MLB Player News

Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton stayed hot and moved to 6-3 in Wednesday's start against the Brewers, surrendering just one unearned run on five hits and three walks while striking out two in 6 2/3 innings in his team's 7-1 win over the Brewers.

Morton has ripped off five straight quality starts to close out August, lowering his ERA to 3.14 to go with a 1.29 WHIP and 57:21 K:BB ratio. He takes on the Brewers again Monday.

Dodgers pitcher Ricky Nolasco pitched a gem Wednesday, allowing three hits and one walk in eight scoreless innings while striking out 11 in his team's 4-0 win against the Cubs.

It was Nolasco's second straight start pitching eight shutout innings and picking up a win, and the 11 strikeouts matches a season high. He's 6-1 since joining the Dodgers in early July, including 5-0 in August. Nolasco brings an 11-9 record, 3.26 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 141:40 K:BB ratio into Tuesday's road matchup against the Rockies.

The Cardinals have optioned pitcher Carlos Martinez to the minors Wednesday.

Martinez has been up with the club multiple times, but he's never had a consistent role. Through 18 innings, he has a 6.00 ERA.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw (13-8) turned in another impressive performance but was not back by enough run support as he took the loss Tuesday night against the Cubs. The left-hander permitted two runs -- one earned -- on seven hits and three walks while striking out nine over 5 2/3 innings of a 3-2 defeat.

Kershaw has allowed four earned runs combined over his last six starts (43 2/3 innings). He is scheduled to make his next start Monday at Colorado. He is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in three starts this season against the Rockies.

Braves starting pitcher Alex Wood pitched around some wildness and lasted long enough to get the 2-0 win over the Indians Tuesday.

Wood walked four batters in his first three innings of work, but was able to pitch around them each time, en route to 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He threw 62 of 105 pitches for strikes before being pulled from the game,w while allowing five hits and striking out five batters. 

This was the first time in his last six starts Wood has not thrown a quality start. Despite falling just short, he lowered his ERA to 2.27 in 63 1/3 innings. Wood is 3-2, winning each of his last three decisions. His next start is scheduled for Sunday against the Marlins. 

Marlins starting pitcher Nate Eovaldi (2-5) tossed a quality start in a losing effort Tuesday night against the Nationals. The right-hander surrendered two runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out six over six innings of a 2-1 defeat.

Eovaldi has not won a start since July 12 and has allowed four earned runs combined over his last two starts (13 innings). He is scheduled to make his next start Sunday at Atlanta. He tossed seven scoreless innings in his previous meeting on Aug. 10.

On the same day the Mets found out burgeoning ace Matt Harvey likely needs Tommy John surgery, they got some good news with possible next-in-line Zack Wheeler taking another step forward. He issued just one walk while striking out seven over 6 2/3 innings against the Phillies Monday. He has now issued 1.8 walks per nine innings over his last four starts after issuing 5.0 per nine over his first nine. And yet his strikeout rate has only improved.

He's realizing he has good enough stuff to go right after hitters even at the big-league level. Once Harvey came to that realization, it was off to the races. People like to harp on Wheeler's 4.0 walks per nine innings over his minor-league career, but let's not forget Harvey issued 3.9 walks per nine innings in 20 starts at Triple-A Buffalo before his promotion last year.

With Wheeler, the stuff is too good and the scouting reports too favorable for you to get hung up on the details. He'll figure it out, and if his last four starts are any indication, it's already happening. I'm comfortable ranking him 54th among starting pitchers the rest of the way.

With a 2.28 ERA in his last four starts, the Pirates' Charlie Morton has emerged as a useful Fantasy option. Unfortunately, "useful" is probably the most he'll ever be.

I'll stick to just those four starts to explain why. As hot as he's been, his WHIP is a modest 1.19 -- good for a full season, but not for a stretch of starts that's supposed to put him on the map in Fantasy. Hits are to blame. During that four-start stretch, he has allowed 8.8 hits per nine innings -- a rate that would rank 57th among the 89 qualifying pitchers if extended over a full season. And again, that's with Morton at his absolute hottest.

So how has he pulled it off? Well, he's an extreme ground-ball pitcher, and as an extreme ground-ball pitcher, his ERA doesn't take the hit that most other pitchers' do every time they surrender a home run. The tradeoff is more singles. Ground balls yield a higher batting average than fly balls, so no matter what Morton does, he'll always surrender about a hit per inning.

He can't control when exactly he gives up those hits, making him more susceptible than the average pitcher to less-than-quality outings. The seven strong innings he'll provide from time to time aren't worth it to me, especially with so few strikeouts in between.

Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke nearly tossed a complete game against the Cubs Monday, and left opposing hitters impressed, according to MLB.com.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said Greinke was hitting all his spots early. "He was throwing a bullpen session there for a little while, hitting all of his spots whenever he wanted to." Greinke expressed frustration that the team was able to prevent him from registering a shutout. 

Greinke has a 2.86 ERA in 141 2/3 innings. 

Dodgers starter Zack Greinke almost went the distance in an outstanding victory over the Chicago Cubs Monday night from Chavez Ravine. He gave up a two-out two-run double to Brian Bogusevic in the bottom of the ninth to lose the shutout, but earned the win.

Greinke improved to 13-3 on the season as he dominated the Cubs. He gave up just five hits over 8 2/3 innings as he allowed just the two runs in the final frame. He walked two, hit a batter, and struck out nine. Greinke threw 122 pitches with his ERA moving to 2.86 on the year.

The 29-year-old continues to be sensational for the red-hot Dodgers. He's given up just three runs over his last four starts spanning 30 1/3 innings with 26 strikeouts over that stretch. Greinke has won his last five times he's taken the hill. He makes his next scheduled start for the Dodgers Sunday against San Diego.