MLB Player News

The Cardinals have chosen to give All-Star pitcher Adam Wainwright a few extra days to rest following the break, as he will not pitch in the weekend series against the Dodgers, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Lance Lynn will start the second-half opener Friday. He will be followed by Joe Kelly and Carlos Martinez in the three-game series.

The Marlins announced their rotation plans for their three-game series against the Giants, which starts Friday. 

Nate Eovaldi will start the second-half opener, and he will be followed by Henderson Alvarez and Brad Hand, who left his last start before the All-Star break with a shin injury.

The Reds will kick off the second half by starting Mike Leake against the Yankees in New York Friday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Leake will be pitching on regular rest after making his last start Saturday. He'll be followed in the rotation by Alfredo Simon and Johnny Cueto before the team heads to Milwaukee, where Mat Latos and Homer Bailey are scheduled to start Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Cubs pitcher Neil Ramirez pieced together six scoreless appearances in July before the All-Star break and now owns an eight-game scoreless streak.

Ramirez has owned a season ERA under 2.00 after all but one of his appearances, and two of the three earned runs he's allowed this season have come on solo home runs, showing the Chicago reliever has been brilliant at locking things down once runners are on base. He owns a 1.05 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 34:9 K:BB ratio in 25 2/3 innings going into the second half.

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright gave up three earned runs on three hits, including a home run, while striking out two in the first inning of Tuesday's All-Star Game.

Wainwright was also embroiled in a bit of controversy after implying to a reporter that he served up an easy pitch to Derek Jeter, who doubled to lead off the game for the AL side. Wainwright later came on camera during the telecast to apologize for his comments. Mike Trout drove Jeter in with a triple, and afte rthe next batter struck out, Miguel Cabrera smashed a two-run home run to give the AL team a 3-0 lead.

Wainwright has given up more than two earned runs just once in his last 12 stats during the regular season. He's primed to build upon his 1.83 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 115:27 K:BB ratio in the second half.

Lance Lynn has been chosen as the starting pitcher for the Cardinals' second-half opener Friday against the Dodgers, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The rest of the rotation plans have not been announced.

Twelve starts into his major-league career, opinions on Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom are understandably mixed. His minor-league numbers leave something to be desired, and while his 1.65 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings in his last five starts are certainly impressive, they've come against some of the most strikeout-prone lineups in the big leagues, including the Braves twice and the Marlins twice.

To me, though, that second points only holds so much water. I realize I cited it myself when I wrote about deGrom on July 9, after the fourth of those starts, but the hot streak was less evident at the time, especially since his previous start July 2 at Atlanta didn't even meet the criteria of a quality start. But now, he's had three seven-inning gems in his last five starts, allowing a grand total of one earned run in them. And most encouraging of all, two of those three starts were his second time facing a team, so it's not he's just catching teams by surprise.

Minor-league numbers matter up to a point because, at least for an unheralded prospect like deGrom, they're the most unbiased information available to us for the first year or so of his career, but the list of players to outperform their minor-league numbers during their careers is, of course, innumerable.

I'm not saying deGrom is must-add or anything, but five starts into this hot streak, I'm willing to take flier, especially given the lack of alternatives I'm finding on waivers this time of year. (Tom Koehler? John Danks? Shelby Miller? No thank you.)

Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke could decide to opt out of his contract after the 2015 season based upon the contracts signed by upcoming free-agent pitchers Jon Lester and Max Scherzer, the Los Angeles Times reports.

"What happens with Lester and Scherzer will say a lot," Greinke said Monday.

Greinke will have three years and $71 million remaining on his contract after the 2015 season, but he could be willing to look for a bigger payday, either from his own team or on the market, if Lester and Scherzer can cash in during the upcoming offseason. In a season-and-a-half with the Dodgers, Greinke is 26-9 with a 2.67 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 4.04 K:BB ratio, with 275 strikeouts in 296 1/3 innings.

If you haven't noticed -- and it's easy to overlook given his 2-1 record during that stretch -- Wade Miley has been a vastly improved pitcher over his last nine starts, compiling a 3.39 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

The strikeouts are especially notable considering even at his best as a rookie in 2012, he didn't contribute so many of them. But that rate isn't just the product of a fluky start or two. He recorded at least eight strikeouts in six of those nine starts.

So what's changed? It's hard to tell from the data. Maybe he's just making better use of this slider, which has always been a good swing-and-miss pitch for him. Whatever the reason, it's been going on long enough that I'm willing to entertain its validity, especially since Miley has been a relevant mixed-league contributor in the past.

I'm not saying he's must-own, but if you need another pitcher given the shortage of options for Fantasy Week 16 (July 18-20), he might be worth a flier.

The Diamondbacks have held since demoting veteran pitcher Trevor Cahill to the minors that he would be back with the team at some point. Well, that time has come.

The Diamondbacks announced Monday that Cahill will start the second-half opener Friday against the Cubs, bumping Mike Bolsinger from the rotation. Wade Miley and Josh Collmenter will also pitch in the three-game series against Chicago.

Vidal Nuno has been tabbed to open the second series after the All-Star break July 21 against the Tigers. Chase Anderson will follow Nuno before the rotation resets.