MLB Player News

MLB.com Braves beat writer Mark Bowman reports Atlanta is expected to demote pitcher Alex Wood to Triple-A Gwinnett to work as a starter.

Wood, who went 2-5 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in seven starts before being moved to the bullpen, is 3-1 with a 4.70 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 11 relief appearances.

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg suffered minor back tightness in Monday's win over the Giants, masnsports.com reports.

The team decided to remove him as a precaution after six innings while they held a commanding lead. The Nationals will continue to monitor the issue, but he seems likely to be back on the mound this weekend for his next scheduled start.

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg picked up a win Monday after giving up just one earned run on four hits in six innings while striking out seven in his team's 9-2 victory over the Giants.

Strasburg (6-4) is hitting his stride, giving up just three earned runs in 19 innings over his last three starts while striking out 27 batters and walking only one. He owns a 2.99 ERA and 108:19 K:BB ratio in 87 1/3 innings. Strasburg is slated to take on the Cardinals Saturday.

Rockies pitcher Christian Bergman took a loss in his major-league debut despite giving up just two earned runs on five hits and two walks in six innings while striking out four in his team's 3-1 defeat against the Braves Monday.

Bergman (0-1) went 4-4 with a solid 3.84 ERA with Triple-A Colorado Springs before doing a solid job Monday, with the Braves scratching out a pair of runs in the fourth inning. He'll likely take on the Giants Saturday.

Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton earned a win Monday after giving up one earned run on six hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts and no walks in his team's 6-2 victory over the Cubs.

Morton (3-7) turned in one of his best outings of the season Monday, giving up just a sixth-inning RBI double while managing not to issue a walk for the first time this season. His two highest strikeout totals have come in the last two games. Morton owns a 3.14 ERA and 61:29 K:BB ratio in 80 1/3 innings. He's slated to face the Marlins Saturday.

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole threw 25 pitches from 60 feet Monday, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

It was his first time picking up a baseball since Wednesday, and he has been dealing with shoulder fatigue, which sent him to the disabled list Sunday.

"He's had four days off so he's going to be a little bit off, but we're just going to take one day at a time," pitching coach Ray Searage said Monday. "Today was good, now we'll see how tomorrow is, see how he bounces back and go from there."

Even though Henderson Alvarez allowed only one earned run in his 5 1/3 innings at the Cubs Sunday, it was the most he's allowed in four starts. For those curious, that comes out to a 0.34 ERA.

And even though only two of those starts were technically quality starts, the only reason he left the other two before completing six innings was because of injuries -- the first to his elbow and the second to his hip.

His hip is fine, by the way, as is his elbow, so ... nothing but good news, right?

I guess. But I'm still not ready to trust a pitcher who misses as few bats as he does. It's clear his sinker is something special -- one capable of producing a league-leading percentage of ground balls -- but still, what about those days when it isn't sinking quite right? And what about those days when those ground balls aren't fielded so cleanly? Though it hasn't impacted his ERA too much, Alvarez has been hit hard in seven of his starts this season.

You know who else had a special sinker that was supposed to lead to great things? Fausto Carmona. Instead, he became Roberto Hernandez and never did anything of real consequence.

Because Alvarez's bad starts tend to be exceptionally bad, I feel like you have to start him every time to get the full benefit. And with his limited strikeout ability, I don't have the discipline to do that.

So far in five major-league starts, Chase Anderson is 5-0, which is of course awesome.

But it's less a reflection of how he's pitched than the kind of luck he's had.

Which isn't to say he's pitched poorly, but the way he's pitched certainly isn't deserving of a 5-0 record. In fact, of his five starts, only two meet the criteria of a quality start.

He doesn't hurt himself with walks, which is the biggest hurdle for a young pitcher breaking into the big leagues, but he's given up a lot of contact -- and most of it hard contract. According to FanGraphs, his line drive rate is 30.7 percent. Among pitchers with enough innings to qualify, the highest is 27.9 percent.

So even though he's not handing out free passes, Anderson could have a lot more baserunners in his future. And even if he doesn't, he won't win with much regularity if he doesn't go six-plus innings every time out.

I still say if you're not prioritizing strikeouts anyway, Bronson Arroyo is the Diamondbacks starting pitcher to own in Fantasy. And considering he's only 40 percent owned, where does that leave Anderson?

The Rockies selected the contract of pitcher Christian Bergman from Triple-A Colorado Springs Monday.

Bergmann is making a spot start Monday with the major-league rotation struck by multiple injuries. He is 4-4 with a 3.84 ERA and 48:14 K:BB ratio in 75 innings with Colorado Springs.

Marlins starter Nate Eovaldi could make his next scheduled start on short rest, according to MLB.com.

Eovaldi is expected to leave the team for the birth of his child at some point this week and could make his next start Wednesday at Texas or Friday against the Pirates at Marlins Park, depending on the birth of his child.

Eovaldi is 4-2 with a 3.27 ERA in 82 2/3 innings of work through 13 starts this season.