Kelly keeping roles fluid at the back end of the bullpen, the door is open for Montgomery to eventually pick up some saves for Pittsburgh.

Peterson (0-3) took the loss against the Dodgers on Monday, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks while striking out seven batters over five innings.

Though his stat line was far from pretty, things could have been much worse for Peterson -- he opened the game by allowing four straight batters to reach base and was down 1-0 with the bases loaded and no outs. The lefty managed to escape the jam by striking out the final three batters he faced in the frame, but he couldn't pull off another magic act in the third, when he served up a three-run homer to Andy Pages. Peterson promisingly fanned a season-high seven batters, but he also issued a season-high four walks and threw only 55 of 89 pitches for strikes. He's now 0-3 on the campaign and holds an unattractive 6.41 ERA, 1.83 WHIP and 21:10 K:BB over 19.2 innings spanning four starts.