MLB Player News

Braves pitcher Williams Perez allowed just one earned run in a no-decision during Wednesday night's 2-1 win over the Rays. 

This was Perez's first start of the season as he replaced Eric Stults in the rotation. He went five innings, struck out seven batters and gave up six hits. He walked just one batter. 

"[Perez] pitches with his eyes a little bit," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said, via MLB.com. "He knows what kind of swings [hitters] are taking at his pitches and he makes adjustments and he competes."

This was a particularly strong effort from Perez, who had only appeared in two prior games this season. Ater a horrid appearance against the Nationals on May 8, Perez had a better showing in two innings on May 13 against the Reds. 

His performance on Wednesday will likely keep him in the rotation for now. Getting the win for the Braves was Brandon Cuniff, who entered the game in the seventh inning. 

Perez's next start is projected for May 25 against the Dodgers. 

The Reds have been careful to keep 23-year-old right-hander Michael Lorenzen from racking up too many innings. But Bryan Price has confirmed to the Cincinnati Enquirer that Lorenzen will start next Tuesday against Colorado "barring anything unforeseen."

Lorenzen has started three of the four games in which he has pitched this season. He is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA.

The Dodgers have announced that the left shoulder surgery on veteran left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu is set for Thursday.

There is no timetable for his return. The issue has prevented him from pitching all season.

Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha improved to 6-0 during a 10-2 rout of the Mets on Tuesday, joining Bartolo Colon and Felix Hernandez as the only pitchers in the majors with six wins.

The right-hander allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out five. His only real blemish of the game was allowing a two-run homer to Daniel Murphy in the fourth inning.

Wacha has allowed more than two earned runs just once in eight starts.

"I think he's a better pitcher," manager Mike Matheny said, per MLB.com. "I think he was a guy like a lot of the young pitchers we bring up who was a two-pitch pitcher with a real good fastball and a changeup. The curveball is a legitimate pitch now, and so is the cutter.

"He's improved. I think he's just getting a better idea of how to use his stuff each night, and he's adjusting real well. [Catcher] Yadi [Molina] is a great help, too, to figure out what's good that day and ride it out."

Diamondbacks general Manager Dave Stewart was impressed by Patrick Corbin's (elbow) third extended spring rehab on Monday, but revealed that although there's "nothing to be alarmed about," the team will likely give the southpaw some extra time before his next rehab start, per the Arizona Republic.

"In talking to him, in the outing before, he went after it pretty good and he was just a little bit reserved going out (on Monday)," Stewart said. "Plus, there was the setting. It was a camp game, the adrenaline wasn't going as good as if it was a normal game."

Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel put together another dominant outing but was unable to factor into the decision Tuesday night against the Padres.

Hammel allowed a run-scoring single to Yangervis Solarte in the fifth and another run-scoring single to Will Venable in the seventh for his only blemishes of the evening. He was charged with two runs -- none earned -- on three hits and no walks while striking out eight over seven innings of a 4-3 defeat. Of his 106 pitches, 76 were strikes.

Hammel has lowered his ERA from 5.19 to 2.70 on the year over his last five starts. He'll look for win No. 4 on Sunday at Arizona.

Reds starter Johnny Cueto (3-4) was touched for three runs on nine hits in seven innings of work to suffer the loss Tuesday against the Royals.

Two of three runs off Cueto came via two RBI doubles from Mike Moustakas.

"They're a good team. There are no excuses," Cueto said through a translator. "I did what I had to do."

Cueto fanned six in the defeat.

"I did my job and I expect the rest of the team to do their job," Cueto said. "You want to have a little more run support but there's nothing you can do."

Cueto returns to the mound for his next start Sunday in Cleveland.

As Mets starter Dillon Gee gets closer to his return from the disabled list, some are wondering whether he will remain in the rotation or head to the bullpen. Gee has been on the DL with a groin injury since May 8, but has already made a couple of rehab starts.

If he does in fact stay in the rotation upon his return, the Mets must decide what to do with top prospect Noah Syndergaard. Options include moving him to the bullpen or sending him back down to Triple-A. Right now, the club has been ambiguous about their decisions.

“Every new data point is useful,” general manager Sandy Alderson said, per ESPN.com. “We’ll see how Dillon throws and see how Noah throws. This isn’t a competition, but it’s new information. So rather than speculating on what will happen, we’ll let things unfold and try to make decisions accordingly.”

Prior to going on the DL, Gee had an 0-2 record with a 3.86 ERA in five starts. Meanwhile, Syndergaard has a 3.18 ERA over his first two career starts. 

The news on Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu's shoulder has gotten worse. CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman reports that the left-hander will have surgery to clean up the shoulder. There is no indication of a tear in the labrum, but it may need to be smoothed out, according to Heyman.

It is not known how the surgery will affect Ryu's timetable for return, as he's been on the disabled list with the shoulder injury all season. 

Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu is contemplating having surgery on his shoulder, a source told YahooSports.com. A Korean report indicates that the surgery could happen this week, but Ryu nor the team have confirmed. 

Ryu has been on the disabled list all season with the shoulder injury. He recently had his rehab shut down due to a drop in velocity following a bullpen session, causing some concern among club officials.