MLB Player News

Strasburg's MRI on Tuesday confirmed that he is dealing with an upper back strain, Jamal Collier of MLB.com reports.

All things considered, this is encouraging news for Strasburg as the MRI did not reveal any previously undetected ailments in his back. He is eligible to return from the disabled list Friday, but the Nationals will do their due diligence and wait to make sure he's 100 percent ready before activating their prized ace. If top prospect Lucas Giolito is able to perform ably in his debut Tuesday, it could take the pressure off Strasburg and the Nationals rotation as a whole as they would have a viable stopgap for the time being.

Stripling (fatigue) was activated off the minor league DL on Tuesday, Eric Stephen of True Blue LA reports.

Striping threw a successful three inning relief appearance for Triple-A Oklahoma City last week and is now set to come off the DL from lower body fatigue. He'll reassume a 4.53 ERA and 1.36 WHIP and will likely provide depth in the Dodgers' bullpen for now.

Ryu (shoulder) pitched a rain-shortened rehab outing Tuesday against Triple-A Iowa.

Ryu tossed 1.2 innings, giving up two hits and one unearned run, before the game was called due to rain. He threw 26 pitches, 20 of which were strikes. The 29-year-old has now made six rehab starts, posting a 4.30 ERA over 23 innings, but none of those outings have lasted more than four innings. Given his small pitch count Tuesday, the Dodgers may want to give him one or two more starts in the minors with heavier workloads before they call him up to the majors.

Giolito has been called up from Double-A Harrisburg to start Tuesday's game against the Mets.

One of the top prospects in all of baseball, the 21-year-old Giolito has yet to pitch above the Double-A level, but he might still have a shot to stick with the Nationals beyond Tuesday's MLB debut. He owns a 3.17 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 72:34 K:BB over 71 innings (14 starts) for Double-A Harrisburg this year, having posted similar rate numbers over eight outings with the team at the end of last season. The length of Giolito's first MLB visit may depend on the health of Stephen Strasburg (back), who is eligible to return from the disabled list Friday.

Ray left Monday's start with a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Ray was able to complete six full innings, but he wasn't very effective, giving up four earned runs on nine hits (four doubles). He should be fine to make his next start, which is scheduled for Sunday against the Giants.

Ray (4-7) allowed four runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts over six innings in a loss Monday to the Phillies.

Ray has now given up four runs and lost in consecutive starts despite striking out 15 batters combined over those two outings. He has struck out at least six hitters in each of his past seven starts, but it hasn't translated to results. Either he has walked too many batters (3.9 BB/9 entering Monday) or given up too many extra-base hits. Ray kept the ball in the ballpark Monday, but the Phillies managed four doubles against him out of nine hits. Ray's ERA is up to 4.61 despite the fact that he has already reached 100 strikeouts in just 86.1 innings (10.4 K/9).

Velasquez (6-2) struck out seven and allowed five hits over five shutout innings in a win Monday over the Diamondbacks.

Velasquez looked great in his first start after a stint on the 15-day disabled list with a biceps issue. He easily could have gone deeper into the game if not for the Phillies taking it slow with him after the injury, as he needed just 84 pitches (including 16 swinging strikes) to get through five innings. This marks his fourth start this season with at least seven strikeouts as he has now whiffed 80 batters in just 66.2 innings (10.8 K/9).

Wainwright (6-5) gave up six runs (four earned) on nine hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over five innings in Monday's loss to the Royals.

Wainwright looked like he was finally entering his old form this month, with four quality starts in his four previous June outings. But this looked like more of the Wainwright who was touched up for a 5.71 ERA over the season's first two months. He was hurt by a pair of Cardinals errors, but his nine hits allowed marked his most in seven starts. He has allowed nine hits or more just five times since 2014, with three of those coming this year.

Syndergaard is in fact dealing with a bone spur in his right elbow, despite his denial following Monday's start, Marc Carig of Newsday reports.

A true saga played out Monday after initial reports surfaced that Syndergaard was pitching through discomfort in his elbow due to a bone spur. Following a poor start that lasted only three innings against the Nationals, Syndergaard flat out denied those reports in front of the media, and even went as far to say that nothing was wrong with his elbow at all. However, it does ultimately seem that the young pitcher faces irritation in his elbow despite him trying to save face in the public eye. Regardless, Syndergaard is not expected to miss any of his scheduled starts.

Gray (5-3) allowed four runs on five hits and struck out eight over seven innings in a win Monday over the Blue Jays.

Gray was touched up for a pair of home runs, from Edwin Encarnacion and Devon Travis, which is almost to be expected against the Blue Jays at Coors Field. Other than that, he was excellent, as he induced nine swinging strikes and eight groundouts over 101 pitches. Gray now has five starts with at least eight strikeouts in 13 outings this year after achieving the mark just once in nine outings last year.