MLB Player News

Urias reached the 79-pitch limit Monday, tossing 3.2 innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

The talented prospect walked four and surrendered two runs, but those stats are not important at this stage; his pitch count, however, is. The Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett noted that 79 pitches was unusually high, implying that the Dodgers could be considering adding Urias to their major-league roster sooner than later. The team refuses to shed any light on its plans for the young lefty, but savvy fantasy owners will scoop up Urias -- assuming he is currently not owned -- in the event the Dodgers are truly accelerating his arrival to the majors.

Eflin (knee) was activated from the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday.

He allowed just one hit over five shutout innings while striking out six and walking none in a rehab outing for High-A Clearwater last week, but as a 23-year-old who has not pitched at that level since 2014, that is less impressive than it looks on paper. Eflin should slot into the Triple-A rotation and await an opening at the big-league level.

Quantrill gave up one run on two hits and two walks while striking out seven over five innings in his debut start for High-A Lake Elsinore.

The 22-year-old righty is probably a bit overqualified for High-A, but he entered the season with just 37 innings under his belt since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015 while at Stanford, so the Padres will keep the training wheels on to some extent at the beginning of the season. It is unclear what type of innings cap he faces this year, but it would not be surprising if he pitched his way to Double-A by the end of the season. He has No. 2 starter upside.

Glasnow allowed five earned runs on four hits and five walks in 1.2 innings Monday. He struck out one batter.

Nine of 14 hitters reached base against Glasnow. Additionally, he threw 64 pitches (35 for strikes) covering less than two innings in his season debut. The lanky righty has little left to prove in the minors, but there are no guarantees Pittsburgh will ride out his inconsistencies. It wouldn't be surprising to see the team flip-flop Glasnow and Trevor Williams (who is currently in the bullpen) should he continue to struggle.

Soroka tossed five shutout innings for Double-A Mississippi on Monday. allowing just two hits and striking out seven without walking a batter.

The outing was even more impressive when you consider the 19-year-old was not only making his Double-A debut, but he spent all of last year in Low-A. Soroka, the Braves' No. 7 prospect, won't be in line for a big-league promotion in 2017 but if he continues dominating high-minors hitters despite his youth, the organization may be forced to give him a long look for a rotation spot next spring.

Finnegan needed 69 pitches to record six outs in his second start of the season Monday against the Pirates. He allowed one run on four hits and walked five before getting removed without recording an out in the bottom of the third inning.

After an excellent season debut against the Phillies last week, Finnegan was falling behind in the count often (seven first-pitch strikes to 15 batters faced) and struggling with his command throughout the abbreviated start. The Reds received seven scoreless frames from Michael Lorenzen, Cody Reed and Wandy Peralta to come away with a win despite the short outing from Finnegan, who recorded four of his six outs via strikeout Monday. Finnegan is lined up for a second start this week Saturday at home against the Brewers.

Wood allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits while walking five and striking out four over 3.2 innings in a no-decision Monday against the Cubs.

In Wood's first start in the rotation in place of the injured Rich Hill (finger), he was not sharp. Although one of his five walks was intentional, the lefty threw just 39 of his 70 pitches for strikes in this one. Based on this rough outing, he's likely to make only one more start if Hill can return from injury in short order.

Lorenzen threw three perfect innings in relief Monday against the Pirates, earning his first win. He came into the game in the third inning with the bases loaded and no outs, worked out of that jam, and pitched the fourth and fifth innings to boot. Despite his success in the bullpen, however, he still wants to start, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

There's not a controversy about Lorenzen's role per se; rather, this is a case of him expressing confidence that he can do the job of a starter well. "I will be back in the rotation one day," he said. "When that time comes, I will capitalize on that opportunity and I will take advantage of it. I will run with it and never look back." Lorenzen has started the year by throwing six scoreless innings with just two hits and one walk against seven strikeouts.

Eickhoff went seven innings against the Mets on Monday, allowing just two runs on three hits and four walks while striking out seven. He didn't factor into the decision.

In fact, the Phillies went on to lose despite Eickhoff quite arguably outpitching New York ace Jacob deGrom. He's turned in a pair of sterling outings to open the season, with those 13 strikeouts in 13.2 innings particularly worth noting. Eickhoff put up a 7.6 K/9 last year, but it was 8.6 in 2015; if he can get back to that level, it'll be a serious boon for his fantasy value. That said, he'll draw a tough assignment this coming Sunday, when he's slated to start on the road against the Nationals.

DeGrom gave up two runs on six hits and a pair of walks while striking out three Phillies in Monday's no-decision.

The righty let the Phillies rally for a pair of first-inning runs, but he shut the door from there on out, and Jay Bruce's second homer of the game (with deGrom already out) ultimately put the Mets over the top. With two quality outings already in his back pocket, deGrom will next take aim at another NL East opponent, the Marlins, on Saturday.