MLB Player News

Manager Pete Mackanin said Nola (back) will likely need two rehab starts before he rejoins the Phillies, Mike Murphy of CSN Philadelphia reports.

Nola is scheduled to throw 60 pitches in his rehab start Wednesday with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Mackanin would like to see Nola get up to 80 pitches in his second rehab appearance before he rejoins the rotation. The young righty has been on the disabled list since April 24 with a lower-back strain.

Urias turned in his best outing of the young season Tuesday, no-hitting the Pirates for six innings and finishing with a line of 6.1 innings, one hit, one run, two walks and five strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision in a 4-3 win.

After struggling with his control in his first two outings, the 20-year-old attacked the strike zone with success, throwing 61 of his 95 pitches for strikes. Urias lowered his WHIP to a more respectable 1.12 and his walks (10) no longer exceed his strikeouts (10). He still has a long way to go towards reaching his high ceiling, but Tuesday's outing gave us a glimpse of his excellence on the mound. The young southpaw will undergo his toughest test of the year in his next outing when he takes on the hard-hitting Rockies at Coors Field on Sunday.

Wainwright gave up four runs on four hits and three walks over 5.1 innings in a no-decision against the Marlins on Tuesday.

He was lucky that his bats woke up late and rescued him from taking the loss he rightfully deserved. Wainwright has now given up four runs in three straight starts, leaving his ERA at 6.37 and his WHIP at 1.87. The optimistic look at the 35-year-old's stats says that he's been very unlucky -- he's sitting on an absurd .422 BABIP, and his FIP and xFIP are a near-identical 3.79 and 3.78, respectively. The realistic look says that he got hit around pretty darn well last year too, so even if he's due for positive regression, Wainwright's days as a top fantasy starter are most likely in the past. He's just a face in the crowd of mediocre arms with more downside than upside.

Wheeler (2-2) held the Giants to a single run on two hits and four walks with four strikeouts over six innings in Tuesday's 6-1 win.

This clocks in as Wheeler's second-longest start of the year, and while it's well and good that he was able to stifle one of the league's worst offenses, he also walked four batters for the second straight outing. Wheeler's been a bit of a frustrating fantasy asset, but thanks to his pedigree and the dearth of quality pitching these days, he's an eminently ownable (or at least streamable) pitcher in most formats.

Senzatela (5-1) earned the win Tuesday against the Cubs, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks across six innings. He struck out four.

Senzatela allowed one run in the third and another in the fourth while working out of a jam with the bases loaded, retiring the final seven men he faced to finish six frames. He struggled to find the strike zone at times, walking three batters for the third time this season, but he limited Chicago to one extra-base hit and benefited from sound defense behind him. Senzatela has been a revelation through the early stages, tossing five quality starts in seven outings while posting a 2.86 ERA and tying for the league lead in wins. He will look to keep it rolling Sunday against the Dodgers.

Eickhoff allowed five earned runs on eight hits and three walks over 3.2 innings Tuesday against Seattle. He struck out two.

This was the shortest outing of Eickhoff's career, largely due to issues with his command. He threw almost half of his pitches for balls, and was victimized by two home runs on pitches left over the heart of the plate. Philadelphia's offense took him off the hook for the loss in this contest, but his first victory of the season continues to elude him. Fourteen earned runs have now crossed the plate in Eickhoff's last three starts. He'll try to right the ship next Tuesday at Texas.

Ryu (hip) will draw the start for Thursday's game against the Rockies, Eric Stephen of SB Nation reports.

Ryu, who has been sidelined with a hip issue since May 1, will be activated from the 10-day disabled list Thursday and draw the tough test of attempting to tame the Rockies' bats in Coors Field. The southpaw currently sports a 4.05 ERA and 1.31 WHIP over his first five starts of the 2017 season.

Smoker was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Smoker has struggled mightily as of late, posting a 13.50 ERA and 2.05 WHIP over his last seven appearances, and with Matt Harvey returning from his team-imposed suspension, he'll head back to the minors to work on his stuff. The 28-year-old reliever did get his ERA down to 2.45 earlier in the season, so if he finds success with the 51's, it wouldn't be too surprising to see him return to the majors relatively soon.

Ryu (hip) could start Thursday against the Rockies in Colorado, Eric Stephen of SB Nation reports.

As Stephen puts it, Ryu "kind of has to pitch Thursday," with both Rich Hill (blister) and Brandon McCarthy (shoulder) unavailable and the Dodgers seemingly intent on giving Clayton Kershaw an extra day of rest. Ross Stripling is one fallback option if Ryu is not cleared or the team could dip into the minor-league system. Ryu failed to make it out of the fifth inning in a prior start at Coors Field this season -- he allowed two runs on six hits in a loss.

Nola (back) will make a rehab start Wednesday with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Meghan Montemurro of The News Journal reports.

The right-hander was expected to begin a rehab assignment this week, but the exact timing of everything did not become evident until now. There's speculation that this could be Nola's lone rehab start prior to rejoining the Phillies' rotation, but more news on that front should become evident once he clears this final hurdle on the road to a full recovery.