MLB Player News

Lewicki (elbow) was claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Lewicki is set to miss the entire 2019 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery at the end of August. The Diamondbacks will either need to carry him on their 40-man roster until the start of the season (when he can be transferred to the 60-day DL) or attempt to pass him through waivers as the Tigers did. The 26-year-old posted a 4.89 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 30:14 K:BB across 38.2 innings with the Tigers in 2018 prior to suffering the injury.

Manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday that the Dodgers' plan is for Urias to be built up as a starter in 2019, Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports reports.

This piece of information doesn't come as a surprise but it's encouraging for the 22-year-old's fantasy prospects heading into next season. Urias spent a majority of the 2018 campaign on the disabled list while recovering from shoulder surgery and has exclusively been utilized as a reliever since returning to game action in late July. Prior to the injury he started five big-league games in 2017 and 15 the year before. At this point it's unclear whether Urias would begin next season in the majors or start the year in Triple-A Oklahoma City's rotation. His status will be worth monitoring throughout spring training.

General David Stearns said Burnes will enter the 2019 season as a starter, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Burnes appeared strictly out of the bullpen after earning a promotion to the big club in July, posting a 2.61 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 35:11 K:BB across 38 innings. One of the team's top young arms, the Brewers view Burnes as a starter moving forward despite his big-league success as a reliever. The 24-year-old posted a 4.96 ERA and 9.3 K/9 across 13 starts with Triple-A Colorado Springs last season before transitioning to a relief role. Burnes should enter spring training with a chance to break camp in the starting rotation.

Buehler will start Game 3 of the World Series against the Red Sox on Friday, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Buehler will follow Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu, who are scheduled to pitch the first two games of the series. The young righty owns a 5.40 ERA and 22:4 K:BB through three starts (16.2 innings) this postseason. He most recently allowed one run on six hits while striking out seven across 4.2 innings in Game 7 of the NLCS against the Brewers.

Ryu will start Game 2 of the World Series against the Red Sox on Wednesday, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Ryu will be sandwiched between Clayton Kershaw -- who will start Game 1 -- and Walker Buehler, who gets the ball for Game 3. The southpaw owns a 4.40 ERA and 15:2 K:BB through three starts (14.1 innings) this postseason. He was tagged for five runs on seven hits in just three innings in his most recent start (a loss to the Brewers in Game 6 of the NLCS).

Kershaw was confirmed as the starter for Game 1 of the World Series in Boston on Tuesday, Pedro Moura of The Athletic reports.

The decision was an expected one, despite Kershaw pitching Saturday to close out the Brewers in Game 7 of the NLDS. The Dodgers' ace threw just 15 pitches in that game, the equivalent of a standard bullpen session, so he should be ready to go without a pitch count on Tuesday. Kershaw made two starts and one relief appearance in last year's World Series, finishing with a 4.02 ERA in 15.2 innings.

Kershaw will likely take the hill for Game 1 of the World Series against the Red Sox on Tuesday, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports.

Kershaw closed out Game 7 of the NLCS on Saturday against Milwaukee, and if all goes according to plan, he'll take the hill in Boston to kick off the World Series. "He's actually going to throw and do some working out (Sunday) just to make sure he can do it and he feels good enough. We're hopeful but it's not definitive yet." stated manager Dave Roberts. "We're not locked in yet. But it's going to be either Game 1 or Game 2." If Kershaw does end up working the first game of the Series, Hyun-Jin Ryu would likely pitch Game 2, followed by Walker Buehler in Game 3 and Rich Hill in Game 4.

Kershaw is expected to appear out of the bullpen at some point in Game 7 of the NLCS against the Brewers on Saturday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

It's unclear when or how long Kershaw will pitch, but he'll have had two days to rest since last pitching Wednesday, so he should be able to throw at least an inning or two, the equivalent of a typical bullpen session. He's pitched out of the bullpen on short rest in winner-take-all games in each of the last two seasons, recording the final two outs as the Dodgers got past the Nationals in the NLDS in 2016 and pitching four scoreless innings in Game 7 of last year's World Series against the Astros.

Musgrove underwent surgery to repair his abdominal wall in order to help heal the stress reaction on the front of his pelvic bone, Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Since a typical timetable for this surgery is around six weeks, Musgrove should be fully healed and ready to go prior to spring training. The right-hander suffered the stress fracture in mid-September after a start against the Royals and was promptly shut down for the last couple weeks of the season. Across 19 starts in 2018, he logged a 4.06 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with 100 strikeouts in 115.1 innings.

Ryu will start Game 6 of the NLCS against the Brewers on Friday.

As expected, Ryu will return to the bump in Milwaukee after pitching Game 2 on Saturday. During that start, he gave up two runs on six hits while striking out four across 4.1 innings and didn't factor into the decision. The southpaw will once again go up against Wade Miley with the chance to propel the Dodgers back to the Fall Classic.