MLB Player News

Velasquez left Wednesday's game with what the Phillies are calling "right biceps tightness," the Chicago Sun-Times' Gordon Wittenmyer reports.

He left after just two pitches, which is often a telltale sign of a significant injury. While the team is only classifying it as biceps tightness, he didn't touch 90 mph with either pitch he threw, so it's fair to expect the worst. The team should release further details about the nature of the injury after tests have been conducted.

Perez was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday due to a right rotator cuff strain.

Perez labored through 4.1 innings in his most recent start Monday and he was still dealing with some soreness Tuesday. It was initially reported that he was dealing with a sore triceps, but the Braves have since diagnosed Perez with a shoulder injury. There is no timetable for his return at this point, but the Braves have recalled John Gant to fill his roster spot for the time being.

Velasquez exited Wednesday's start after just two pitches due to an undisclosed injury, Meghan Montemurro of The News Journal reports.

Details are still forthcoming, but it is not a good sign that Velasquez was forced from the ballgame after throwing just two pitches. According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Velasquez's velocity was down significantly Wednesday as he only topped out at 87 miles per hour when he has averaged 94 mph on his heater this season. More information on Velasquez's injury will likely be made available following Wednesday's game, but if he has to miss additional time, it would be a significant blow to a promising young rotation.

Manager Clint Hurdle was noncommittal Tuesday regarding whether Taillon would stick in the big league rotation after Wednesday's start against the Mets, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Paul Zeise reports.

Hurdle apparently made it clear Tuesday that it isn't a guarantee, or even probable, that Taillon will remain on the big club after he duels with Noah Syndergaard on Wednesday. He was called up because the Pirates needed six starters in five days thanks to Tuesday's doubleheader, and it happened to fit Taillon's schedule to come up and pitch, while also giving Francisco Liriano a couple extra days of rest. Owners should be aware that this could be just a spot start, but the Pirates could use a boost in the rotation, so if Taillon impresses Wednesday, he'll likely get more big league starts in the near future.

Urias allowed just one run on three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over four innings in a no-decision Tuesday against the Rockies.

The 19-year-old Urias is still being handled with kid gloves for somewhat obvious reasons -- he threw just 86 pitches and was cruising before his exit. Still, even though Urias wasn't eligible for the win, it was great to see his nastiness translate into results for the first time in his three major league starts. He induced an awesome 14 swinging strikes and showed why the hype train behind him has been so strong. Urias's grip on a rotation spot was tenuous heading into Tuesday's game, and he may have bought himself some more major league time as a result of this strong showing.

Rea allowed three runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision Tuesday against Atlanta.

This marks Rea's first quality start since he went eight innings and allowed just one run May 5 against the Mets. He has managed to go six innings just three times all season and still has just a 44:25 K:BB in 62.2 innings, so it's hard to see this trend reversing itself anytime soon, as Rea's success Tuesday night may have been as much about Atlanta's dismal lineup as anything else.

Greinke (8-3) threw a complete game shutout and allowed just three hits and two walks with two strikeouts in Tuesday's win over the Rays.

Greinke has officially found his groove. He hasn't allowed a run in 16 innings and has held his opponents to one run or fewer in three of his past four starts. He has lowered his ERA from 5.08 to 3.84 in the process. While he only managed two strikeouts on Tuesday, it's hard to argue with his approach. He induced 10 swinging strikes and drew 14 groundball outs, a combination that will be lethal on most nights and shows he still can put up the Cy Young type performances for which the Diamondbacks signed him.

Davies (4-3) gave up two runs on two hits and three walks with five strikeouts over seven innings in a win Tuesday over the Athletics.

Davies carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning only to have it broken up by a Billy Butler two-run home run. Still, Davies came away with another start to be proud of on the heels of his eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts last time against the Cardinals. Davis has allowed more than two earned runs just once in his past seven starts after a rough beginning of the season that left him with an 8.78 ERA after his first three outings. Davies has his ERA down to 4.29 after Tuesday's effort and is realizing some of the promise he showed in a brief major league stint in 2015 (3.71 ERA, 1.21 WHIP in 34 innings for the Brewers).

Eickhoff (3-8) (ankle) surrendered just two hits, an earned run and a pair of walks over seven innings in Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Cubs. He struck out eight.

The 25-year-old continued his impressive work at home, neutralizing a potent Cubs lineup for his fourth quality start in the last five trips to the mound. Eickhoff recorded his highest amount of strikeouts since an April 18 as well, and induced 13 swinging strikes overall, showing no ill effects from a line-drive shot off he took on his left ankle in his last start. The talented right-hander has been the victim of poor run support this season in a number of his losses, and although the Phillies didn't exactly light up the scoreboard on Tuesday either, it was enough to secure the victory. Eickhoff will try to make it back-to-back wins when he faces off against the Blue Jays next Monday.

Hendricks (4-5) surrendered four hits, two earned runs and two walks over five innings in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Phillies. He struck out six.

The 26-year-old righty was pulled after 81 pitches, 55 of which he threw for strikes. The outing followed a complete-game victory and eight-inning stint, respectively, in Hendricks' last two trips to the mound. Hendricks gave up a solo homer to the struggling Ryan Howard in the fourth, marking the second consecutive start in which he'd yielded a gopher ball. His ERA remains an impressive 2.90 despite the loss, and he'll try to get back on the winning side of the ledger next Monday versus the Nationals.