MLB Player News

The Cubs will call up Dan Straily for Saturday's start, pushing back their pitchers a day. 

That means Jake Arrieta will move to Sunday, and Kyle Hendricks will throw Monday. It's just a spot start for Straily, so the team's rotation should return to normal following Saturday's game. 

Marlins pitcher Henderson Alvarez is expected to make his return from the disabled list Saturday, as he is listed as the team's probable starter for that evening's game against the Diamondbacks.

Alvarez has been on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, and has not pitched since July 29. 

Phillies ace Cole Hamels has changed his tune since early July, when he announced he wanted to remain in Philadelphia and that he was happy there. While he is now claiming that he is not self-motivated to leave, he has stressed that he is driven by winning titles.

A run of championships does not seem to be on the horizon for an aging Phillies team that might require a rebuild before it returns to contention.

"I want to try to get as many [rings] as I can," he told the Philadelphia Daily News. "And I know my window of opportunity is only so large ... I'm in my prime, so I want to maximize what I can do and be an asset. I want to be an asset. That's the only thing I can do - be accountable and be an asset for something. And winning is the something."

Hamels, who signed a six-year, $144 million contract extension two years ago, has been rumored to be bound for Boston. The Boston Globe has claimed the Phillies have spent a great deal of time scouting the Red Sox for their major league-ready young talent.

Don Mattingly is pessimistic about the prospect of left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu making his next start, per the Los Angeles Times. Ryu managed to pitch 5 2/3 innings in a loss to Atlanta on Wednesday night before being pulled with a glute injury that will require an MRI.

The loss for any length of time would be a blow to the Dodgers. Ryu racked up five consecutive quality starts before his latest outing, during which he yielded just seven earned runs in 33 innings pitched.

Pirates starter Vance Worley was knocked around Wednesday against the Tigers.

Worley gave up five runs, three earned, on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one during the outing. Worley performed fairly well early on, giving up one run over the first four innings. He imploded in the fifth. Worley gave up a leadoff home run to open the frame. After a single and an error, Worley allowed two more runs to score before getting out of the inning. Neither run was charged to Worley due to the error. The following inning, Worley gave up another solo shot, which chased him from the game.

With the loss Worley fell to 5-2 on the year. He'll take on the Braves in his next start.

Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu is expected to undergo an MRI once the team returns to Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Ryu was pulled from Wednesday's game with a glute injury, and his status for Tuesday's start is in question. He'll visit with Dr. Neal ElAttrache after the MRI.

Marlins pitcher Nate Eovaldi couldn't pick up a win Wednesday against the Cardinals.

Eovaldi gave up four runs, two earned, on eight hits over six innings of work. He struck out four and walked one during the outing. Eovaldi gave up two earned runs in the third inning, but was the victim of errors in both the fifth and sixth. A throwing error allowed a run to score in the fifth inning, while a fielding error did the same in the sixth. Eovaldi took on a dominant Justin Masterson Wednesday, so the extra runs didn't matter.

With the loss, Eovaldi dropped to 6-7 on the year. He'll take on the Rangers in his next start.

Cardinals pitcher Justin Masterson turned in a fantastic start against the Marlins Wednesday.

Masterson tossed seven scoreless innings of work, giving up just three hits. He struck out three and did not issue any walks. Masterson faced the minimum of three batters in all but three innings. He never allowed a running to advance to second base during the start. With the win, Masterson improved to 6-7 on the year. He'll take on the Reds in his next start.

Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu was removed from Wednesday's game in the sixth inning due to a right gluteus muscle strain, the team announced.

After throwing ball four to B.J. Upton with two outs in the sixth inning, Ryu turned to the dugout and summoned the trainer. He finished with three earned runs allowed on six hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings as well as seven strikeouts. Ryu is day-to-day moving forward.

As long as we can agree that he won't maintain a 1.73 ERA and that, because he's not a strikeout pitcher, there are limits to his upside, I'm comfortable endorsing Kyle Hendricks in Fantasy. 

I've been slow to come around, but six starts are enough to convince me he excels in at least two of three measurements that determine a pitcher's FIP, an estimate of what ERA should be with luck removed from the equation: He doesn't walk anybody, and he keeps the ball in the park with his ground-ball tendencies.

He also pitches much deeper into games than you'd expect for a rookie, going at least seven innings in four of his six starts. That's a big deal in Head-to-Head points leagues especially and helps explain his 4-1 record despite pitching for a bad team.

So what is his upside exactly? Well, Doug Fister has become the standard for pitch-to-contact pitchers, but let's not assume a best-case scenario after only six starts. I'm thinking something along the lines of Mike Leake, which isn't the cleanest comparison since Leake allows a fair number of home runs, but I think their other ratios will be similar in the long run.

So if Leake is worth owning in your league, chances are so is Hendricks.