MLB Player News

Wood has been scratched from his scheduled start Friday due to soreness in his triceps, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Dodgers may just be exercising caution here, as Wood's next start will simply be pushed back a few days to Monday. Starting in Wood's place Friday will be 19-year-old Julio Urias, widely considered one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball. It will be the major league debut for Urias, who's been dominant in 41.0 innings at Triple-A this season, posting a 1.10 ERA and 0.78 WHIP.

Martinez (4-5) tossed five stressful innings in Wednesday's loss to the Cubs. He allowed six runs, six hits and three walks while striking out seven.

The Cubs sent 11 hitters to the plate in the second inning, forcing the struggling pitcher to throw 38-pitches to get through the frame. That set the tone early for what wound up being his most inefficient outing of the year. Since winning his first four starts of the season, the 24-year-old has now lost five straight while allowing four-plus runs in four of the five losses. Martinez posted a 1.93 ERA in April, allowing just six runs over 28 innings. So far, in 25 innings this month, the righty has given up 19 runs and holds a hideous 6.84 ERA. He'll look to get back on track Monday in his next start against the Brewers.

Nicolino turned in 5.2 innings Wednesday against the Rays, allowing just three runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out a season-high six.

Those six whiffs also remarkably doubled his total for the season, as Nicolino had somehow managed to put up a horrifying 6:11 K:BB over his first five starts. He traditionally hasn't missed bats in the minors, so it's not surprising that Nicolino's no strikeout artist in the bigs, but his current 3.09 K/9 is absurdly low. He's lucky that his ERA is only 4.37 right now; it's a good bet that it'll continue heading north when he draws the Pirates on Monday.

Urias is 4-1 with a 1.10 ERA and 0.78 WHIP in eight games (seven starts) at the Triple-A level this season.

It's hard to believe that the Dodgers' top prospect is only 19 years old and is already dominating at the Triple-A level. Outside of Clayton Kershaw and Kenta Maeda, the Dodgers' rotation has been mediocre at best to start the season, so there is an opportunity for Urias to receive a call up later in the year should he continue his success. However, the Dodgers will likely be conservative with his development so that is a factor to consider as well.

Nola (4-3) allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings to beat the Tigers 8-5 on Wednesday. He also struck out six and walked one.

The right-hander pounded the strike zone with 60 strikes on 92 pitches. He struck out the side in the first and didn't allow a hit until the third. The four earned runs does raise his ERA, but it still sits at a healthy 3.14. He also has a 0.94 WHIP, .204 batting average against and 70 strikeouts in 66.0 innings. Nola will make his next scheduled start Tuesday against the Nationals.

Matz (7-1) threw eight shutout innings, allowing four hits, striking out seven and walking one in a 2-0 victory over the Nationals on Wednesday.

The lefty was hitting all his spots, inducing 28 called strikes. After the second inning, Matz didn't allow another base runner to reach second, and at one point, he retired 15 straight batters. Since allowing seven runs over 1.2 innings during his first start of the year, Matz has yielded just six runs in his last 48 frames. His next start will be Tuesday against the White Sox.

Scahill was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday.

The Pirates needed another bullpen arm after Tony Watson was placed on the paternity list, so Scahill was called up to fill the void. The 29-year-old struggled a bit during his last stint with the parent club, allowing four runs in six innings of work, but he'll look to ride the momentum of his 2.89 minor league ERA to succeed as a middle reliever in the Pirates bullpen.

Keller has struck out 52 batters while walking just three and posting a 1.40 ERA and 0.69 WHIP over 45 innings for Low-A West Virginia.

Yes, those video-game numbers are real, and he's posting them as a 20-year-old in the South Atlantic League, where he's almost two years younger than the average player. After a forearm injury ruined 2015 for him, the big right-hander has taken off like a rocket, adding yet another impressive young arm to the Pirates' embarrassment of pitching riches. Because of that organizational depth, they'll bring him along slowly, but Keller should earn a promotion to High-A soon nonetheless -- he clearly has nothing left to prove at this level.

Strasburg (8-0) won a second consecutive decision against the Mets on Tuesday, striking out 11 in 6.2 innings while allowing a a pair of runs on four hits and two walks.

Strasburg continues to make his lucrative new deal look smarter with every start, as he's still yet to suffer a defeat in 2016. The Washington ace's 11.4 K/9 is nearly a full strikeout higher than his career mark, as hitters are having trouble even putting the ball in play against him. While he'd surely love another date with the Mets, Strasburg will have to settle for a Cardinals team that he beat Apr. 29 with seven innings of two-run ball in his next start Sunday.

Wacha (2-5) allowed eight runs on eight hits and four walks with four strikeouts over four innings in a loss Tuesday against the Cubs.

Wacha is in a rut, as he has allowed at least four runs in each of his last four starts and at least six earned runs in each of his last two. His last quality start came May 3 against the Phillies; since then, his ERA has jumped from 2.65 to 5.04. The big problem has been control: 13 of his 22 walks have come in his past four starts, a 6.5 BB/9. Wacha will have to find his control before he can regain the form we've come to expect from him.