MLB Player News

Cease (ankle) could return to the mound as soon as next week, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Cease has been on the disabled list since mid-May after tweaking his ankle, but it seems as if the issue is nearly behind him. Prior to getting hurt, the pitching prospect had struck out 54 batters in 34 innings of work.

Kershaw (8-2) pitched seven innings, allowing one run on three hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in Wednesday's 2-1 win over the Nationals.

Just another typical performance by the amazing Kershaw, holding the potent Nationals lineup to just one run over seven innings. It's the eighth time in 13 starts this year that he's allowed one run or fewer. Kershaw now ranks first in the National League in wins (eight), innings (90) and ERA (2.20), and second in strikeouts (101) and WHIP (0.90). Kershaw has another premier pitching matchup in his next start, as he is scheduled to face Corey Kluber and the Indians on Wednesday.

Strasburg (7-2) pitched six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in Wednesday's loss to the Dodgers.

The Strasburg-Kershaw duel was everything it was advertised to be, but the Nationals ace came up a run short on Wednesday. The decisive run was set up by a passed ball on a third strike to Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez reached and eventually scored on a double by Yasmani Grandal. A tough way to lose, but that's the margin of error when facing Clayton Kershaw. The loss snaps a streak of four straight wins for Strasburg, but he's putting together an outstanding season. Wednesday was the seventh time Strasburg has punched out at least eight in 2017, and he now ranks seventh in the National League in strikeouts. His next start is scheduled for Monday against the Braves.

An MRI on Eflin's elbow revealed no ligament damage, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

This is a breath of relief for the Phillies organization, as now they'll simply be able to wait out the injury without any surgery or extensive rehab. The plan as of now is to shut Eflin down for five days and have him resume throwing next week, after which a firmer timetable for his return should come forth.

Eflin (elbow) will be shut down from throwing for five days, Tom Housenick of The Morning Call reports.

Eflin was diagnosed with an elbow strain Wednesday, and it seems like his plan as of now is to simply wait things out to see if the issue alleviates itself. An update on the right-hander's health should come forth once the resting period is up, but it seems unlikely that he'll be able to return to full action until the end of the month unless things shore up quickly.

Marquez (thumb) will make his next scheduled start Friday against the Cubs, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

The young right-hander was initially tabbed for Thursday's start, but the Rockies will slide him back a day in order to allow the right thumb he bruised in his last start to heal one extra day. Nothing has come up suggesting that Marquez's availability for Friday is in jeopardy, which makes it likely that this switch is simply a precautionary measure. Tyler Chatwood will move up to fill in Thursday for the series opener in Chicago.

Woodruff owns a 3.36 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 59:17 K:BB in 61.2 innings over 11 starts with Triple-A Colorado Springs this season.

Woodruff is pitching at the Triple-A level for the first time and in a tough pitching environment to boot, but neither has proved to be a major obstacle up to this point. Last year's minor league pitcher of the year for the Brewers, Woodruff should garner consideration next time to the Brewers need to call up a starter from the minor-league ranks.

Ryu will start Sunday's game against the Reds, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Ryu's recent performance won him another turn in the rotation, and manager Dave Roberts opted to deploy him Sunday opposite Cincinnati starter Tim Adleman. The left-hander isn't guaranteed a spot in the rotation beyond Sunday, so he'll likely need to perform well in order to keep Kenta Maeda in the bullpen.

Wood (shoulder) will make his return against Cincinnati on Saturday, MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports.

The southpaw is set to make his first start since landing on the 10-day disabled list with joint inflammation May 29. Prior to going down, Wood had been dealing from the mound with his previous four starts (23.1 innings) going by without a run crossing the plate. In that time frame, Wood has a 33:6 K/BB and a WHIP of 0.90.

Maeda will not make his scheduled start Saturday and will move to the bullpen, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Contrary to prior reports, the Dodgers will cast Maeda off of the rotation to allow Alex Wood (shoulder) and Hyun-Jin Ryu to be in the rotation moving forward. Wood and Ryu will start Saturday's and Sunday's contest, respectively, though Maeda is expected to take over for either Rich Hill on Friday or Wood on Saturday. This doesn't seem to be a permanent move, but manager Dave Roberts seems to be intent on keeping the top performers in the rotation at a given time, meaning Maeda seems to be locked in as a bullpen piece until another rotation member falters or gets injured.