MLB Player News

Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin was sharp in his most recent rehab outing with Double-A Mobile on Friday. Making his third rehab start, Corbin pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out five. He threw 50 of his 79 pitches for strikes, in what has been his finest rehab outing thus far.

Corbin hasn't pitched since 2013 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He will likley make one more rehab start before finally rejoining the Diamondbacks rotation. 

Braves starter Williams Perez was forced to leave Friday's game after 4 2/3 innings when he took a linedrive off of his ankle in the fifth inning. After being drilled by a comebacker, Perez was checked out by the medical staff, but he was able to remain in the game.

That is until he walked the next batter, and then committed a balk. Perez was lifted for a reliever, who promptly served up a two-run single, with both runs being charged to Perez. 

Perez did escape with a no-decision as the Braves were able to tie it up, before losing in extra innings. 

"When I first got hit, I thought it was a lot more serious," Perez said, per MLB.com. "I thought I might have broken my foot, but thank God it wasn't that serious and hopefully, I'll be out there soon."

The right-hander has been diagnosed with a left foot contusion. He was taken for X-Rays, which came back negative for any fractures. Still, his status for his next start is in question at this point.

"We feel like we might have dodged a bullet, but again we'll see how it materializes tomorrow, maybe with more swelling or something will come up," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We're going to wait. But yeah, I thought it was going to be more serious."

Reds right-hander Johnny Cueto made his first start in nine days on Friday, and showed a little rust in the 2-1 loss to the Mets. Cueto gave up two runs on just two hits, while striking out six. He needed 112 pitches to get through six innings, as he matched his season-high by issuing three walks. 

Cueto (4-5) gave up a first-inning home run to leadoff man Curtis Granderson, and then walked three straight batters, forcing in a run in the fifth.

"You know, things happen," Cueto said via translator Tomas Vera, per MLB.com. "I was too careful during [the fifth inning]. I didn't want to leave the ball over the middle, I was trying to trick them. I didn't want them to get a home run or anything or a big hit that would cost me more than inning."

 He has now given up nine earned runs over his last three starts. His season ERA now sits at 2.98.

Mets rookie pitcher Noah Syndergaard was in fine form on Friday, as he led the Mets to a 2-1win over the Reds. Syndergaard allowed just one run on five hits, while striking out five and walking no one. He improved his record to 3-4 on the season, in what was the longest outing of his young career.

Syndergaard gave up his only run in the second inning, and was able to work around a fair amount of baserunners by attacking the aggressive Reds batters and enducing timely ground-ball outs.

The impressive outing drops Syndergaard's ERA to 3.59 on the year.

The Pirates placed reliever Rob Scahill on the 15-day disabled list Friday due to right forearm tightness. Scahill is 2-4 with a 2.08 ERA in 24 relief outings this season.

Mets starting pitcher prospect Steven Matz will make his MLB debut Sunday against the Reds, general manager Sandy Alderson announced Friday.

Alderson also said the team will go to a six-man rotation for the "foreseeable future," as Matz will join a rotation that features Bartolo Colon, Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom.

"They're on board," Mets manager Terry Collins said, per NJ.com. "As Sandy alluded to, certainly this is in their best interest, a few of them. At the time we did it before things were moving pretty good, guys were pitching pretty well. We went back, we changed it, couple guys didn't pitch all that good even on regular rest.

"They understand we're going to give this a shot, we're going to take a good strong look at it. It's to benefit the whole organization, basically, so that we look up and everybody is pitching. We're not pushing guys back, we're not skipping, guys are out there and competing. That's what they want to do."    

Matz's arrival means Niese will get bumped from Sunday to Tuesday against the Cubs.

Matz, who is considered a top-100 prospect by Baseball America (No. 33) and MLB.com (No. 66), went 7-4 with a 2.19 ERA at Triple-A Las Vegas. He totaled 94 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings.

Since returning from Tommy John surgery in 2012, the left-hander is 24-20 with a 2.29 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 365 2/3 innings. He is striking out 9.4 batters per nine innings in his career.

Reds starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani allowed just one earned runs in six innings against the Pirates on Thursday.

DeSclafani allowed six hits and needed 98 pitches to get through six relatively smooth innings.

DeSclafani (5-5) has a 3.35 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 35 walks in 88 2/3 innings this season.

Making his first start since June 7, Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn was excellent on Thursday. Lynn fired six shutout innings, allowing just two hits against the Marlins. He lowered his ERA to 2.84 in the 5-1 victory.

Lynn did walk four batters, but he struck out six, and he was able to avoid any serious damage, as no runner got past second base against him.

"To go up there and to walk four and not give up any runs is a good feeling and I was able to move the ball in and out and had good movement on all the pitches," Lynn told reporters, per FoxSports Midwest. "I was able to mix it up when I needed to so that was good."

Lynn was activated off the disabled list prior to Thursday's start. He had been dealing with a forearm strain, but he was able to come back after missing just two starts. And he showed no signs of rust, as he picked up his fifth win of the season on Thursday.

"He was climbing with the four-seamer, controlling counts, trusting his defense to make plays by pounding the zone and threw a couple offspeed pitches," manager Mike Matheny said. "He busted out the changeup, that only curveball he threw, but for the most part cutting, sinking and four-seaming the fastball worked well."

Reds ace Johnny Cueto is good to go for his start on Friday against the Mets. Cueto missed his last start on Tuesday with elbow inflammation, but there was never any serious concern on the part of the Reds.

"When he gets there and he's on the mound, I don't think anybody would notice anything being any different with his stuff or his command," manager Bryan Price said, per MLB.com. "Once he's loose, he's good to go."

Cueto, a free agent at the end of the season, has been the focus of many trade rumors over recent weeks. If he can stay healthy, he would be a very valuable trade chip this summer for the struggling Reds.

Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom padded his bid to be in this year's All-Star Game with a brilliant performance on Thursday against the Brewers. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year twirled eight scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and zero walks while striking out seven. He finished with an even 100 pitches on the afternoon, as he put an end to the Mets' seven-game losing streak.

The dominant effort lowered deGrom's ERA to 2.15, and improved his record to 8-5. The win was the first for deGrom since June 7. 

"He's got tremendous stuff," manager Terry Collins said, per the Star-Ledger. "He knows how to use it. His last six, seven starts have been outstanding. He's the guy we saw last year. This is legit. He's not going through any sophomore slump."